With constant developments related to the Affordable Care Act and the influx of related audits (300% increase since ACA was passed), now is the time to evaluate your benefits program and related administrative procedures.
Test your Affordable Care Act readiness by considering the following elements that are commonly confused:
- Surcharges for general wellness and tobacco users. How much can you charge? Are you providing employees with the appropriate reasonable alternative? Is your program still considered affordable based on the type of surcharge you are applying?
- Are you required to report the cost of health coverage in box DD of the W2? Have you included the cost of pre-tax specialized illness or hospital indemnity coverage? Have you considered why you might want to include or exclude optional dollars such as dental, vision, and HRA?
- Have you updated your ERISA plan document? (Note: this document is not provided by the carriers.)
- Are you certain you provide employees with ALL the necessary compliance, continuation, and portability notices in the proper format and within the required timeframe?
- Does your health program benefit from community rating? Are you making this determination on an annual basis?
- Are you required to file benefit program 5500’s?
- Have you updated your staffing agency agreements to illustrate who will provide coverage as well as who will be responsible for any applicable penalty notices from the IRS?
- Have you classified your employees and developed a process to measure hours related to part-time, variable, and seasonal employees?
- How will you approach employees who transition from full-time to part-time as well as part-time to full-time?
- Have you updated your rehire provisions in accordance with Affordable Care Act?
- Are you part of a controlled group? If so, how does this impact your group size in the eyes of ACA?
- Does your plan include a non-embedded deductible and out-of-pocket (common with HDHP-H.S.A and HRA plans)? Will you have to make drastic plan design changes because of this in the future?
- How close is your program tracking in relation to the Cadillac Tax?
If this Affordable Care Act (ACA) quiz made you crawl under your desk and hide, have no fear! Just reach for the phone and call your HR Consultant or Benefits Advisor! They will make sure you are compliant with all the necessary changes so that you don’t become an audit statistic!
Lastly, big thanks to Brown & Brown Employee Benefits Consultant Angie Weilage for contributing her Affordable Care Act (ACA) expertise to this article!
