On Sept. 27, 2017, the Trump administration—in conjunction with Republican Congressional leadership—released a tax reform plan designed to make significant changes to the federal tax code. This plan is intended to serve as a template for the Congressional tax writing committees that will develop tax reform legislation.

The IRS Office of Chief Counsel has recently issued several information letters regarding the Affordable Care Act’s individual and employer mandate penalties. These letters clarify that:

In the early morning hours of July 28, 2017, members of the U.S. Senate voted 49-51 to reject a “skinny” version of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), called the Health Care Freedom Act (HCFA).
This was the final vote of the Senate’s 20-hour debate period, and effectively ends the Republicans’ current efforts to repeal and replace the ACA. However, the skinny repeal bill may be reintroduced at some point in the future.

On May 4, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its proposed bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), called the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Then, on June 22, 2017, Republicans in the U.S. Senate released a discussion draft of their proposal, called the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). On July 3, 2017, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a comparison report of the House’s AHCA and the Senate’s BCRA.

The opioid epidemic--a key focal point of health care reform negotiations in Washington—resulted in 22,000 deaths nationally in 2015 alone, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “prescription opioids continue to be involved in more overdose deaths than any other drug.”

On June 22, 2017, Republicans in the U.S. Senate released a draft of their proposal to repeal and replace the ACA, called the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). The Senate bill closely mirrors the proposal passed in the House of Representatives—the American Health Care Act (AHCA)—with some differences. For example, unlike the AHCA, the BCRA:

Cornerstone Group brings you a complimentary seminar to learn about...

• Health Care Reform Update
  • New provisions of the proposed "American Health Care Act"
  • Impacts of the changes in subsidies & rating requirements
  • What's next for AHCA legislation?

• Pharmacy
  • Are biosimilars safe and effective?
  • The outlook of specialty drugs
  • Approaches to combat the opioid epidemic

• DOL Audit
  • ERISA regulations & requirements
  • Increasing DOL audits & procedures
  • Compliance Solutions

When: Thursday, July 13, 2017 - 8:30 a.m. Registration, 9:00 a.m. Session Begins and Ends at 11:00 a.m.

On June 7, 2017, the U.S. DOL withdrew an administrative interpretation regarding joint employment. The interpretation was issued in 2016 by the DOL to help employers identify joint employment situations.

An auditor may come knocking at your door if you have errors in your payroll that result in a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It is estimated that more than one-half of all employer groups have misclassified their employees under the FLSA, though many do not realize it.

The ACA requires applicable large employers (ALEs) to offer affordable, minimum value health coverage to their full-time employees in order to avoid possible penalties. Because this employer mandate has been criticized as burdensome for employers and an impediment to business growth, it seems likely that its repeal will be part of any Republican plan to repeal and replace the ACA.