Washington Watch 

IRS Extends Deadline for Distributing ACA Tax Forms. Employers have until March 2 to distribute forms 1095-B and -C for the 2016 tax year to their employees, but the filing deadlines for forms 1094 and 1095 remain set at Feb. 28, 2017, if not filed electronically, and March 31, 2017, for those that are filed electronically. Employees can file tax returns before receiving the forms, which verify health insurance status under the Affordable Care Act. (Employee Benefit News, 11/21)

Risk Corridor Bill. A group of Republican senators introduced a bill on 11/18 to bar the government from paying any award or settlement to the growing number of health insurers suing for funds owed to them under one of the ACA's risk programs. The bill, titled the "HHS Slush Fund Elimination Act," would prohibit the administration from using any federal funds to pay insurers who are suing to collect promised payments under the controversial ACA risk-corridor program, which was meant to protect insurers from extreme losses during the early years of the public health insurance exchanges. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) introduced the bill along with Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). Risk corridors, which sunsets this year limits how much insurers can lose or gain on the exchanges. Under the program, profitable plans make payments to the government and plans with higher-than-expected medical claims receive payments. (Modern Healthcare, 11/18)

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