In the growth of the gig economy, many employers are increasing the number of categories of their employees and associates. One challenge of the gig economy is determining when a worker qualifies as a full-time employee for...more
Medicare Part A and B providers and suppliers should take note of new regulations recently issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that implement the Affordable Care Act’s 60-day rule on reporting and returning...more
As has been widely discussed, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (‘‘CMS’’) Feb. 12 published the long-awaited final rule governing the return of Medicare Part A and Part B overpayments within 60 days (the...more
Better Late Than Never: CMS Provides Much-Needed Clarity on the 60-Day Overpayment Refund Requirements - On February 12, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the long-awaited final rule (Final...more
In Q&A format, recently issued Notice 2015-87 addresses a number of pressing issues that have arisen under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including that law’s employer shared responsibility rules, information reporting...more
Lawyers, politicians, economists, climate scientists, fad diet peddlers . . . we all know that it’s child’s play to persuade people of what they want to believe. Perhaps that explains the persistence of so many...more
As background, before 2014, an employee’s election to enroll in his or her employer’s health plan pursuant to a cafeteria plan was irrevocable for the entire plan year, unless the employee incurred an event that affected his...more
Last week we examined the reporting challenges associated with employee terminations, changes in status, and breaks in service under the monthly measurement method. As we explained, “[t]he final regulations under Code § 4980H...more
In 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) expanded the events that would allow employees to drop their health plan coverage under their employer’s cafeteria plan. As a reminder, the general rule is that once an employee...more
The Affordable Care Act’s reporting rules—which are set out in Internal Revenue Code §§ 6055 and 6056—solicit the information needed by the Internal Revenue Service to enforce the individual and employer shared responsibility...more
Introduction - So much energy has been spent on what the final regulations on the employer shared responsibility tax and the related final reporting regulations (the ‘‘ESRR’’) say, that some of the most significant...more
For many employers, the effective date of the Affordable Care Act's "play-or-pay" mandate is only weeks away. The impending deadline comes amid questions about the future—and perhaps viability—of the law itself. Entering...more
Many applicable large employers—i.e., employers that are subject to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility rules—have a pretty good sense of what these rules are, how they work, and what they plan to...more
The employer shared responsibility provisions (commonly referred to as the "pay-or-play" mandate) of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") impose penalties on applicable large employers that fail to offer qualifying health coverage...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released Affordable Care Act (ACA) guidance addressing how to determine full-time status when an employee’s measurement period changes. The guidance, IRS Notice 2014-49, introduces...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2014-49 which describes a proposed approach for determining an employee’s full-time or part-time status for purposes of the employer shared responsibility rules under...more
Employers and other health plan sponsors may be focused on preparing for the commencement of the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act on January 1, 2015, but a number of other deadlines and developments are emerging...more
IRS Issues Guidance on How to Deal With a Change to an Employee’s Measurement Period Under ACA Employer Mandate - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2014-49, which proposes an approach for dealing with...more
Final regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules furnish employers with two alternative methods—the monthly measurement method and the look-back measurement method—for identifying...more
For purposes of complying with the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility rules (which are codified in Internal Revenue Code § 4980H), employers must identify their “full-time employees.” Final regulations...more
The Internal Revenue Service has issued Notice 2014-55 to permit new health plan elections in two situations where they were not previously allowed. ...more
The Health Care Reform Act made many changes to health plans, but one thing it did not do was expressly eliminate or change the COBRA rules. Although health care reform does not expressly change COBRA, it does, in many ways,...more
For applicable large employers (i.e., employers who employed at least 50 full-time and full-time equivalent employees on business days during the preceding calendar year) endeavoring to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s...more
As part of the Affordable Care Act, Congress outlined the process for providers to return Medicare and Medicaid overpayments. In 2012, CMS proposed the 60-day Refund Rule, as it is commonly known, requiring Medicare providers...more
Under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), a large employer is subject to penalties if it fails to offer to full-time employees and their dependents health coverage or if the coverage that it offers is not affordable or does not...more