Health Law Advisor

As employers are expanding their fertility, surrogacy, and family planning benefits, the tax treatment of such benefits continues to be a challenge for employers and their employees by both increasing the cost of these benefits and creating administrative hurdles. In a private letter ruling, the IRS maintains its position that the majority of the medical costs and fees incurred by a same-sex couple seeking to have a child through gestational surrogacy are not deductible “medical expenses” under Section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code. On January 12, 2021, the IRS issued ...

Our colleague  Tzvia Feiertag at Epstein Becker Green has recently published a post on the Workforce Bulletin blog that will be of interest to our readers in the health care industry: “IRS Memo Concludes There Is No Statute of Limitations for ACA Employer Mandate Penalties Under Internal Revenue Code § 4980H.”

Following is an excerpt:

The IRS Office of Chief Counsel recently issued a memo which, in a surprise to many, concluded that the filing of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) Forms 1094-C and 1095-C (“C Forms”) does not start the statute of limitations on ...

As employers are wrapping up their reporting under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) for the 2018 tax year (filings of Forms 1094-B/C and 1095-C/B with the IRS are due by April 1, 2019, if filing electronically), they should start preparing for new reporting obligations for the 2019 tax year.

After a string of failed efforts to repeal the ACA, Congress, through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”), reduced the federal individual shared responsibility payment assessed (with limited exceptions) against individuals who failed to purchase health insurance to $0 beginning ...

The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has released Notice 2018-94, which extends the due date for furnishing the 2018 Form 1095-B and Form 1095-C to individuals from January 31, 2019 to March 4, 2019.

This extension is automatic, and, as a result, the IRS will not formally respond to any pending extension requests for furnishing the forms to individuals. In addition, filers do not need to submit a request or documentation to take advantage of this extension. Despite the extension, the IRS is encouraging employers and other coverage providers to furnish the 2018 statements as soon ...

There has been a growing trend of strategic joint ventures throughout the healthcare industry with the goal of enhancing expertise, accessing financial resources, gaining efficiencies, and improving performance in the changing environment. This includes, for example, hospital-hospital joint ventures, hospital-payor joint ventures, and hospital joint ventures with various ancillary providers (e.g., ambulatory surgery, imaging, home health, physical therapy, behavioral health, etc.). Extra precautions need to be taken in joint ventures between tax-exempt entities ...

Our colleague Michelle Capezza, a Member of the Firm at Epstein Becker Green, has a post on the Technology Employment Law blog that will be of interest to many of our readers in the health care industry: “Get Ready to Respond to IRS Letter 226J: Employer Shared Responsibility Payment Assessments.”

Following is an excerpt:

In a recent update to the IRS’ Questions and Answers on Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions under the Affordable Care Act, the IRS has advised that it plans to issue Letter 226J informing applicable large employers (ALEs) of their potential ...

Our colleague Sharon L. Lippett, at Epstein Becker Green, has a post on the Financial Services Employment Law blog that will be of interest to many of our health care and life sciences employers and plan sponsors: “Plan Sponsors: Potential Targets for IRS Compliance Examinations.”

Following is an excerpt:

The IRS recently released the Tax Exempt and Government Entities FY 2018 Work Plan (the “2018 Work Plan”) which provides helpful information for sponsors of tax-qualified retirement plans about the focus of the IRS’ 2018 compliance efforts for employee ...

As discussed previously on this blog, employers are increasingly turning to telemedicine as a way to cut employee health care costs and improve bottom lines. The trend will be accelerated by the impending Cadillac Tax, a 40 percent excise tax on the excess of the cost of an employee’s applicable coverage over the employee’s applicable dollar limit. In February, the Treasury and IRS released Notice 2015-16 (the “Notice”), kicking off the process of developing regulatory guidance regarding the Cadillac Tax. Specifically, the Notice addresses the following issues:

We recommend this recent post on the Hospitality Labor and Employment Law blog: “IRS Releases Proposed Rules on Employer's Information Reporting Requirements Under the Employer Mandate of the Affordable Care Act,” by Kara Maciel, Adam Solander, and Brandon Ge, our colleagues at Epstein Becker Green.

Following is an excerpt:

On September 5, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released two proposed rules to implement important reporting requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), which will help determine penalties under the ...

A recent article in Bloomberg BNA's Health Insurance Report will be of interest: "ACA's Employer 'Pay or Play' Mandate Delayed - What Now for Employers?" by Frank C. Morris, Jr., and Adam C. Solander, colleagues of ours, based in Epstein Becker Green's Washington, DC, office. Following is an excerpt:

The past few weeks have changed the way that most employers will prepare for the employer ‘‘shared responsibility'' provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Over the past year or so, employers have scrambled to understand their obligations with respect to the shared ...

A recent article in Bloomberg BNA's Health Insurance Report will be of interest to health industry employers: "ACA's Employer 'Pay or Play' Mandate Delayed - What Now for Employers?" by Frank C. Morris, Jr., and Adam C. Solander, colleagues of ours, based in Epstein Becker Green's Washington, DC, office.

Following is an excerpt:

The past few weeks have changed the way that most employers will prepare for the employer ‘‘shared responsibility'' provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Over the past year or so, employers have scrambled to understand their obligations with ...

By Michelle Capezza

Employers with fifty or more full-time employees (including full-time equivalent employees) are subject to the employer mandate penalties under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended  (the “ACA”) which become effective in 2014.  These penalties can be triggered if such employers fail to offer a health plan to their full-time employees and their dependents and have at least one full time employee who receives a premium tax credit or cost share reduction in connection with their enrollment in a qualified health plan through an ...

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, employers with employees and operations impacted by Hurricane Sandy are asking what types of tax and employee benefits relief may be available to them and their affected employees.  The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) have moved quickly to provide disaster relief guidance for affected employers and their employees.

IRS Relief.  In response to Hurricane Sandy, on November 2, 2012, the IRS in IR-2012-84 declared Hurricane Sandy a “qualified ...

By:  Kara M. Maciel

Identifying and eradicating the misclassification of employees as independent contractors continues to be a key objective for the Obama Administration.  The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the IRS have intensified their enforcement efforts regarding worker misclassification, and audits have increased substantially, particularly within the home health industry.  In September 2011, the DOL and IRS announced an effort to coordinate with each other and with several states by, pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding, permitting ...