General Reporting Method Requirements

The general reporting method of the Affordable Care Act requires employers to report the details of the employer and their full-time/full-time equivalent employees.

The following are required to be reported in general reporting method:

• The name, address, and employer identification number of the employer, and the calendar year for which the information is reported
• The name and telephone number of the employer’s contact person
• A certification as to whether the full-time employees (and their dependents) can enroll in minimum essential coverage under an eligible employer-sponsored plan, by calendar month
• The number of full-time employees for each calendar month during the calendar year, by calendar month
• For each full-time employee, the months during the calendar year for which minimum essential coverage under the plan was available
• For each full-time employee, the employee’s share of the lowest cost monthly premium for self-only coverage providing minimum value offered to that full-time employee under an eligible employer-sponsored plan, by calendar month
• The name, address, and social security number of each full-time employee during the calendar year and the months, if any, during which the employee was covered under an eligible employer-sponsored plan

The following are other information required using indicator codes:

• Information as to whether the coverage offered to full-time employees and their dependents under an employer-sponsored plan provides minimum value and whether the employee had the opportunity to enroll his or her spouse in the coverage
• The total number of employees, by calendar month
• Whether an employee’s effective date of coverage was affected by a permissible waiting period, by calendar month
• Whether the employer had no employees or otherwise credited any hours of service during any particular month, by calendar month
• Whether the employer is a person that is a member of an aggregated group, and, if applicable, the name and Employer Identification Number (EIN) of each employer member of the aggregated group constituting the applicable large employer on any day of the calendar year for which the information is reported
• If an appropriately designated person is reporting on behalf of an employer that is a governmental unit or any agency or instrumentality thereof for purposes of Section 6056, the name, address, and identification number of the appropriately designated person
• If an employer is a contributing employer to a multi-employer plan, whether, with respect to a full-time employee, the employer is not subject to an assessable payment due to the employer’s contributions to the multi-employer plan.
• If a third party is reporting for an employer with respect to the employer’s full-time employees, the name, address, and identification number of the third party (in addition to the name, address, and EIN of the employer already required)

The following may need to be reported with respect to each full-time employee for each calendar month:

• Minimum essential coverage meeting minimum value was offered to:
  • The employee only
  • The employee and the employee’s dependents only
  • The employee and the employee’s spouse only
  • The employee, the employee’s spouse and dependents
• Coverage was not offered to the employee and:
  • Any failure to offer coverage will not result in a payment, for example because the employee was in a limited non-assessment period for certain employees
  • The employee was not a full-time employee
  • The employee was not employed by the employer during that month
  • No other code or exception applies
• Coverage was offered to the employee for the month although the employee was not a full-time employee for that month
• The employee was covered under the plan
• The employer met one of the affordability safe harbors with respect to the employee