New Jersey: Health Insurance Mandate
In 2018, New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy, signed into law The New Jersey Health Insurance Market Preservation Act. This law requires all New Jersey residents to have health insurance or pay a penalty. Lawmakers in New Jersey drafted this legislation in response to the decision to eliminate the ACA individual mandate with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Although the law focuses primarily on the individual market, there are reporting requirements on employers that provide health insurance coverage to New Jersey residents starting for the 2019 tax year.
On December 13, 2019, the state of New Jersey issued guidance for employers regarding third party reporting to support the state’s new individual healthcare mandate law. Companies with 50 or more employees may use IRS forms 1094-C and 1095-C (1094-B and 1095-B if self-insured under 50 lives) to notify the state of healthcare coverage elections among their employees. Out-of-State employers must submit the forms on behalf of any New Jersey residents that they employ.
Forms are due to the primary enrollee by March 2nd, 2020 and to the state of New Jersey by March 31st, 2020. Although the federal reporting requirement for small self-funded employers was modified in early December to allow employers to post a notice online stating that the 1095-B are available on request, New Jersey still requires distribution of the 1095-B to the primary enrollee.
Unlike submission to the Federal Government, New Jersey does not have a paper filing option. If you are a New Jersey employer or an out-of-state employer with New Jersey resident employees, you will be required to file the 1095-C/B forms via the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services (DORES) MFT Secure Transport services. If you already have credentials for this secure transfer site, you may continue to use those. Otherwise, contact the Division of Revenue to obtain credentials.
For more information, please refer to the official site for the state of New Jersey. You can reach the site here.
Massachusetts: Paid Family and Medical Leave
The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave law (effective in 2021) required employers to start making financial contributions to support the paid leave program starting on October 1, 2019. The law allows employers to deduct a part of the required contribution from each employee’s wages (along with an employer contribution*) to fund the program. The initial contributions are set at 0.63% of each employee’s wages.
These deductions along with the employer’s required premium must be remitted through the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s MassTaxConnect system by January 31, 2020 (for premium collected October 1st, 2019-December 31st, 2019). Benefits will become initially available on January 1, 2021.
For more information on the MA PFML, refer to the Employer’s Guide here.
*Employers with fewer than 25 employees do not have to pay the employer share of the cost.
Connecticut: Paid Family Medical Leave
Although we are still waiting for final regulations regarding Connecticut’s recently passed (July 2019) Paid Family Medical Leave law, the law did establish the Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance Authority Board to oversee the program. The board had their first meeting in October 2019. The board is tasked with developing the regulations employers will need to make decisions around Paid Family Medical Leave. Payroll withholdings are not slated to start until 2021 and the employer requirements to offer leave doesn’t start until 2022.
However, employers will still want to be prepared and become familiar with the law. The Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance Authority Board is developing a website designed to answer employer’s questions. In the meantime, employers can find information on the Diversified website here.
Diversified will continue to keep you informed of any developments.
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