Disclaimer: This website is intended to provide helpful information for your agency as you comply with the Affordable Care Act. This information is not legal advice. You should work with your legal team before proceeding. Failure to comply with the provisions of the Affordable Care Act may result in a penalty(s) to the employer by the IRS.
ACA Reporting Forms, Instructions and Deadlines
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) contained two significant reporting requirements to the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that were effective for medical coverage provided on or after January 1, 2015.
| ➢ | Code Section 6055 reporting. Supports IRS enforcement of the individual mandate |
| ➢ | Code Section 6056 reporting. Supports IRS enforcement of the employer shared responsibility provisions ("employer mandate") and the premium tax credits for coverage purchased in the Health Insurance Marketplace |
The IRS developed two sets of information returns that employers and coverage providers use to satisfy their ACA reporting obligations — Form 1095-B, which is used exclusively for Code Section 6055 reporting purposes, and Form 1095-C, which employers subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility use to satisfy both their Code Section 6055 and Code Section 6056 obligations. Under regulations, employers and coverage providers must furnish Forms 1095-B or 1095-C to individuals for a calendar year by January 31 of the following calendar year. They must also submit these forms to the IRS (along with the Form 1094-B or Form 1094-C transmittal forms by March 31 of the following calendar year, if filing electronically. The regulations permit the IRS to grant extensions of up to 30 days to furnish the statements to individuals and authorize an automatic 30-day extension for filing forms with the IRS. The current reporting forms and instructions are available under RESOURCES.
As in prior years, the IRS has recognized that many employers, insurers, and other health coverage providers may need additional time to comply with the 2019 ACA reporting requirements. The IRS has extended the due date for furnishing the 2019 Forms 1095-C and 1095-B to individuals to March 2, 2020. The IRS will not grant any requests for extensions beyond that date. The IRS did not extend the deadline for filing the 2019 statements, along with the 1094-C and 1094-B transmittal forms, to the IRS. That deadline is February 28, 2020 for paper filings and March 31, 2020, if filing electronically.
BACKGROUND
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) enacted in 2010 created a variety of new provisions and requirements for individuals, employers, employees, and insurers.
Beginning in 2015, some employers became subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility rules that require applicable large employers to offer affordable minimum essential medical coverage providing minimum value to their full-time employees (defined as employees who average 30 or more hours of service per week) and their dependent children. Employers that fail to offer appropriate medical coverage may be subject to penalties if an employee purchases health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace and receives a premium tax credit.
REQUIRED REPORTING
| Most employers who offer OGB health plans will be required to collect and report specific information about full-time employees and
whether medical coverage was offered to full-time employees and their dependent children. (If you have fewer than 50 employees, you may be exempt from this requirement. Please consult your
legal counsel for specific guidance.) |
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➢ | As an OGB participating agency, you will also be required to report specific information about every individual actually covered by your self-insured major medical plan.
This includes dependents, retirees, COBRA-qualified beneficiaries, and survivors. |
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| ⋄ | The annual report requires specific data for each month of the calendar year. |
| You will be required to collect the necessary data, which will include information about your agency and medical plans as well as demographic information on full-time employees
and all other individuals covered under an OGB health plan. |
RESPONSIBILITIES
| OGB: |
| OGB will provide a data file on covered individuals and their dependents to all OGB participating employers. This will include their periods of coverage and
whether the coverage is fully-insured or self-insured. The data file will be made available on your respective, secure Agency section of the OGB website. Agencies will be notified once the data file is available.
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| EMPLOYER: |
| ➢ | LaGov HCM paid agencies: |
| If you are a LaGov HCM paid agency, please refer to OSUP’s website for ACA implementation information. Note: The Office of State Uniform Payroll (OSUP)
is the registered owner of the Employer Identification Number (EIN) for all LaGov HCM paid agencies. OSUP is responsible for reporting to the IRS. The agencies under OSUP’s Employer Identification Number (EIN) are responsible for ensuring the data that will be included on the IRS forms is accurate and complete.
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| ➢ | Non-LaGov HCM paid agencies (non-ISIS): |
| If you are the registered owner of an Employer Identification Number (EIN) assigned by the Internal
Revenue Service, you are responsible for ACA reporting for your employees and all the agencies/employees reported under your EIN. |
REPORTING DATA
TO REPORT DATA TO THE IRS, YOU MUST:
| ➢ | Review the ACA regulations (4980(H), 6055, 6066) to determine your employer responsibilities. |
| ➢ | Review ACA reporting forms and instructions. |
| ➢ | Review ACA required reporting data elements and determine appropriate source of data for each |
| ➢ | Retrieve data file from OGB website. |
| ➢ | Identify and capture missing data required to complete IRS forms. This includes requesting Social Security numbers for all covered dependents. |
| ➢ | Develop a mechanism for storing, where necessary, all of the required data. |
| ➢ | Work with technical team to create programs to populate the data onto the required IRS form(s). |
| ➢ | Provide applicable IRS forms to all full-time employees and covered individuals. |
| ➢ | Submit data to the IRS. |
TIMELINE
| ➢ | February 28, 2020 - Deadline for employers to transmit data to the IRS, if not filing electronically |
| ➢ | March 2, 2020 - Deadline for applicable 2019 IRS forms to be mailed to employees/covered individuals |
| ➢ | March31, 2020- Deadline for employers to transmit data to the IRS if filing electronically |
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RESOURCES
QUESTIONS?
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If you have questions about the Employer Shared Responsibilities provisions and your reporting requirements, please consult with your legal counsel.
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If you have questions regarding the data OGB will be providing to complete your reports, contact
Cara DeLee
(225) 342-9621.
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DOWNLOADS
IRS Extends Deadline for 2019 employer ACA disclosures
The IRS has extended the ACA deadline for furnishing Forms 1095-C and 1095-B to individuals - from January 31, 2020 to March 2, 2020. The deadline for filing the forms with the IRS electronically has not been extended and is March 31, 2020.
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