Reminder: Form W-2 Reporting on Aggregate Cost of Employer Sponsored Coverage
Unless subject to an exemption, employers must report the aggregate cost of employer-sponsored health coverage provided in 2015 on their employees’ Form W-2 (Code DD in Box 12) issued in January 2016. Please see IRS Notice 2012-9 and our previous e-mail alerts for more information.
The following IRS LINK is helpful and includes a chart setting forth various types of coverage and whether reporting is required. Please note this is a summary only and Notice 2012-9 should also be consulted.
If you have questions regarding whether you or your particular benefits are subject to reporting, please feel free to contact us at the information below.
Deadline Coming Up for Calendar Year Plans to Submit Medicare Part D Notice to CMS
As you know, group health plans offering prescription drug coverage are required to disclose to all Part D-eligible individuals who are enrolled in or were seeking to enroll in the group health plan coverage whether such coverage was “actuarially equivalent,” i.e., creditable. (Coverage is creditable if its actuarial value equals or exceeds the actuarial value of standard prescription drug coverage under Part D.) This notice is required to be provided to all Part D eligible persons, including active employees, retirees, spouses, dependents and COBRA qualified beneficiaries.
The regulations also require group health plan sponsors with Part D eligible individuals to submit a similar notice to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”). Specifically, employers must electronically file these notices each year through the form supplied on the CMS website.
The filing deadline is 60 days following the first day of the plan year. If you operate a calendar year plan, the deadline is the end of February. If you operate a non-calendar year plan, please be sure to keep track of your deadline.
At a minimum, the Disclosure to CMS Form must be provided to CMS annually and upon the occurrence of certain other events including:
- Within 60 days after the beginning date of the plan year for which disclosure is provided;
- Within 30 days after termination of the prescription drug plan; and
- Within 30 days after any change in creditable status of the prescription drug plan.
The Disclosure to CMS Form must be completed online at the CMS Creditable Coverage Disclosure to CMS Form web page by clicking HERE.
The online process is composed of the following three step process: (1) Enter the Disclosure Information; (2) Verify and Submit Disclosure Information; and (3) Receive Submission Confirmation.
The Disclosure to CMS Form requires employers to provide detailed information to CMS including but not limited to, the name of the entity offering coverage, whether the entity has any subsidiaries, the number of benefit options offered, the creditable coverage status of the options offered, the period covered by the Disclosure to CMS Form, the number of Part D eligible individuals, the date of the notice of creditable coverage, and any change in creditable coverage status.
For more information about this disclosure requirement (instructions for submitting the notice), please see the CMS website for updated guidance by clicking HERE.
As with the Part D Notices to Part D Medicare-eligible individuals, while nothing in the regulations prevents a third-party from submitting the notices (such as a TPA or insurer), ultimate responsibility falls on the plan sponsor.
This Client Alert serves solely as a general summary of the Form W-2 reporting requirements and CMS disclosure for Medicare Part D. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth H. Latchana at 517.377.0826 / elatchana@fraserlawfirm.com.
Elizabeth H. Latchana specializes in employee health and welfare benefits. Recognized for her outstanding legal work, in both 2018 and 2015, Beth was selected as “Lawyer of the Year” in Lansing for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law by Best Lawyers, and in 2017 as one of the Top 30 “Women in the Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Contact her for more information on this reminder or other matters at 517.377.0826 or elatchana@fraserlawfirm.com.
Two Fraser Attorneys, former Judges, Peter Houk and Paula Manderfield, joined an amicus brief to the Michigan Supreme Court in 2014 on a case arguing that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling should be applied to over 360 Michigan prisoners serving mandatory life without parole sentences which they received when they were teens. Simply put Houk and Manderfield and a host of other former Michigan judges and prosecutors argued that teens, especially younger ones, lack the mental capacity to fully understand the implications of their actions. That is why we do not let them drink, smoke or vote and why the court has previously held that capital punishment was inappropriate for teenage offenders. The Michigan supreme Court rejected that position. However, today the United States Supreme Court, ruled that prisoners who were convicted for crimes committed while juveniles and sentenced to life without parole must be given “the opportunity to show their crime did not reflect irreparable corruption; and, if it did not, their hope for some years of life outside prison walls must be restored.”
