Welcome to the October 2024 edition of Benefits Buzz! In this blog post, we dive into the latest topics related to the IRS and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We also examine the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) final rule.  This month's highlights  Highlight #1: On Sept. 6, the IRS released the affordability percentage threshold for 2025 plan years under the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) pay-or-play rules.  Highlight #2: On Sept. 9, DOL, Health and Human Services and the Treasury Departments released a final rule to strengthen the requirements of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA).  Download the full story  For an in-depth look at this month's highlights, download the PDF below.   [Download the full story]   Stay informed, stay empowered and make the most of your benefits with Benefits Buzz! Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn for monthly updates and never miss out on the latest in benefits news.   ...

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently  ruled  that a key component of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) preventive care mandate is unconstitutional. However, in a decision it referred to as a “mixed bag,” the 5th Circuit limited its ruling to the plaintiffs in the case, a small group of individuals and businesses from Texas.  The ACA requires non-grandfathered health plans and issuers to cover a set of recommended preventive services without imposing cost-sharing requirements, such as deductibles, copayments or coinsurance, when the services are provided by in-network providers.  5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decisions  In March 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas struck down a key component of the ACA’s preventive care mandate as unconstitutional and issued a nationwide injunction against its enforcement. This decision involved a wide range of preventive care services, such as cancer screenings and medications for chronic...

The Affordable Care Act created reporting requirements under Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056. Under these rules, certain employers must provide information to the IRS about their employees' health plan coverage (or that the organization does not offer health plan coverage). However, things are set to change in the new 2024 ACA reporting requirements. In the original rules, any reporting entity that was required to file at least 250 individual statements under Sections 6055 or 6056 had to file electronically. However, on Feb. 23, 2023, the IRS released a final rule implementing a law change in the Taxpayer First Act of 2019, which lowers the 250-return threshold for mandatory electronic reporting to 10 returns. This means most reporting entities will be required to complete their ACA reporting electronically starting in 2024. This ACA blog describes the process for reporting electronically under Sections 6055 and 6056. Action steps Employers that are subject to the AC...

  Since the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, many reforms have been made to group health plan coverage. To make reviewing ACA group health plan requirements easier, download this ACA 2024 compliance checklist . If you have additional questions, TruePlan’s team of experts is here to assist. Contact us today to get the answers you need or to review your current employee benefits plan .