The transitional reinsurance fee (TRF) applies to fully insured and self-funded major medical plans for 2014, 2015, and 2016. The purpose of the fee is to provide funds to help stabilize premiums in the individual insurance market in view of uncertainty about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) would affect claims experience. While insurers are responsible for reporting and paying the fee on the policies they issue, the fee will generally be passed on to the employer. Plan sponsors of self-funded plans (or their representatives) must report and pay the fee to the federal government at www.pay.gov. Below are the answers to the top five most common questions about the TRF.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) established the Transitional Reinsurance Program to help stabilize premiums in the individual private and public marketplaces. The Transitional Reinsurance Fee (TRF) applies to fully insured and self-funded major medical plans for 2014, 2015, and 2016, regardless of the policy or plan year. Insurers of fully insured major medical plans and sponsors of self-funded major medical plans are responsible for filing and submitting contributions for the Transitional Reinsurance Program. 
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) extended the deadline for group health plans to provide their 2014 transitional reinsurance fee (TRF) submission. Filing is now due by 11:59 p.m. on December 5, 2014. The January 15, 2015, and November 15, 2015, deadlines to pay the fee remain the same. For more information on the TRF, see our recent 
Below are some to-dos for sponsors of self-funded group health plans. The information is limited generally to the “what” and the “when.”