Affordable Care Act (ACA) Training

The State Controller’s Office (SCO) and California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) offer multiple options for ACA and the SCOs’ ACA System (ACAS) training.

1. eLearning  
2. Virtual training courses
3. In-person learning (not currently offered)

ACA training courses are designed to provide human resources staff with the knowledge and skills required to access and key into ACAS.

All of these trainings are designed for departmental human resources staff. California State University employees should contact BenefitsInsider@calstate.edu for training needs.

ACA eLearning

Current ACA eLearnings:

• ACA Overview Video
• ACA eLearning Module 1 
• ACA eLearning Module 2 New!!

ACA Overview Video

This 8-minute eLearning video provides information about what the ACA is, what is required by the federal government for compliance, penalties associated with non-compliance, and an introduction to the SCO ACAS. This training module is helpful for anyone seeking to understand what the ACA is and how it impacts the State of California workforce.

ACA Overview Video: https://calhr.benefitsprograms.info/state-hr-professionals/benefits-program-information/affordable-care-act-aca/
***In order to gain access to the ACA Overview video above, please submit a request for a password to ppsdacatraining@sco.ca.gov.

ACA eLearning Module 1

This is the first of two eLearning training modules on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) program. This training module provides information on the employer-administered provisions of the ACA that impact the State of California as a large employer; describes the state’s business policies and practices that were developed to conform to the ACA provisions; and provides an overview of the roles of departmental personnel staff in implementing the state’s ACA-related business policies and practices to ensure the state’s ongoing compliance. Runtime: approximately 30 minutes and 40 seconds  

ACA eLearning Module 1: http://cacontrollers.adobeconnect.com/pqil40e8lef0/

ACA eLearning Module 2

This is the second of two eLearning training modules on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) program. This training module is recommended for all authorized ACAS users who would like experience accessing and keying into the ACAS. With the use of tools provided and through various exercises, participants will learn about accessing the system, compliance reports, and how to key into the ACAS. Runtime: approximately 31 minutes

ACA eLearning Module 2: Affordable Care Act Training ACAS Keying: http://cacontrollers.adobeconnect.com/prj58zcq9mum/

ACA Virtual Training

Prerequisite: ACA Overview Video (link above) & Keying ACAS Transactions Training Module (link above).

2023 Training Schedule

(All trainings are held virtually on Microsoft Teams)

Registration Information

To enroll in virtual ACA Training courses, please have your supervisor contact the ACA consultants at PPSDACATraining@sco.ca.gov.

Each scheduled participant and their supervisor will receive an email invite to confirm enrollment, which includes: class date, course materials, duration of the class, times, and location. In addition, participants will receive a reminder email approximately a week before the class date.

Special Request Consultations/Training

For special requests, please email the ACA Consultants at PPSDACATraining@sco.ca.gov. We do our best to accommodate the needs of our customers.

Additional Resources

There are many resources available to ACAS users, as well as others who seek to understand how the State of California is complying with the ACA.

ACAS User Guide

The intent of the ACAS User Guide is to explain the procedures, transactions and codes used to update ACAS. This User Guide does not address how to administer health benefits or how to process health benefit enrollment related forms. Rather, this User Guide defines the purpose of the ACAS and how it should be updated when an employee's health benefit status changes.

Updated content coming soon...

ACAS Emulator

The ACAS emulator is an online training tool that mirrors ACAS to provide "hands-on" training to statewide human resources staff responsible for keying health benefit status codes for employees in ACAS. Sample Scenarios for the ACAS Emulator are available to aid in using the ACAS Emulator (please note this link will navigate you to the CalHR website). Users must follow the scenarios from this document for the ACAS emulator to work.

ACAS Emulator (please note this link will navigate you to the CalHR website)

ACAS – Employee Benefit Transaction Worksheet

Human resources staff may use the Employee Benefit Transaction Worksheet as a keying document to record ACA Status Codes for an employee’s health benefit status changes. The worksheet also includes instructions and descriptions of each of the ACA Status Codes (e.g.1A, 2D, etc.).

ACAS - Employee Benefit Transaction Worksheet (note this link will navigate you to the CalHR website)

Scenario Specific Job Aid for Updating ACAS

The Scenario Specific Job Aid for Updating ACAS provides examples as guidelines for documenting a variety of ACA related scenarios. The specific scenarios are intended to help the human resources staff to:

• Find the type of employment or health benefit related event that pertains to their employee, then
• Identify why/how/when ACAS should be updated to reflect the appropriate health benefits status related information.

A Scenario Specific Job Aid for Updating the ACAS database

Monthly File Submission Overview

The Monthly File Submission Overview is intended for those entities that report Common Law or 119-Day District Agricultural worker information to the SCO using the file submission process. This resource provides detailed information about what data is required, how the data must be formatted and transmitted, and when the data must be provided.

Monthly File Submission Overview