On March 23, 2010, the President
signed into law H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act, Public Law 111-148, as amended by the Health Care and
Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. 111-152, collectively
referred to as “The Affordable Care Act.” The Affordable Care Act
expands access to health insurance for individuals and employees of
small businesses through the establishment of new Affordable
Insurance Exchanges (Exchanges), including the Small Business
Health Options Program (SHOP). The Health Benefits Exchanges
established by the Affordable Care Act facilitate the enrollment of
qualified individuals into Qualified Health Plans (QHPs). Section
1501(b) of the Affordable Care Act added section 5000A of the
Internal Revenue Code (the Code) to a new chapter 48 of subtitle of
the Code effective for months beginning after December 31, 2013.
Section 5000A of the Code requires that nonexempt individuals
either maintain minimum essential coverage or make a shared
responsibility payment, includes standards for the calculation of
the shared responsibility payment, describes categories of
individuals who may qualify for an exemption from the shared
responsibility payment, and provides the definition of minimum
essential coverage. Section 1311(d)(4)(H) of the Affordable Care
Act specifies that the Exchange will, subject to section 1411 of
the Affordable Care Act, grant certifications of exemption from the
shared responsibility payment specified in section 5000A of the
Code. Section 1411(a)(4) of the Affordable Care Act provides that
the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) will
establish a program for determining whether a certification of
exemption from the shared responsibility requirement and penalty
will be issued by an Exchange under section 1311(d)(4)(H). Section
1321 of the Affordable Care Act discusses state flexibility in the
operation and enforcement of Exchanges and related requirements.
Section 1321(a) provides broad authority for the Secretary to
establish standards and regulations to implement the statutory
requirements related to Exchanges and other components of title I
of the Affordable Care Act as amended by the Health Care and
Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. CMS is publishing the
criteria needed to determine eligibility for certifications of
exemption and updated applications for exemptions as processed by
the Marketplace. CMS developed this PRA package as part of an
effort to solicit feedback from key stakeholders.
We have updated the information
request based on the number of applications received during the
first three years of the program. Instead of 12 million total
applicants to both the Exchange and the IRS, we are estimating a
total of 2 million applicants for exemptions from the Exchange each
year beginning in the 2017 tax year. Additionally, the estimated
number of statebased Exchanges has decreased from 18 to 12. These
factors have reduced the total burden from 3,263,605 hours to
555,752 hours.
$111,775
No
No
Yes
No
No
Uncollected
Jamaa Hill 301 492-4190
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form CMS-10466 Exemption Applications - Eligibility for Exemptions
CMS-10466 - Exemptions Application Supporting Statement fINAL.docx
Agreements