Effective January 1, 2014, employers with 50 or more full-time employees must submit reports to the IRS with extensive details about the employer’s health coverage and the employer’s workforce.  Each employer must certify whether it offers "minimum essential coverage” to full-time employees (and their dependents) and, if so, include the following details about the coverage:

• The length of any waiting period;
• The months during the calendar year for which coverage under the plan was available;
• The monthly premium for the lowest cost option in each of the enrollment categories under the plan;
• The employer's share of the total allowed costs of benefits provided under the plan; and
• The option for which the employer pays the largest portion of the cost of the plan and the portion of the cost paid by the employer in each of the enrollment categories under such option.

In addition, whether or not an employer offers minimum essential coverage, it must report the following information about the employer and its workforce:

• The name of the employer and the employer’s identification number;
• The number of full-time employees for each month during the calendar year;
• The name, address, and tax identification number of each full-time employee during the calendar year and the months (if any) during which such employee (and any dependents) were covered under any such health benefits plans; and
• Such other information as the IRS may require.

An employer must also provide a written statement to each full-time employee named in the return.

Employers failing to file these returns are subject to penalties.

American Fidelity Assurance Company does not provide tax or legal advice.