The Affordable Care Act has been around for more than five years now. However, changing rules, moving deadlines, and complicated reporting requirements have left many employers feeling unprepared for the ACA’s compliance mandates. As a result, HR professionals are being forced to spend inordinate amounts of time to ensure company benefit plans are compliant.
According to an article by Dan Cook for benefitspro.com, “Sally Roberts, speaking on behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management, said the myriad of administrative tasks reform has burdened HR with are actually devaluing health insurance benefits packages for those covered by some employer-sponsored plans.” Cook writes, “…SHRM members are reporting that they are investing far more time than they should be to making sure plans are compliant with tenets of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”
Brokers have an opportunity to assist clients and eliminate this stress by providing tools and technology to handle the ACA compliance burden. As an example, Paylocity’s ACA Enhanced Solution is full-analysis, coverage, and compliance package that eliminates the administrative burden on HR professionals.
One of the most time-consuming tasks associated with ACA compliance is the data tracking necessary to prepare and file IRS forms 1094-C and 1095-C. With ACA Enhanced, all data tracking is automated and IRS forms are prepared and filed on behalf of the client. Additionally, dashboards and reports make it easy for clients to monitor compliance status and track items such as employee eligibility, plan affordability, and large employer status.
To further ease the stress on clients, ACA Enhanced provides automated notifications and alerts for items like variable employees ending their initial measurement and stability periods and employees that are not enrolled but are eligible. Clients also receive protection in cases where the IRS raises issues with filing. Without this type of advocacy, clients are forced to deal with the IRS on their own and can face significant financial penalties.
By providing tools and technology such as Paylocity’s ACA Enhanced Solution, brokers can eliminate unwanted stress for clients and help ensure full compliance with the ACA. For more information about ACA Enhanced, click here.
