On October 9, 2015, in Notice 2015-60, the IRS announced the increased dollar amount that will be used in calculating patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) fees under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The ACA established the PCOR Institute, a private, nonprofit corporation to research the clinical effectiveness of medical treatments, procedures and drugs. To finance this research, PCOR fees are imposed on:

In general under the ACA, PCOR fees are imposed for plan and policy years ending on or after October 1, 2012, and before October 1, 2019.

For insured arrangements, PCOR fees are calculated by multiplying the average number of individuals covered under the policy for the year by the applicable dollar amount for that year. For self-insured plans, PCOR fees paid by plan sponsors are calculated by multiplying:

The applicable dollar amount is adjusted each year based on changes in the projected per capita amount of National Health Expenditures published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

For a discussion of calculating PCOR fees, see Practice Note, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Fees under the ACA: Calculating PCOR Fees for Insured Arrangements and Calculating PCOR Fees for Self-Insured Health Plans.

Under Notice 2015-60, the applicable dollar amount for plan and policy years ending on or after October 1, 2015 and before October 1, 2016, will increase from $2.08 to $2.17. (The applicable dollar amount of $2.08 applies for plan and policy years ending on or after October 1, 2014 and before October 1, 2015.)

The nine-cent increase in the PCOR adjusted dollar amount gives sponsors of self-insured health plans and health insurers a better sense, for planning purposes, of how much PCOR fees may increase from year-to-year, that is, until these ACA fees are no longer imposed. (The amount increased eight cents, from $2 to $2.08, for plan and policy years ending on or after October 1, 2014 and before October 1, 2015.)