A number of states haveimplemented their own insurance mandates intended to continuerequiring health insurance coverage and simultaneously stabilizethe market. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Lawmakers have been working behind the scenes for the betterpart of the last three years to make serious modifications to the Affordable CareAct (ACA). Some of what they envisioned has been accomplished.However, much of the original law remains intact nearly a decadeafter it was signed.

No doubt that ACA compliance continues to be an issue foremployers. Given the complex nature of the law, we providecomprehensive assistance to ensure our clients maintain compliance.It is with that in mind that we offer our ACA update for 2020.Below are the most important things you need to know for the comingyear.

Related: How to avoid ACA reporting penalties that you don'tknow about (yet)

The individual mandate is gone

You are undoubtedly aware that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 all buteliminated the individual mandate by repealing the penalty for nothaving qualifying health insurance. The penalty was stillapplicable through the 2019 tax year. It is no longer. Therefore,expect some of your employees to opt out of enrolling in yourhealth insurance plan.

The mandate ruled unconstitutional

As long as we are talking about the individual mandate, it isimportant to note that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recentlyruled the mandate unconstitutional in a case out of Texas. Theruling left a lot of questions unanswered, not the least of whichis whether or not the individual mandate is severable from the restof the ACA.

The Fifth Circuit only decided that the federal governmentcannot force people to purchase health insurance. They sent thecase back to a lower district court to decide whether the rest ofthe ACA remains intact without the individual mandate. The case nowrests with the Supreme Court after the Fifth Circuit's decision wasappealed. The Supreme Court denied a request for an expeditedhearing but will hear the case in 2021.

All of this is to say that nothing has changed from theemployer's perspective, at least for now. Employers still must meetall of their obligations under the ACA.

New state mandates

A number of states have responded to the Fifth Circuit'sdecision with their own mandates intended to continue requiringhealth insurance coverage and simultaneously stabilize the market.If your business pays taxes in any of those states, stay abreast ofany changes to your health insurance requirements.

ACA-related taxes

We will close this post with a discussion of three ACA-relatedtaxes that were done away with via the Further ConsolidatedAppropriations Act 2020, a budget bill signed into law by thepresident on December 20 of last year. In the bill were provisionsto eliminate the following taxes:

Cadillac Tax – The high-cost health plan taxaffectionately known as the "Cadillac Tax" will not be implementedin 2022 as was originally planned. The tax would have been upwardsof 40 percent on all employer-sponsored health plans withannual premiums in excess of $10,200 for singles and $27,500 forfamilies.

Medical Device Tax – This controversial taxapplied to nearly every new medical device on the market. Itsrepeal should, in theory, help control health care costs bypreventing unnecessary increases in medical device prices.

Health Insurance Tax – The Health Insurance Taxassessed a fee on insurance carriers. It will be phased out after2020. This will not have any effect on 2020 premiums, but it shouldhelp next year.

The ACA is still the law of the land. As long as it remainsintact, we will stand by to assist our clients as they seek tomaintain full compliance.

Misty Baker is BenefitMall'sdirector of compliance.

Read more: 

• How to help employer clients with IRS Letter226J
• 10 HR compliance issues for 2020
• State ACA reporting compliance: What employers needto know now