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Affordable Care Act Overview

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is a United States federal statute signed into law on March 23, 2010.

The ACA was enacted to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance, lower the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage, and reduce the costs of healthcare for individuals and the government. It introduced mechanisms like mandates, subsidies, and insurance exchanges.

The law requires insurance companies to cover all applicants within new minimum standards and offer the same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions or sex.

To enforce the ACA, the Internal Revenue System (IRS) provided Section 6056 which requires employers with 50 or more full-time and equivalent employees, to describe the health coverage they offer by filing Form 1094–C (a transmittal) and Form 1095–C (an employee statement). Electronic filing is required for filing more than 250 returns under Section 6056 (Forms 1094–C and 1095–C) during the calendar year. The reporting requirements will apply for 2015 calendar year and reports are initially due in 2016.

For the information that needs to be reported, the final regulations of Section 6056 contain the general method as well as alternative reporting methods. The General method applies to all employers whereas the alternative methods apply to some employers only. Those employers who are qualified for alternative reporting method can also opt to use the general reporting method.

Since the general reporting method can meet the requirements of every employer that needs to comply with Section 6056 reporting, this topic provides the requirements for this method.