PCORI Fee (aka Death Panels)

When health care reform via the Health Insurance Marketplace was first introduced it included a fee called the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute Fee.  It was originally identified as a best practices panel that would be appointed to make sure finite health care dollars were wisely spent and not wasted on procedures that would not appreciably extend quality of life.  Immediately opponents identified it as a death panel that would ration healthcare.  Physicians can best answer if this is the case now that some of the higher cost specialties have had the government change how they practice medicine via quality measures.  In the meantime the fee or tax is still being collected to fund the PCORI.

The IRS has announced that the 2019 calendar plan year Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Fee (PCORI) for the July 2020 filing will be $2.54 per covered individual (up from $2.45). 
 
As a reminder, health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) are considered self-funded health plans and are therefore subject to the PCORI fee.

In IRS Notice 2020-44, the IRS has now released the fee for plan years ending on or after October 1, 2019 and before October 1, 2020, which includes 2019 calendar plan years that will report and pay the PCORI fee this July. 

For additional information and help determining your PCORI fee, check out this PCORI fee calculator here.