The ACA requires the DOL to provide Congress with an annual report regarding private-sector self-insured health benefits plans and financial information of employers that sponsor such plans. The DOL recently released the 2023 annual report based on 2020 Form 5500 filings, including the number of participants, benefits offered, funding arrangements and plan assets. Along with the annual report, the DOL released two detailed appendices to complement the report: Appendix A, which describes the abstract of 2020 Form 5500 Annual Reports and Appendix B, which analyzes self-insured health benefit plans based on filings through 2020 and publicly available corporate financial data for some health plan sponsors.
The report summarizes that approximately 74,100 group health plans covering about 78 million participants filed a Form 5500 for 2020. Of those plans, about 37,900 were self-insured plans, covering about 35 million participants, and 4,400 were mixed of both fully insured and self-insured plans (“mixed-insured”) when filed in a single Form 5500 filing, covering about 29 million participants.
The 2020 Form 5500 filings show approximately 51% of plans were self-insured, 43% were fully insured, and 6% were mixed-insured. According to the report, while the number of group health plans that filed Form 5500 filings increased by 13%, the number of covered participants decreased by about 1 million compared with 2019 data.
According to the report, the increase in the number of plans came from mostly small, self-insured plans and small plans participating in multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs).
Employers should keep in mind that though the report provides insights about self-insured plans and its historical trends, many group health plans are exempt from filing Form 5500, including small employers, so the report represents only large group plans that are subject to Form 5500 filing.
2023 Annual Report on Self-Insured Group Health Plan » Appendix A » Appendix B »
PPI Benefit Solutions does not provide legal or tax advice. Compliance, regulatory and related content is for general informational purposes and is not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. You should consult an attorney or tax professional regarding the application or potential implications of laws, regulations or policies to your specific circumstances.
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