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This article focuses on an update on major insurance carriers in the third quarter of 2015.

Previously, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a small group was scheduled to be defined as employers with fewer than 100 employees beginning in 2016. The PACE Act now defines a small employer as one that employed an average of not more than 50 on business days during the preceding calendar year. However, the act also gives states the option to define the small group market differently in each state. Most states are expected to move forward defining small groups as employers with no more than 50 employees, as was common prior to the ACA.

On May 19, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released FAQs detailing how employers should report offers of COBRA coverage on Form 1094-C and Form 1095-C. On September 16, 2015, the IRS issued final 2015 instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B (B Forms) and Forms 1094-C and 1095-C (C Forms). The revised instructions make a substantive change in the manner in which offers of COBRA coverage are reported.