Understanding your obligations: Does your business need to report employee health coverage?

Employee health coverage is a significant part of many companies’ benefits packages. However, the administrative responsibilities that accompany offering health insurance can be complex. One crucial aspect is understanding the reporting requirements of federal agencies such as the IRS. Does your business have to comply, and if so, what must you do? Here are some answers to questions you may have.

What is the number of employees before compliance is required?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in 2010, introduced several employer responsibilities regarding health coverage. Certain employers with 50 or more full-time employees (called “applicable large employers” or ALEs) must use Forms 1094-C and 1095-C to report information about health coverage offers and enrollment for their employees.

Specifically, an ALE uses Form 1094-C to report each employee’s summary information and transmit Forms 1095-C to the IRS. A separate Form 1095-C is used to report information about each employee. In addition, Forms 1094-C and 1095-C are used to determine whether an employer owes payments under the employer shared responsibility provisions (sometimes referred to as the “employer mandate”).

Under the ACA mandate, an employer can be penalized if it doesn’t offer affordable minimum essential coverage that provides minimum value to substantially all full-time employees and their dependents. Form 1095-C is also used in determining employees’ eligibility for premium tax credits.

If an employer has fewer than 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, on average during the prior year, the employer isn’t an ALE for the current year. That means the employer isn’t subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions or the information reporting requirements for the current year.

What information must be reported?

On Form 1095-C, ALEs must report the following for each employee who was a full-time employee for any month of the calendar year:

• The employee’s name, Social Security number (SSN) and address,
• The Employer Identification Number (EIN),
• An employer contact person’s name and phone number,
• A description of the offer of coverage (using a code provided in the instructions) and the months of coverage,
• Each full-time employee’s share of the coverage cost under the lowest-cost, minimum-value plan offered by the employer, by calendar month, and
• The applicable safe harbor (using one of the codes provided in the instructions) under the employer shared responsibility or employer mandate penalty.

What if we have a self-insured plan or a multi-employer plan?

If an ALE offers health coverage through a self-insured plan, the ALE must report additional information on Form 1095-C. For this purpose, a self-insured plan also includes one offering some enrollment options as insured arrangements and other options as self-insured.

Suppose an employer provides health coverage in another manner, such as through a multiemployer health plan. In that case, the insurance issuer or the plan sponsor making the coverage available will provide the information about health coverage to enrolled employees. An employer that provides employer-sponsored, self-insured health coverage but isn’t subject to the employer mandate isn’t required to file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. Instead, the employer reports on Forms 1094-B and 1095-B for employees who enrolled in the employer-sponsored, self-insured health coverage.

On Form 1094-C, an employer can also indicate whether any eligibility certifications for relief from the employer mandate apply.

Be aware that these reporting requirements may be more complex if your business is a member of an aggregated ALE group or if the coverage is provided through a multiemployer plan.

What are the W-2 reporting requirements?

Employers also report certain information about health coverage on employees’ Forms W-2. But it’s not the same information as what’s reported on 1095-C. The information on either form doesn’t cause excludable employer-provided coverage to become taxable to employees. It’s for informational purposes only.

The above is a simplified explanation of the reporting requirements. Contact us with questions or for assistance in complying with the requirements.

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LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The information presented on this blog should not be construed as legal, tax, accounting or any other professional advice or service.  You should consult with a professional advisor familiar with your particular factual situation for advice concerning specific tax or other matters before making any decision.