Several new provisions from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) are scheduled to become effective beginning next year. To help members understand their responsibilities under the health care law, ABC is providing a round-up of those regulations.

Two New Taxes:
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department issued proposals that will implement two taxes in the health care law on Jan. 1, 2013: the onerous 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax and the 0.9 percent Additional Medicare Tax. These taxes will heavily impact many merit shop contractors. Read the full article here. 

W-2 Form Reporting:
PPACA requires employers that issue more than 250 W-2 forms to report the cost of health care coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan on each employee’s 2012 W-2 form, which generally are required to be provided to employees in January 2013. Read the full article here. 

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs):
For plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2013, PPACA imposes a $2,500 limit on annual salary reduction contributions to health FSAs offered under cafeteria plans. This is a reduction from the current limit of $5,000. To help ABC members amend their plans, ABC MeritChoice Insurance has provided a sample of the information required in establishing an amendment for your plan documents. Read the full article here. 

In addition, Washington Council Ernst & Young wrote a summary, “Employer Coverage Requirements and Taxes Under the Affordable Care Act (PDF),” for the Bloomberg BNA Daily Tax Report, which includes:

• a summary of the major employer coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including key definitions that are being addressed in the federal regulatory process; 
• a timeline of compliance deadlines and summary of new reporting requirements;
• analysis of considerations related to employer-sponsored coverage for part-time workers and employers’ communication with employees; and
• analysis of how new employer coverage requirements under the ACA will translate to the assessment of taxes under the law.

And the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business also released a list of provisions that become effective in 2013 that is available in PDF format.