by IRS Notice 2014-55, issued September 18, 2014, permits two new types of mid-year changes in cafeteria plan elections (other than health flexible spending account elections) that will enable employees to drop employer group coverage in favor of individual coverage offered on state and federally-facilitated health exchanges (collectively, “the Exchange.”) Making that transition primarily will appeal to employees with household incomes in ranges that qualify them for financial assistance on the Exchange, in the form of premium tax credits and cost sharing. Those ranges are between 100% and 400% of federal poverty level in states that have not expanded Medicaid, and between 138% and 400% of federal poverty level in states that have expanded Medicare.
Recap of Existing Change in Status Rules
Under existing cafeteria plan regulations, a participant may make a mid-year change in their plan elections only in the event of a “change in status,” and only to the extent that the election change is both “on account of” and “corresponds with” the change in status. This latter requirement is referred to as the “consistency rule.” An example of a change in election that satisfies the consistency rule is removing a spouse from coverage as a result of a change in status that is a legal separation or divorce. By contrast, the participant dropping his or her own coverage in that situation would not satisfy the consistency rule.
Existing regulations set forth a finite list of changes in status that trigger the right to a mid-year cafeteria plan election. The list does not currently include a change in employment status – such as a transition from full-time to part-time status – that is not accompanied by a loss of group health plan eligibility. In addition, under special enrollment rights that were introduced with HIPAA, employees may enroll in their employer’s plan in the event they lose other coverage (for instance, through exhausting COBRA coverage), may add to their coverage a dependent newly acquired through birth, marriage, or adoption, and may make mid-year cafeteria plan changes that are consistent with these events. HIPAA’s special enrollment rights do not contain provisions that relate to availability of individual coverage on the Exchange.
Please note that references below to “changing cafeteria plan elections” may more accurately be described as revoking an election to make pre-tax salary deferral elections towards the purchase of group health premiums.
Notice 2014-55
Effective immediately, although at the option of employers, Notice 2014-55 permits mid-year cafeteria plan election changes in two different situations that are related to Exchange coverage.
The first situation applies when an employee who has been classified as full-time for ACA coverage purposes (averaging 30 or more hours of service per week) has a change in status which is reasonably expected to result in the employee averaging below full-time hours, without resulting in a loss of their group health coverage. Under the look-back measurement method, as set forth in final employer shared responsibility regulations, an employee who averages full-time hours during an initial (following hire) or standard (ongoing) look-back measurement period generally will be offered coverage for the entire related initial or standard stability period (and associated administrative period) without regard to the actual hours worked during the stability period, such that a schedule reduction would not impact coverage.
Now, under Notice 2014-55, full-time employees whose average weekly hours are “reasonably expected” to remain below 30 – and whose reduced earnings may now qualify them for premium assistance on an Exchange, or increased assistance – may revoke group coverage for themselves and covered dependents, provided it is for the purpose of enrolling in Exchange coverage or other “minimum essential coverage” that will take effect no later than the first day of the second month following the revocation. (Minimum essential coverage is not limited to exchange coverage and may, for instance, include group health coverage offered by a spouse’s employer.) Employers may rely on employee’ representations regarding the purpose of the election change. Changes to health FSA elections are not permitted in this situation.
The second situation has two variations. The first applies when an employee has special Exchange enrollment rights, including as a result of marriage, birth or adoption. Similar to HIPAA special enrollment rights, these permit purchase of Exchange coverage outside of Exchange open enrollment. The second applies under a non-calendar year cafeteria plan when an employee wants to enroll in Exchange coverage during the Exchange open enrollment period, effective as of the first of the following calendar year.
In either instance an employee may prospectively revoke group health coverage for him or herself and family members, provided it is for the purpose of enrolling in Exchange coverage that will take effect no later than the day immediately following the last day of the original coverage that is revoked. Employers may rely on employee’ representations regarding the purpose of the election change. Changes to health FSA elections are not permitted in this situation.
Plan Amendments and Effective Dates
The IRS intends to amend cafeteria plan regulations to reflect the guidance in Notice 2014-55. Employers may rely on the terms of the Notice until new regulations issue.
Employers who want to incorporate the new election changes into their cafeteria plans must amend their plan documents in order to do so. Employers who put the changes into effect between now and the end of 2014 may amend their plan documents any time on or before the last day of their 2015 plan year (December 31, 2015 for a calendar year plan). The amendment may be retroactive to the date the change went into effect, provided that participants are informed of the amendment and provided that, in the interim, the employer operates its plan in accordance with Notice 2014-55, or with subsequent issued guidance.
Employer Shared Responsibility Considerations
As mentioned, the first permitted change primarily relates to applicable large employers who use the look-back measurement period to identify full-time employees. To minimize “pay or play” liability, these employers should continue to monitor, over subsequent measurement periods, the average hours worked by employees who migrate to Exchange coverage, and offer affordable, minimum value coverage over corresponding stability periods to those whose hours average 30 or more per week, or 130 or more per month.
Interestingly, this portion of Notice 2014-55 refers to individuals who were “reasonably expected” to average 30 or more hours of service prior to the change, but who are “reasonably expected” to average below that after the change. This “reasonably expected” language – which implies a measure of employer discretion – appears in the final shared responsibility regulations only in connection with assessment of an employee’s likely status (full-time, part-time, seasonable or variable hour) upon initial hire. After an employee has remained employed throughout an entire standard stability period (which generally corresponds to the plan or policy year), he or she is an “ongoing employee” and his or her status as full-time or not full-time is determined solely based on average hours worked over the preceding look-back measurement method, or, under the “monthly” measurement period, over the preceding calendar month. In other words, employer discretion is removed from the ongoing measurement process. Now, it is reintroduced by Notice 2014-55 in the limited context of a schedule reduction during a stability period.
If the second permitted change is adopted by an applicable large employer, presumably that employer will continue to monitor employees who have migrated to the Exchange using the measurement method under which the employee previously qualified for an offer of group health coverage.
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