Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act

The Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In the 5-4 decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court found that the individual mandate provisions of the ACA were constitutional as a tax. The relevant quote from the section on the mandate is as follows: "Our precedent demonstrates that Congress had the power to impose the exaction in Section 5000A under the taxing power, and that Section 5000A need not be read to do more than impose a tax. This is sufficient to sustain it." You can read the decision in full here.

As a result of this ruling the ACA will continue to stand. This means that employer plan sponsors and plan administrators should continue their efforts to ensure compliance with all of the ACA's provisions (e.g., including the upcoming exchange and minimum coverage requirements, looming deadline to distribute summaries of benefits and coverage (SBCs), to calculate and report CER and reinsurance fees and taxes, and to report benefits on Form W-2s).  As always, BPC remains committed to helping our clients implement ACA provisions in a compliant and efficient manner.

We believe the affirmation of ACA is an opportunity for the benefits industry and elected leaders to continue the conversation on how employers and employees can get the maximum value out of flexible compensation and individual account plans–including flexible spending account (FSAs), Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).  BPC will continue to advocate for measures such as the repeal of the FSA “use it or lose it” rule on behalf of your company to ensure that your benefit plans are working for you.

If you have questions on how ACA provisions impact your benefit plans, please contact us via email or 800-355-2350.