8 reasons for employers to keep their PPACA guard up

Forget the delays for a minute. Here's what the national law firm Bryan Cave had to say about which PPACA provisions remain in effect for employers in the year ahead.

1. Summaries of Benefits and Coverage must be distributed during open enrollment for the 2014 coverage period and must indicate whether the plan provides minimum value, as defined under PPACA.
2. Exchange Notices: Employers must distribute PPACA exchange notices to employees by Oct. 1, 2013, and thereafter to new employees upon hire.
3. Application for Advance Premium Credits: Employers are required to complete a 12-page form, “Application for Health Coverage and Help Paying Costs,” when requested by employees who are applying for PPACA advance premium tax credits when purchasing coverage via an exchange.
4. PPACA fees: Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute Fees (“PCORI Fees”) must be paid in July 2013 (that's now!). The first transitional reinsurance fee must be paid on or before Jan. 15, 2015.
5. W-2 reporting: Employers must continue to report the aggregate value of health coverage on Forms W-2.
6. Counting Period for Employer Mandate: Employers that need to determine whether they will be subject to the employer mandate in 2015 (50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees in 2014) will need to record employee hours in 2014. It's not yet clear whether a short counting period will be available, which means that employers may be smartest to begin to track hours on a per-employee, monthly basis on Jan. 1.
7. Benefit Mandates For All Plans: Plan design requirements for all plans continue to apply (e.g., maximum 90-day waiting period, no limits on pre-existing conditions or essential health benefits, expansion of wellness incentives, dependent coverage to age 26).
8. Benefit Mandates for Non-Grandfathered Plans Only: Plan design requirements for non-grandfathered plans only continue to apply (e.g., preventive care coverage requirements, limits on out-of-pocket maximums, etc.)

—Dan Cook

A quiet week usually reserved for barbecues, family get-togethers and a day or two off from work turned more complicated than anyone expected when PPACA stalled out on the way to full implementation. The Obama administration announced July 2 it would delay the employer mandate penalty for one year.