{ "id": "R43474", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43474", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 460233, "date": "2017-04-05", "retrieved": "2017-08-22T15:29:03.966418", "title": "Implementing the Affordable Care Act: Delays, Extensions, and Other Administrative Actions Taken by the Obama Administration", "summary": "During the Obama Administration, the two federal agencies primarily responsible for administering the private health insurance provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA)\u2014the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) within the Treasury Department\u2014took a series of actions to delay, extend, or otherwise modify the law\u2019s implementation.\nThis report summarizes selected administrative actions taken by CMS and the IRS through February 2015 to address ACA implementation. The report is no longer being updated and is available primarily for reference purposes. A companion product\u2014CRS Report R43289\u2014summarizes all the legislative actions taken by the 112th, 113th, and 114th Congresses to repeal, defund, delay, or otherwise amend the ACA. \nThe most significant administrative action was the decision by the IRS to delay implementation of the law\u2019s \u201cemployer mandate.\u201d This ACA provision, which took effect on January 1, 2014, requires employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) to offer their full-time workers health coverage that meets certain standards of affordability and minimum value. Those employers who do not provide such coverage risk having to pay a penalty if one or more of their employees obtain subsidized coverage through an exchange. The IRS announced that it would not take any enforcement action against employers who fail to comply with the law\u2019s employer mandate until the beginning of 2015. Subsequently, the agency announced that employers with at least 50 but fewer than 100 FTEs would have an additional year to comply with the employer mandate.\nOther controversial administrative actions include those taken in response to the decision by insurers to cancel individual and small-group health plans that do not meet the ACA\u2019s standards for health insurance coverage, which also took effect on January 1, 2014.\nOpponents of the ACA argued that these administrative actions were an attempt to rewrite the law in order to make it work. They asserted that some of the Administration\u2019s actions were illegal and raised concerns that the President was not upholding his constitutional duty to faithfully execute federal law. The Administration countered that its actions were authorized by federal law and represented temporary corrections necessary to ensure the effective implementation of a very large and complex act.\nOn July 30, 2014, the House approved a resolution (H.Res. 676) authorizing Speaker John Boehner, on behalf of the House, to sue the President or other executive branch officials for failing to \u201cto act in a manner consistent with [their] duties under the Constitution and laws of the United States with respect to implementation of the [ACA].\u201d A lawsuit was filed on November 21, 2014, consisting of two counts. First, it claimed that the Administration had violated the Constitution by delaying the ACA employer mandate. Second, the lawsuit challenged the Administration\u2019s authority to pay cost-sharing subsidies, arguing that the law had not appropriated any funding for them.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43474", "sha1": "a92196b60186757ee9be9062ca86eb01c7e3c892", "filename": "files/20170405_R43474_a92196b60186757ee9be9062ca86eb01c7e3c892.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43474", "sha1": "ee1d98321a1b23f30daf681acc90486439e98d58", "filename": "files/20170405_R43474_ee1d98321a1b23f30daf681acc90486439e98d58.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 438732, "date": "2015-03-03", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T19:26:01.015875", "title": "Implementing the Affordable Care Act: Delays, Extensions, and Other Actions Taken by the Administration", "summary": "The two federal agencies primarily responsible for administering the private health insurance provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)\u2014the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) within the Treasury Department\u2014have taken a series of actions to delay, extend, or otherwise modify the law\u2019s implementation.\nThe most significant of these actions was the decision by the IRS to delay implementation of the law\u2019s \u201cemployer mandate.\u201d This ACA provision, which took effect on January 1, 2014, requires employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) to offer their full-time workers health coverage that meets certain standards of affordability and minimum value. Those employers who do not provide such coverage risk having to pay a penalty if one or more of their employees obtain subsidized coverage through an exchange. The IRS announced that it would not take any enforcement action against employers who fail to comply with the law\u2019s employer mandate until the beginning of 2015. Subsequently, the agency announced that employers with at least 50 but fewer than 100 FTEs would have an additional year to comply with the employer mandate.\nOther controversial administrative actions include those taken in response to the decision by insurers to cancel individual and small-group health plans that do not meet the ACA\u2019s standards for health insurance coverage, which also took effect on January 1, 2014.\nOpponents of the ACA argue that these administrative actions are an attempt to rewrite the law in order to make it work. They assert that some of the Administration\u2019s actions are illegal and raise concerns that the President is not upholding his constitutional duty to faithfully execute federal law. The Administration counters that its actions are authorized by federal law and represent temporary corrections necessary to ensure the effective implementation of a very large and complex act.\nOn July 30, 2014, the House approved a resolution (H.Res. 676) authorizing Speaker John Boehner, on behalf of the House, to sue the President or other executive branch officials for failing to \u201cto act in a manner consistent with [their] duties under the Constitution and laws of the United States with respect to implementation of the [ACA].\u201d A lawsuit was filed on November 21, 2014, consisting of two counts. First, it claimed that the Administration had violated the Constitution by delaying the ACA employer mandate. Second, the lawsuit challenged the Administration\u2019s authority to pay cost-sharing subsidies, arguing that the law had not appropriated any funding for them.\nThis report summarizes selected administrative actions taken by CMS and the IRS to address ACA implementation. A companion product, CRS Report R43289, Legislative Actions to Repeal, Defund, or Delay the Affordable Care Act, summarizes all the legislative actions taken by Congress since the ACA\u2019s enactment to repeal, defund, delay, or otherwise amend the law.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43474", "sha1": "762b05d7d6d3eb9b71a378e465c1587de406f9f2", "filename": "files/20150303_R43474_762b05d7d6d3eb9b71a378e465c1587de406f9f2.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43474", "sha1": "85401fa6dea780da61f8c085e0fb91fc629ebc84", "filename": "files/20150303_R43474_85401fa6dea780da61f8c085e0fb91fc629ebc84.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462800/", "id": "R43474_2014Aug01", "date": "2014-08-01", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Implementing the Affordable Care Act: Delays, Extensions, and Other Actions Taken by the Administration", "summary": "This report discusses the health care reform, private health insurance provisions and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140801_R43474_5cbf9baf7ba01e3fd8932b0836f81c6daaf3c306.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140801_R43474_5cbf9baf7ba01e3fd8932b0836f81c6daaf3c306.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Health care reform", "name": "Health care reform" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Comprehensive health care", "name": "Comprehensive health care" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Access to health care", "name": "Access to health care" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306536/", "id": "R43474_2014Apr14", "date": "2014-04-14", "retrieved": "2014-07-08T21:53:44", "title": "Implementing the Affordable Care Act: Delays, Extensions, and Other Actions Taken by the Administration", "summary": "This report discusses the health care reform, private health insurance provisions and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140414_R43474_fbf5cbf83d0367867c15cb16f3cafc57abea3436.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140414_R43474_fbf5cbf83d0367867c15cb16f3cafc57abea3436.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Health care reform", "name": "Health care reform" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Comprehensive health care", "name": "Comprehensive health care" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Access to health care", "name": "Access to health care" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Constitutional Questions", "Health Policy" ] }