In 2010, the federal government enacted the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a comprehensive health care reform law that phases in a series of actions to occur over an eight-year period. The ACA is intended to:
- Provide all Americans access to health care
- Lower the cost of quality health care
- Protect health care consumer rights
To expand health care coverage, as part of the Employer Shared Responsibility Provision, also known as the employer mandate, all employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (FTE) are required to provide minimum essential medical coverage (MEC) to at least 95% of their full-time employees and dependents up to age 26 in 2016.
Full-time employees for ACA purposes are those who work an average of 30 hours or more per week. At Stanford, these include not only Stanford’s benefits-eligible employees, but also Stanford’s temporary, casual, and student employees.
Starting in 2016, all employers are also required to report coverage information to the IRS and furnish covered individuals with a form that shows compliance with the individual shared responsibility provision of ACA. The annual notification, also known as the IRS Form 1095-C, must be sent to all employees by March 2016. In addition, health plan insurers must send a similar IRS Form (1095-B) to covered individuals.
What Action is Stanford Taking and Who is Affected?
To comply with the ACA Employer Shared Responsibility mandate, Stanford is taking several actions that impact all Stanford employees and ACA-eligible employees. Below is a summary of actions Stanford is taking:
| ACA-Eligible Enrollment (for full time temporary, casual and student workers) |
IRS Form 1095-C (all active Stanford employees, retirees & Individuals Offered Coverage) |
|---|---|
November 2015:Stanford will notify ACA-eligible employees that qualify for medical coverage of the special ACA-Eligible Enrollment period. Eligible employees are identified based on a “look back” of service hours from October 2014-October 2015. |
December 2015:Stanford will inform all active employees and individuals (e.g. retirees) of the new IRS Form 1095-C, the new 1095 portal, and when the forms will be provided. |
December 2-16, 2015:ACA-Eligible Enrollment period. |
March 2016:Stanford will provide full-time employees and individuals covered by self-insured plans a 1095-C form. Other insurers such as Kaiser will send Kaiser-covered employees and individuals a 1095-B form. |
January 2016:All ACA-eligible employees will be offered medical coverage. |
