Less than two weeks ago, we commented on a growing apprehension in the marketplace. Many self-funded companies – especially those relying on payroll vendors – were becoming concerned about the looming deadlines for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) IRS forms that report on employees’ health coverage.

In fact, of those who responded to our survey on the topic, most reported that they were “not confident” that their forms would be completed on time.

After last night’s announcement by the IRS, many employers are breathing a little easier: the IRS filing deadlines have been extended by two more months.

ACA monitoring and reporting is a fact of life for the foreseeable future.  Extensions aside, the IRS is clear that it intends to follow through. Our advice is to treat ACA as a monthly monitoring task throughout 2016.  Do that, and when reporting for 2016 comes around in January of 2017, you won’t have to hope for extensions; you’ll be ready to report.