Bowser Insurance Services Inc.

The deadline for some key Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting deadlines for the 2025 tax year is next week.

Who must file?
✔️ Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) with 50+ full-time or full-time equivalent employees must file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C to report health coverage offers.
✔️ Small employers sponsoring an ICHRA, self-funded, or level-funded plan still have reporting obligations and must file Forms 1094-B and 1095-B to report coverage provided. If you're on a level-funded plan, you will want to check with your carrier on how this is being managed.
✔️If you're on a fully insured plan, your carrier is likely handling this on your behalf.

Federal ACA deadlines for the 2025 tax year:
📌 March 2, 2026 – Deadline to furnish Forms 1095-C or 1095-B to employees
📌 March 2, 2026 – Deadline for paper filing with the IRS
📌 March 31, 2026 – Deadline for electronic filing with the IRS
(Electronic filing is required if you’re submitting 10 or more returns.)

ACA reporting isn’t just a paperwork exercise. It’s about protecting your business from penalties and ensuring employees have the documentation they need.

👉 One important reminder: some states have their own guidelines. Be sure to review state-specific requirements if you have employees in CA, MA, NJ, RI, or DC.

Happy reporting!

Thank you, Raj!

Sometimes, the strategy works beautifully.

Sometimes, it doesn’t.

We recently took a group with 10 employees through underwriting for to try to secure better medical rates at renewal. The employees completed health questionnaires, and the underwritten rates looked good.

Then, a few employees decided to waive coverage.

With this smaller pool of employees opting for coverage, everything changed. The group became DTQ (declined to quote). No new option. No shiny alternative. Just the reminder that underwriting is never guaranteed.

This is the part that doesn’t get talked about enough.

👉 Going through underwriting doesn’t always mean better rates.
👉 Sometimes, you win.
👉 Sometimes, you don’t.
👉 And sometimes, the group no longer qualifies at all.

In this case, the client is staying exactly where they are — and that’s OK. Because we did the work. We tested the market and validated that the current plan is still the best option available right now.

And, even though didn't get that better rate, I'd still call that a win.

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. today! How are you spending this day?