WASHINGTON – Members of the E-Flex Coalition, a coalition of 22 employers and trade associations, including NACS, are endorsing legislation that would provide employees and employers with a more effective means for determining eligibility for Exchange tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The coalition expressed its support in a letter, signed by 176 employers and trade associations, to Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH), authors of S. 1996, the Commonsense Reporting Act of 2015. The bill is the companion measure to H.R. 2072 in the House of Representatives.

The health-care law requires employers and insurers to report information about health insurance coverage to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the end of the tax year. The Commonsense Reporting Act would streamline this process by establishing a voluntarily system to allow employers to report pertinent information before open enrollment begins, which would minimize the administrative burden at the back-end and limit the collection of unneeded information.

“S. 1996 is a first step in providing individuals, employers, insurers, states, and the federal government with more clarity about who may be eligible for premium tax credits, and potentially minimizing the prospects of individuals being subjected by the IRS to repayment of advanced premium tax credits or cost sharing subsidies in cases in which Exchanges made an incorrect eligibility determination,” notes the letter.