On June 7, the House Ways & Means Committee unanimously 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), cleared the committee on a 37 to 0 vote. It is now ready for House floor action.

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 employee’s 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 the bill.

NAIFA Staff Contact: Diane Boyle – Senior Vice President – Government Relations, at dboyle@naifa.org; Michael Hedge – Senior Director – Government Relations, at mhedge@naifa.org; or Jayne Fitzgerald – Director – Government Relations, at jfitzgerald@naifa.org.