In a letter filed with two federal departments today, the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC) stressed the importance of streamlining the employment verification process for individuals applying for insurance Exchange coverage and simplifying the annual IRS employer reporting process. The comments were filed with the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and the Treasury in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the 2022 Notice of Benefits and Payment Parameters, the annual rule governing the federally facilitated and state-based insurance Exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

P4ESC noted in the letter that "[w]e have long advocated for a more consumer-friendly process for individuals, and a less burdensome and costly compliance process for employers, the federally facilitated and state-based Exchange systems and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alike. The ACA reporting process confuses individuals and families seeking coverage through the federally facilitated and state-based Exchanges and exposes employers complying with the ACA mandate to misguided tax penalties and compliance costs."

Further, the employer coalition stated "[t]he current bifurcated front-end Exchange enrollment verification system and the back-end annual employer reporting process under the IRS do not work. We want to work with you to fix it," and provided the following policy recommendations:

Establish a simple web-based platform or landing page for an employer to enter basic contact information (business address, email, phone number, contact name) for use by the federal facilitated and state-based Exchanges when needing to verify information on an individual’s Exchange coverage application.
Provide employers with a second, voluntary option to prospectively report information with the IRS, prior to annual open enrollment and for use by the federal facilitated and state-based Exchanges, about a plan that is offered to full-time employees that meets the employer shared responsibility (4890H) affordability and minimum value tests.

P4ESC has long advocated for compliance reforms to the ACA to “…ensure that individuals are enrolled in the appropriate healthcare home, whether that is in employer-sponsored coverage or an insurance plan through the Exchange system, without adversely impacting individuals’ and employers’ tax liability.”

The full text of the letter is available HERE.