1. Employers & Benefit Brokers Weighing ACA Reporting Options
Benefitbrokersandlarge employersalike have spentalotof time recentlytryingtodetermine the best
solutiontothe Employerreportingrequirementsunderthe AffordableCare Act.Inan attemptto make
headsor tailsof the many optionsavailable,Ihave researchednearlyadozendifferentVendorsinthis
arena.Here is whatI have learned.
Pointstoconsiderfromthe verybeginning
1.) It isverypossible thatemployerscouldhave theirbenefitsadministrationandpayroll all with
the same provider.If thatis the case,and the clienthasno problempayingforit,itlikelymakes
sense toperformthe requiredemployerreportingwiththatvendor.
2.) Otheremployersdonothave an outside benefitsadministratororpayroll vendor. Theysimply
handle everythingthemselves.Inthissituationthere will be alotof ACA workto be done.Here
the employerwill needa standalone solution.
3.) Some employershave benefitsadministrationandpayroll setupwithdifferentvendors.This
wouldalsoinclude one of those beinghandledinhouse. Withthisscenarioyouwill eitherneed
to consolidate withone vendoror you will have to have a standalone solution.
The basic take home thusfar is that if youare an Employee BenefitBrokerandyouhave varioustypesof
clients,thenyou maynotbe able toget awaywithnot havinga standalone solutiontohelpclients.
What do youneedto thinkaboutwhenreviewingACA standalonevendors?
1.) You needto assesrather or notthe systemyouare reviewingismainlyabenefitsadministration
system.There are a wide range of productslike thisavailable.If thatisthe case thenwill there
be additional costsforthe ACA reporting?Also,aswiththe case of manybenefitsadministration
systems,there maybe additional chargesforEDI(electronicdatainterface –thisis where
electiondataissentto carriers).Understandwhatadditionalfeesapplytothe Employer
reporting.
2.) You shoulddetermine if the softwaresolutionyouare reviewingisevenbuiltyet.A staggering
amountof the demosthatI reviewedwerefromsoftware vendorsthatdonothave their
software completedyet.
3.) How will youprepare forAudits?The IRS will beginstartinginabout18 monthsfromfiling
dates.Auditscanalsolast for7 yearstotal.(http://www.irs.gov/Affordable-Care-Act/Questions-
and-Answers-on-Information-Reporting-by-Health-Coverage-Providers-Section-6055).Youwill
needa wayto referback to yourdata. If not, youmay be in trouble.
4.) Doesyour vendorhave the abilitytofile withthe IRS?Asof the latterpart of June the IRS had
not yetissuedguidelinesthatpertaintothis.Soif youwere toldthata vendorwas“setup” for
this.You mayhave beenliedto.
5.) Are theiradditional feesforfilingformswiththe IRS?WhatI foundwasthat many vendors
informyouof these extrafeesatthe endof theirpresentations.Thistypicallymakesthe
solutionnon-competitive.
6.) How complete is the Logic inthe system? This maybe the mostimportantpointtomake. If you
have spentas muchtime lookingatthese formsas I have (especiallyintermsof form1095c

2. lines14, 15 and 16) you will know thatperformingthisreportingis MUCHMORE thanjust
uploadingaspreadsheet. These codes can only be determined through logic.
 IMPORTANT NOTE – MOST SYSTEMS DO NOT HAVE THIS LOGICBUILT INTO THEIR
PRODUCT AND IT WILL BE UP TO THE EMPLOYER OR BROKER TO FIGURETHESE OUT.
7.) How will youhave topay forthe system?Will youpaya lumpsumup front,or are there
monthlyoptionsavailable?Will youhave tocommittomultiple yearswiththe same vendor?
8.) Can employerelectionsbe uploadedviaacensusdocument,orwill these needtobe placedin
the systemmanually?
9.) How goodis the vendor’scustomersupportlikelytobe betweenJanuary1st
andJanuary 31st
of
2016? Knowingthiswill giveyoupeace of mindwhenitcomestobeingable togetthisdone.
By nowyou can see thatthere isa lotto considerwhenthinkingaboutwhatdirectionyouoryourclients
shouldgoin.There are manyvendorscurrentlyavailableandastime passesanddemandrisesIexpect
there to be a lot more.Don’tgetfooledbyanyhalf builtor flybynightsolutions.Ihope thatyouhave
foundthishelpful and Iwishyouluckas yousearch fora solutionthatbestfitsyourneeds. Inthe case
where youwouldlike someone tobe fullyhandsonandprovide greatservice whilegettingthisall done,
we at ACA ReportingService are here tohelp.