Large Group / 51+ Employee Group Plans
Open Enrollment Checklist - Fall 2019
For employers operating their group health plans on a calendar year basis, now is the time
of the year to prepare for open enrollment with respect to group health and welfare
benefits. View the Checklist
No Waiver or Transition Relief is Currently Available
September 20, 2019
Recently, the Internal Revenue Service released an information letter regarding the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility (pay or play) penalties. The information letter is intended to clarify the applicability of the penalties in light of President Trump's 2017 executive order broadly directing federal agencies to waive, delay or grant exemptions from ACA requirements that may impose a financial burden.
The information letter:
Confirms that the ACA's pay or play penalties continue to apply to applicable large employers (ALEs) that fail to offer affordable, minimum value health coverage to their full-time employees (and dependents).
Indicates that the law does not provide for any waiver of the pay or play penalties.
Reiterates that, while several forms of transition relief were available for 2015 and 2016, no transition relief is available for 2017 and future years.
This information letter confirms the IRS' position that the executive order does not change the law, and that the ACA's provisions are still effective until changed by Congress. As a result, the ACA's pay or play penalties still apply. ALEs must continue to comply with this requirement, including paying any penalties that may be owed.
Updated IRS Pay or Play Q&As Contain 2020 Penalty Amounts
Click Here to view to Q&A