For more than five years since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), businesses have been uncertain regarding the permanency of its regulatory implementation. However, now that the Supreme Court has ruled in the landmark decision of King v. Burwell this past June, we know that ACA will remain unless Congress makes changes.
Meanwhile, COATS developers have been pressing ahead at further refining our software’s ACA tools.
“We had a feeling a number of years ago that ACA wouldn’t go away and have no illusions about the law’s complexity, so we’ve been working diligently to provide our users the tools they need to help them through these processes,” said Karen Connor, COATS business development director. “We know that each and every one of our clients is concerned about ACA compliance, so our latest version is designed to ensure a smooth year-end and tax-filing season.”
The ability of COATS to auto populate as much of the 1094/1095-“C” forms – based on data entered by the users – will ensure rapid completion for ACA compliance. Accurate data will be critical (We’ll have more to say about this in future blog posts in order to ensure your data is prepared for smooth completion).
So, just what are these forms?
Employers who are required to file the 1094-C and 1095-C are those who, under the ACA, are required to offer health insurance to their employees. Typically, this is a business with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees.
1094-C is the “Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns” form. This form is a reporting document from the applicable large employer (ALE) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to convey summary information regarding coverage. You might consider it a coversheet that the IRS can cross-reference with the issued 1095-C.
1095-C is the “Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage” form. This document is provided to employees and the IRS, It reports when health insurance was offered, if the employee either accepted and enrolled or declined coverage, and when during the year these designations occurred.
You can find detailed information and an explanation of these forms via the IRS.
How does COATS process and report these forms?
COATS is treating the 1094-C similar to the already familiar W3 form. This form is reported electronically to the the IRS and the 1095-C will be provided to employees (similar to the W2 form).
The 1095-C will be given to each non-variable employee or any employee covered under their staffing employer’s insurance.
In the coming weeks, we will post about why we feel it is important to help our clients auto-populate these forms, how our ACA tools can help you (including detailing the planning you should consider as we approach the tax reporting deadlines) and listing the mistakes you could potentially be making (and the hefty compliance costs you could face).
While the development effort has been monumental in getting COATS prepared to help you with your ACA reporting, we are convinced it is time well spent. We know that the hard work and final outcome will save our users significant time and money.
Are you already a COATS user? Do you have questions? Now is the time to ask them. Contact our support team and they will be happy to assist you with explaining the data entry and reporting process. If you are not a COATS user and you are wondering how you are going to be able to comply with ACA, schedule a demo with us.
Learn more about how COATS can unlock your business’ potential!
Are you ready to learn more?
Email Karen Connor for more information on how COATS’ ACA Tools can help you!
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