Young, Thune offer two bills to modernize healthcare reporting requirements

U.S. Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and John Thune (R-SD) recently proposed two bipartisan bills aimed at protecting Americans’ healthcare privacy and reducing bureaucratic reporting requirements in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).

“Small businesses in South Dakota and across the country have been forced to comply with overly burdensome administrative requirements from the” ACA, Sen. Thune said on Monday. “These bills would eliminate convoluted paperwork and streamline the current reporting requirements to ensure businesses can focus their resources on serving their customers and employees.”

“Under current law, overreaching compliance requirements create uncertainty and stress for employers in Indiana and across the nation,” added Sen. Young. “Our bipartisan bills will help reduce these unnecessary burdens and increase efficiency.”

The senators on Nov. 2 signed on as original cosponsors of the Employer Reporting Improvement Act, S. 3204, which would update communication by allowing employers to electronically file certain documents, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.

S. 3204 also would protect privacy by clarifying that the IRS can accept full names and dates of birth in lieu of dependents’ and spouses’ Social Security numbers, and extend the time period from 30 days to 90 days during which an applicable large employer can appeal a penalty for not offering adequate, affordable health insurance to all full-time employees, the summary says. 

Additionally, S. 3204, which is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), would enact a six-year statute of limitations for the IRS to levy penalties under the Employer Shared Responsibility provision of the ACA.

Sen. Thune on Monday sponsored the Paperwork Burden Reduction Act, S. 3227, with three original cosponsors, including Sen. Young and Sen. Warner. If enacted, the bill would provide an alternative manner of furnishing certain health insurance coverage statements to individuals, according to the text of the bill.

Specifically, S. 3227 would reduce the number of physical forms that employers have to mail to employees as part of complying with the ACA by codifying current IRS policy to allow the 1095-B form to be provided electronically and to extend this allowance to form 1095-C.

While the ACA was “a seismic achievement in expanding access to health care,” Sen. Warner said it’s still incumbent on Congress to ensure the law is working as smoothly as possible for Americans and businesses.

“These two bipartisan bills will take important steps forward to modernize and streamline compliance requirements while protecting privacy, so that more Americans and employers can access and deploy benefits without getting entangled in red tape,” said Sen. Warner.

The bills have garnered support from the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC) and the National Federation of Independent Business.