PPACA: So What's New for 2013?

[Midpack]

I tried to find a summary from a .gov site:

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act I'm far too stupid to make sense of this site. I'd try to read through the reg, but it's 2409 pages, and I won't pretend I could ever make it...
Key Features of the Affordable Care Act, By Year | HealthCare.gov curiously doesn't look anything like what's below, though I am sure it's all there on the site somewhere.

And the various other legal, HR, HC sites didn't all match up , but the summary below seemed to have more in common with other sites for what that's worth.

2013 This is the year that the financial/revenue raising provisions of the PPACA start to become effective.

• A $2,500 annual limit will be imposed on health FSA deferrals; currently there is no such limit (effective January 1, 2013).
• The current 7.5 percent of AGI floor on income-tax deductions for health care expenses is raised to 10 percent of AGI (effective January 1, 2013; however, new floor is waived during 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 for individuals who turn age 65 before the close of those years).
• The deduction for the portion of health care expenses that are reimbursed to the employer through the Medicare Part D subsidy program is eliminated (effective January 1, 2013).
• Group health plans must comply with "administrative simplification" rules (to be published) for electronic exchange health information and electronic fund transfers and file a certification with the federal government that the plans are in compliance. In addition, the employer must ensure that service providers also comply with the transaction and certification requirements. The penalty for non-compliance is $1.00 per covered life per day of non-compliance up to a maximum of $20.00 per covered life per year, but a double penalty applies in the case of any employer misrepresentation. This applies to grandfathered plans. Systems must be effective starting January 1, 2013, and employers must certify compliance by December 31, 2013.
• The FICA Medicare tax rate is increased 0.9 percent for wages/earnings over $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly); i.e., a combined 2.35 percent on wages over $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers). An employer is required to collect the employee’s share in the case of wages. However, the law does not increase the employer’s share of FICA Medicare tax (effective for tax years beginning January 1, 2013).
• Employers must provide notice to employees of the upcoming existence of state insurance exchanges, which are to be established by all the states in 2014. Notice must be in the form specified in upcoming DOL guidance (effective March 1, 2013 or such later date as set forth in future DOL guidance).

 

[MichaelB]

KFF has a nice timeline feature Implementation Timeline - Kaiser Health Reform
New this year affecting many of us is the deduction for medical expenses rises from 7.5% to 10%. Higher earners will also face an increased Medicare tax and also need ot pay Medicare tax on some investment income.