Friday, February 13, 2015

TGIF

And the beat goes on.

Yesterday, the Internal Revenue Service issued the final versions of the forms and instructions that FEHB plans, other health plans and insurers, and employers, including the government, will use to perform the reporting required under Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code (as added by the ACA). The 6055 reporting (IRS Form 1095-B) is used by health plans to document plan member compliance with ACA's individual shared responsibility mandate. The 6056 reporting (Form 1095-C) is used by large employers (50 or more full time employees) to document their compliance with the ACA's employer shared responsibility mandate. Tim Jost on Health Affairs reviews the final forms and instructions here. OPM created a Section 6056 reporting website yesterday for the benefit of federal agencies. "Agencies need to work with shared service centers and payroll to collect and report on these requirements for the FEHB Program."  The first reports are due early next year for the 2015 reporting year.

Today, the ACA regulators issued FAQ XXIII on excepted benefits. The regulators are now only XXVI FAQs behind the Superbowl which just hit XLIX.  The FEHBlog understands that next year will be Super Bowl 50 (not L) and thereafter the Super Bowls will revert to Roman numerals.When will the ACA regulators catch up?

The Military Times had an article on Congressional hearings held earlier this week on the recent recommendations of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission which the FEHBlog discussed last month.
Some lawmakers zeroed in on the commission's recommendation that the Pentagon eliminate most of Tricare's health services and move millions of military dependents and retirees into private-sector health care policies similar to those offered to federal civilians.
Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., chairman of the personnel panel of the House Armed Services committee, who is also a trained physician, raised concerns about the commission's claim that Tricare is reimbursing doctors at rates lower than government-run Medicare and fair-market value.
"As a health-care provider for over 30 years, I question that assumption," Heck said.
That prompted a forceful response several commissioners, including former House member Steve Buyer and retired Adm. Edmund Giambastiani.
Buyer called Tricare "a broken system," while Giambastiani said Tricare is "in a death spiral."
Finally, thanks to the Washington Post's Federal Eye blog, the FEHBlog found this nifty map / chart displaying the population of federal employees by Congressional District and county in 2014.

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