WASHINGTON – Recently, legislation was introduced in Congress that would make the employer mandate reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act easier on business owners.   Representatives Diane Black (R-TN 6) and Michael Thompson (D-CA 5) have introduced H.R. 2712, the Common Sense Reporting and Verification Act of 2015. NACS supports this legislation and asks that NACS member companies consider supporting it as well, to show wide-ranging support for H.R. 2712. NACS, along with other like-minded groups, has signed on to a letter in support of H.R. 2712, available here. 

Some highlights of H.R. 2712 include:

• Creates a voluntary prospective reporting system: Permits employers to voluntarily report to the IRS general information about their health plan for the current plan year, which will help increase the accuracy of eligibility determinations for Exchange tax credits; state and federally-facilitated Exchanges will access information securely through the Data Services Hub.
• Streamlines the reporting process: Eases reporting burdens for employers who use the voluntary prospective reporting system by requiring 6056 reporting statements only for those employees for whom the employer has received notification that the employee or their dependents received an APTC rather than issuing reporting statements for the entire workforce.
• Protects privacy: Eliminates the requirement that employers and insurers collect and remit dependents’ and spouses’ Social Security numbers.
• Modernizes transmission of information to individuals: Allows for electronic transmission of employee and enrollee statements rather than requiring this information be provided only by paper statement sent through the mail.
• Establishes oversight of reporting and tax credit verification: Requires a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to provide insight into how availability of employer-sponsored insurance is being verified by state and federal Exchanges, and to suggest improvements to the appeals and prospective reporting systems.
• Creates eligibility process for subsidies: Requires the Exchanges to review the most recent tax filing for individuals who are automatically re-enrolled in Exchange coverage and adjust them accordingly.

If you support this legislation, we are asking that you agree to sign your company onto the letter of support that NACS has already signed. To have your name added to the list of signees, please contact NACS Government relations Director Jon Taets at jtaets@nacsonline.com.