On June 21, the House of Representatives approved legislation, H.R.3801, that would streamline the Affordable Care Act (ACA) required reporting. The Employer Reporting Improvement Act, sponsored by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Mike Thompson (D-CA), passed by voice vote under suspension of the rules.

The Employer Reporting Improvement Act allows employers to use electronic filing for certain documents that the ACA requires employers to provide to their workers. The authority to use electronic filing is conditioned on the employees’ agreement to receive their statements electronically. In addition, the bill lets employers use the employees’ full names and dates of birth if the employer cannot collect the covered individuals’ taxpayer identification numbers. Finally, the bill creates a six-year statute of limitations.

Prospects: This bill has wide bipartisan support and will likely earn Senate approval as well, if lawmakers can find a vehicle to which the legislation can be attached. NAIFA supports this bill.

NAIFA Staff Contact: Michael Hedge – Senior Director – Government Relations, at mhedge@naifa.org.