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The Affordable Care Act requires the IRS to impose a fee on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).  By providing financing for pertinent research, it aims to support healthcare professionals' decision-making and patient empowerment.  The responsibility for appropriately paying, reporting, and filing this charge still rests with the human resources departments that oversee self-insured health plans.  The HR professionals must be aware of the rates and deadlines, which are subject to annual changes, in order to comply.

 

 

The PCORI cost will be covered by the insurers offering defined health insurance policies and the employers who sponsor specific self-insured health plans.  The HR department is often tasked with identifying the relevant plans (if any) and determining if the company is subject to fees.  In order to meet the reporting requirements, HR staff members who oversee HRAs or FSAs (which are a part of the Health Reimbursement Arrangement, or HRA) that are included in a package with other coverage need additionally make note of this.

 

 

The charge must be determined by the HR specialists using the average of the covered lives in the plan throughout the course of the year.  The actual count technique, the snapshot approach, and the Form 5500 method are some of the methods that the IRS has already developed to determine the charge.  Therefore, using the appropriate mathematical technique helps speed up the procedure and reduce errors.  HR teams will find it very beneficial to use a PCORI charge calculator to streamline the process. Every year, the PCORI fees are received and paid on IRS Form 720.  This form, among other things, has a quarterly filing pattern, but it must only be completed once a year for the PCORI component, and it is typically finished by July 31st.  Correct plan year reference, timely form filing, and penalty avoidance should be top priorities for the human resources department.  Additionally, one can expedite the process by using online filing options.

 

 

The HR department thinks that having professional assistance in managing PCORI compliance issues is considerably more reassuring given the numerous commitments that are going through the human resource division, as well as the possibility of mistakes and penalties.  Speaking with tax advisors or even using specialized PCORI filing services can save a lot of time and lower the chance of errors.  In addition to ensuring compliance, HR teams who stay up to date on IRS revisions and successfully collaborate with finance or legal departments can also prove to be effective in handling PCORI fee responsibilities.