isolved Blog

When the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was unconstitutional on Dec. 18, 2019, there was a moment of hesitation and uncertainty for employees and employers alike. Would this decision result in the wholesale overturning of the ACA?...

After the results of the presidential election came in, President Trump and other members of the federal government began making changes to policies that would impact employers throughout the country. These changes included modifications to immigration, transgender rights and protections, and health...

The fate of several federal regulations remain unclear as Congress and the Trump Administration work on scaling back or repealing regulations put into place by the former administration. Following President Trump’s inauguration, pending regulations across all federal agencies were frozen, which oft...

As 2015 has come and gone, most people are looking ahead to what 2016 will bring. Whether their resolutions include personal health, professional growth, or time with loved ones, chances are good that the benefits they receive at work will be important to at least one of the goals. Check out some of...

Health insurance deductibles are a fairly common practice in the world that we live in. An employer offers a specific health care plan to employees, in which the employee will pay a certain amount of money out of pocket for health care before their coverage can officially begin. However, the recent...

Part 1 introduced some of the challenges of the reporting requirements. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to report information about the offer of health insurance coverage to their employees. Some Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) — defined as those with more than 50 full-time equiv...

The employer reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continue to challenge and confuse many of those who must comply.  The law empowers the IRS to verify and enforce that large employers have offered their employees affordable health insurance plans with at least minimal essential co...

One of the few remaining Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements is a 40 percent excise tax on employer-sponsored health insurance coverage that exceeds specified threshold amounts. Also known as the Cadillac tax, it becomes effective in 2018 and is expected to be a major source of revenue. As a fol...

While we already knew there would be penalties for failing to file IRS forms 1094 and 1095, the recently enacted Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 revised Section 6721(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, providing penalty increases, making it more painful should an employer fail to file in a t...

You remember the question from the Wendy’s commercial in the 80’s, don’t you?  Where’s the beef?  It has been stuck in our head for decades.  Now that the deadline for the ACA IRS reporting is looming, everyone seems to be asking “Where’s the process?”  It may or may not have occurred to the IRS tha...

The wait is over.  On June 25, 2014, the Supreme Court released its opinion on the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax subsidies.  At issue in the case of King vs. Burwell, was whether subsidies should be provided only for exchanges available in states “established by the State” or if credits should a...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandates and deadlines may not be as severe and scary as the famous haywire robot test scene in RoboCop, but aspects of the law are putting plenty of fear into those who have been paying attention to its implementation requirements. Repercussions can be much wo...

Most good employers want to provide a strong benefit package, and they want to do it in a way that complies with legal requirements. But the increasingly complex nature of benefits – especially since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – is making that more difficult. Even an employe...

January 31, 2016 seems so far away, doesn’t it? Yet the very preparation for that day should have begun no later than January 1, 2015. Regulations from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect on this date that would require marketplaces, issuers and providers of insurance, as well as Applicab...

In Part 1, we reviewed the far reaching affects the ACA has had on numerous laws, requiring changes to procedures and compliance programs.  Here we will review the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). FLSA The FLSA law was passed in 1938 to protect both a worker’s pay and working hours.  There are thr...

Part 1 It is no secret that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is burdensome and complex.  Employers, insurance brokers, vendors and anyone else who provides or services any insurance product, funds an insurance product or needs one has been effected either positively or negatively by this law.  It’s be...

What seems right one day, may be wrong the next.  If you answered a question early last week regarding employer payment plans or whether a legal same-sex spouse is recognized under FMLA, your answer could be different today. On February 18, 2015, the IRS released Notice 2015-17 that addressed five...

“Because I said so!”  Who hasn’t heard that in their lifetime?  When we’re kids, it may work, but for people in HR, Payroll and Benefit roles, it’s a dangerous way to manage a workforce and may cause issues with FLSA and ACA Compliance. In October 2013 when the Marketplace Notice became due, there...

Resolutions abound on January 1 each year only to be broken or forgotten in a matter of weeks or months.  Since March 23, 2010, employers have continually resolved to keep up with the changes and stay in compliance. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) resolutions for 2015 will be harmful for the weary emp...

Despite a controversial past and an uncertain future, the national health care law referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) demands immediate attention and action by most businesses, especially those of specific sizes and structures.  Employers cannot afford to risk waiting to see what potential...

Not to be outdone by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Health and Human Service (HHS), the IRS also released guidance over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Final rules for minimum essential coverage and other employer shared responsibility requirements joined the Federal Register family...

During the Supreme Court’s conference November 7, 2014, they decided to hear the King vs. Burwell case.  In this case, the Fourth Circuit upheld allowing subsidies to individuals in an exchange other than one that is state run.  Interesting decision by the Supreme Court, considering the Fourth Circu...

We found a Loophole!  That was the cry from certain brokers, TPAs or employers when they investigated two separate pieces of the health care law in 2014.  But as the cautionary warning states, buyer beware!  Sometimes loopholes can turn into slipknots and bind you in a noncompliant way. Plans that...

Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) entering the picture, an employer generally considered a full-time employee as one that worked 40 hours a week and received health benefits, paid time off and perhaps even retirement contributions.  The ACA has required applying a new meaning not only to full-t...

Open enrollment in the Marketplace is a set time frame when individuals can enroll in a plan and receive a subsidy based upon their household income, if eligible.  You can generally buy a Marketplace plan only during the annual open enrollment period. Upcoming dates to know: November 15, 2014 - 2...