The Internal Revenue Service recently issued two sets of proposed regulations regarding a significant and ongoing reporting obligation that employers, insurers and other plan sponsors must meet, under the health reform law.

The reporting will enable the IRS to identify which individuals and employers are complying with the law’s individual and employer mandates, respectively, and to verify the legitimacy of the premium subsidies supplied to individuals purchasing coverage in the public health insurance exchanges, or “marketplaces.”

The IRS is asking employers and other stakeholders to comment on the proposed reporting rules. Though only proposed, the rules are worth studying.  They will likely be finalized in substantially the same form, and they don’t make life any easier for employers, particularly those who prepare their own payrolls. Employers who outsource payroll functions will want to dialogue with their payroll vendor, to determine whether and how the vendor can assist in the reporting process.

Via the Lockton Health Reform blog.