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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released draft instructions for preparing, distributing, and filing 2023 Forms 1094-B/C and 1095-B/C. These instructions largely mirror guidance the IRS has published in previous years, except that the electronic filing threshold has been reduced from 250 forms to ten forms in aggregate.  

This year, employers could mail their Forms 1094 and 1095 to the IRS if their submission included fewer than 250 forms. For the 2023 ACA filing and beyond, employers that cumulatively submit at least ten forms to the IRS, including W-2s, 1099s, ACA Forms 1094/1095, and other common form series, must file all of those forms electronically. For example, if an entity issues four 2023 Forms W-2, five 2023 Forms 1095-B, and one 2023 Form 1094-B, then that sum of ten forms means they must file all of them electronically with the IRS when due in 2024. This change resulted from a final regulation the IRS issued earlier this year that officially reduced the electronic filing threshold for many form series. 

Employers that have historically submitted their Forms 1094/1095 to the government via paper mailing will need to consider overall how many forms they will be filing with the IRS in 2024, not just Forms 1094/1095, to determine whether they can continue to do so. Ultimately, the ten-form aggregate threshold will necessitate electronic filing for nearly every employer. We urge employers that have traditionally paper-filed their ACA forms to either register with the IRS as soon as possible so they can e-File themselves or to contract with a vendor that can confidently e-File on their behalf. 

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Over 9 million adults cannot or do not take their medications as instructed.

Did that stat make you pay attention? It should.

Even if you offer insurance to your employees, they still might struggle with taking their medications and treating chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol—or taking any needed medicines for their health.

And you may not even know it. Read more

Every employee has experienced those days when you feel awesome, energized, and accomplished at the office. Then there are those days when you can barely motivate yourself to show up, let alone get anything done. What’s the difference? 

Often, it comes down to your company’s work culture and environment. While physical factors like office layouts and snacks are nice perks, less tangible things like leadership, teamwork, and work-life balance have an even bigger impact on productivity.

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Just when we thought affordability percentages couldn’t possibly go lower than the 2023 rate of 9.12%, the Internal Revenue Service released Revenue Procedure 2023-29 declaring the Affordable Care Act (ACA) benchmark for determining the affordability of employer-sponsored health coverage will significantly decrease to 8.39% of an employee’s household income for the 2024 plan year. This almost ¾ percentage point is a significant decrease for several reasons.

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By October 13, 2023, plan sponsors that offer prescription drug coverage must provide notices of creditable or non-creditable coverage to Medicare-eligible individuals. While plan sponsors are typically responsible for providing these notices by October 14^th every year, this year’s notice is due by October 13^th because the 14^th falls on a Saturday.

Creditable coverage is expected to cover, on average, at least as much as the standard Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, whereas non-creditable coverage falls below this threshold. Two methods are available to establish a prescription drug benefit’s creditability status: a simplified determination or an actuarial determination of credibility. Read more