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Reporting Health Care Costs In The Year-End Portal

As part of year-end processing, some employers are required to report the total cost of employer-sponsored health coverage on employee W-2s. This article explains when this reporting applies, what information to include, and how to complete this step in the Empeon Year-End Portal.

Who Is Required to Report Health Care Costs?

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers that issued 250 or more W-2s in the prior calendar year are required to report the total cost of employer-sponsored health coverage on employee W-2s.

  • The amount is reported in Box 12 using code DD

  • This amount represents the combined employer and employee portion of healthcare insurance costs (total insurance premiums)

  • The amount reported is not taxable and is provided for informational purposes only

📌 Important:
Confirm with your tax advisor whether this requirement applies to your organization. If it does not apply, you may select “Not applicable to this company” in the Year-End Portal and proceed to the next step.

How to Report Health Care Costs in Empeon

If health care cost reporting applies to your organization, Empeon offers two methods for completing this step in the Year-End Portal.

Option 1: Using the Empeon Benefits Module

If your organization uses the Empeon Benefits Module, you can select from the available benefit plans directly in the portal.

  • If Empeon already captures all required healthcare cost information, no import is needed

  • Simply review the plans and confirm the information is complete and accurate

Option 2: Importing Health Care Cost (HCC) Data

If you do not use the Empeon Benefits Module, or if additional healthcare cost data exists outside of Empeon, you can upload your information using the Health Care Costs (HCC) import template provided in the Year-End Portal.

Helpful tips for importing data:

  • The reported amount must include both employee and employer portions

  • If you are unsure of total costs per employee, we recommend contacting your insurance broker, as they are the best source for total premium information

  • You may submit multiple imports if needed

⚠️ Important:
Be very careful when submitting multiple imports. The system will not override existing data, so duplicate uploads may result in incorrect totals.

What Should Be Included in Health Care Costs?

The IRS provides detailed guidance on what to include, exclude, or optionally report as part of employer-sponsored health coverage.

IRS Resource:
Form W-2 Reporting of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage

This page includes a helpful chart outlining:

  • What must be included

  • What should not be included

  • What may be optionally included

If you have questions about what applies to your organization, we recommend consulting with a tax advisor.

Reviewing Your Health Care Cost Data

Once your information is entered or imported, the final review screen allows you to verify everything before moving forward.

You’ll have access to three review tabs:

  • Company Tab
    Displays an overview of healthcare costs for the entire company, including any associated child entities.

  • Summary Tab
    Shows a per-employee summary for each company.

  • Detail Tab
    Displays a detailed line-by-line view of each benefit plan or source per employee.

All views can be exported for additional review and record-keeping.
We strongly recommend reviewing each tab to ensure accuracy before continuing.

Completing This Step

Once all information has been reviewed and confirmed, select “Done” to move forward to the next step in the Year-End Portal.