ACA PCORI Fees Due By July 31st…but it’s the Last Year! Hallelujah!!
As calendar year plans have long ended, it is important that self-funded plan sponsors, including those with relevant self-funded component plans, remember to remit their Comparative Effectiveness Research Fee or Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) Fee to the IRS. Self-funded plan sponsors are responsible for submitting Form 720 and any corresponding fees. The PCORI fees do not apply for plan years ending on or after Oct. 1, 2019. Therefore, for calendar year plans, the 2018 plan year is the last plan year that these fees will be effective.
| Plan Year | Ending Jan. 1, 2017 – Sept. 30, 2017 | Ending Oct. 1, 2017 – Sept. 30, 2018 | Ending Oct. 1, 2018 – Sept. 30, 2019 |
| Fee Per Covered Life | $2.26 | $2.39 | $2.45 |
What if the fee is late or was not remitted?
Late fees apply for late filing and/or payment, but the IRS may waive these if the plan sponsor has reasonable cause and the failure was not due to willful neglect. However, the IRS will not waive fees if the failure was due to inadvertent error. See Part II (Pages 8-9) of the IRS instructions. Corrections to a previously-filed Form 720 filing may be made using Form 720X. (See Q/A 16 on the IRS PCOR Fee webpage cited above.)
Action Plan
- Calculate covered lives using one of the approved counting methods. See the Leavitt Group article outlining these rules.
- Remit payment by submitting Form 720 and pay the fee by July 31st
- Leavitt Group is not permitted to prepare and/or remit Form 720 on behalf of our clients as these are tax documents. Please see k your own legal or tax advice for completion of these forms. The information provided herein is for general educational purposes only.