Dive Brief:
- In December, the IRS extended the deadline for distributing the 1095-C proof of insurance form to employees (original due date was February 1). The deadline for employers to turn in the data is either May 31 (paper) or June 30 (electronic).
- While it is a simple form, confusion remains. A study by ADP in 2014 found that 83% of mid-sized employers and 57% of large employers don’t think their employees clearly understand Form 1095-C.
- Amanda Lannert, CEO at Jellyvision, whose employee benefits communication technology serves 7 million employees, says that employers have limited time to drive home the message of 1095-C so employees can finish it right.
Dive Insight:
Lannert offers several suggestions for employers, including: use conversational language; don’t tell them what they don’t need to know (all they need to know is what the thing is and what they do with it); and leverage existing communications like intranets, payroll portals or manager meetings to notify employees that they will be receiving this form called the 1095.
The better companies can get the information across now, the fewer freak-outs they’ll be dealing with the next few months, Lannert says.
She adds that institutions – especially the government – often make simple things mind-numbingly hard by doing things like not speaking in jargon and using numbers instead of simple language to describe forms.
