Employers may need guidance on a variety of HR compliance, employee benefit and tax-related issues once the U.S. Supreme Court announces its ruling concerning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
The matter is made more complicated by the fact that some of the law's provisions have already been implemented while others have not, the American Benefits Council notes. This means that organizations may find themselves forced to roll back past compliance efforts, adjust to new requirements, or even do both. If the entire law were declared unconstitutional, employers will need to know how to treat coverage of adult children up to the age of 26 for tax purposes.
Those who consider maintaining the coverage for the remainder of the current plan year might be impacted if it is to be considered taxable income. Alternatively, payroll taxes could be affected if the benefit is classified as part of an employee's wages.
If the law is upheld in its entirety, then employers will have a limited period to adjust to the requirements they face in 2013 and 2014, when a number of major provisions are scheduled to take effect. These include legislation that penalizes some companies if they do not provide healthcare benefits, or their benefits fail to meet certain criteria.
