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Healthcare Benefits Trends to Watch in 2014 -- Recorded
April 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(Healthcare Trends Institute)

Final CMS 2015 Pay Notice and Call Letter: Implications and Strategies for MA and Part D
April 23, 2014 WEBCAST
(Atlantic Information Services, Inc)

32nd Annual Forum
April 24, 2014 in PA
(PEBA (Penjerdel Employee Benefits and Compensation Association))

401(k) Plan Workshop 2014 - Appleton
April 29, 2014 in WI
(SunGard Relius)

401(k) Plan Workshop 2014 - Detroit
April 29, 2014 in MI
(SunGard Relius)

Form 5500
April 29, 2014 in PA
(PEBA (Penjerdel Employee Benefits and Compensation Association))

Private Exchanges: Avoiding Regulatory Pitfalls in the Post-ACA World
May 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(Atlantic Information Services, Inc)

DCIO Market Forum
June 19, 2014 in NY
(Financial Research Associates)

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Text of CMS Guidance on ACA Premium Credits and Enrollment Periods for Victims of Domestic Abuse (PDF)
"The Department of the Treasury recently clarified that a married individual who is living apart from his or her spouse at the time of filing an income tax return for 2014, and is unable to file a joint return as a result of domestic abuse, will be permitted to claim a premium tax credit while filing a tax return with a filing status of married filing separately.... This guidance provides two options for Marketplaces to ensure that this rule can be immediately implemented for the purpose of determining eligibility for advance payments of the premium tax credit (APTC) and cost-sharing reductions (CSR).... This special enrollment period will be available through May 30, 2014 during which an eligible individual who is married and a victim of domestic abuse may apply for and enroll in coverage for the individual and his or her dependents through the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace." (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

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Text of CMS Shared Responsibility Provision Question and Answer on Coverage Gap for Individuals Determined to Be Eligible for Medicaid or CHIP (PDF)
"[A]n individual who applies for coverage on or before March 31, 2014 and is found eligible for Medicaid based on that application will have Medicaid on or before March 31, [2014] Under these circumstances, even if such an individual did not have coverage before March 31st, he or she will qualify for a short coverage gap exemption for the period of time before his or her Medicaid coverage was not yet effective, back to January 1, 2014.... The IRS and Treasury Department intend to publish guidance allowing an individual to claim a hardship exemption from the individual shared responsibility payment for the months in 2014 prior to the effective date of the individual's CHIP coverage if the individual submits a coverage application prior to the close of the open enrollment period and is found eligible for CHIP." [Dated March 31, 2014.] (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

'Shared Responsibility' Final Regs and 2015 Transition Guidance
"Now that the parameters of the pay-or-play mandate appear to be set, employers should decide exactly how they will comply. Time is running short -- applicable large employers that wish to use the look-back measurement method and a 90-day administrative period should begin tracking hours of service by April 2 if they have calendar year plans, and all employers must count full-time employees and FTEs during a period of at least six consecutive months in 2014." (King & Spalding)

Is Your Health Plan Premium Affordable Under the ACA?
"A large employer subject to the employer mandate in 2015 (i.e., an employer that employed at least 100 full-time employees and/or full-time equivalent employees during 2014) that intends to minimize exposure to ACA penalties should review the safe harbors and determine which safe harbor, or combination of safe harbors, works best for its full-time workforce.... Form W-2 Wages Safe Harbor.... Rate of Pay Safe Harbor.... Federal Poverty Line Safe Harbor." (Bond, Schoeneck & King)

90-Day Maximum Health Plan Waiting Period: Final Regs Give Some Relief
"[E]mployers may wait until the end of an 'orientation period' to begin counting the 90 days, and proposed rules issued in tandem with the final regulations tell us that such an orientation period can last no more than one calendar month (less one day). This may allow employers to re-instate past practices of enrolling new hires on the first of the month after 90 days of service, rather than enrolling employees mid-month or shortening the waiting period to 60 days in order to allow first-of-month enrollments and still comply with the 90-day maximum." (Frost Brown Todd)

Payers Scramble to Set 2015 Premium Rates
"While it likely will take weeks for federal and state officials to release key beneficiary data from the exchanges such as age distributions, actuaries and others crunching the health insurance policy numbers for 2015 have already identified several factors they will have to take into account.... If insurers had known federal officials were going to allow 'transitional policies' to stay in place through 2016, carriers would have set their 2014 premium rates higher ... And we wouldn't have seen the likely jump in 2015 that we are going to see." (HealthLeaders Media)

Healthcare Spending Growth Hits 10-Year High
"Expenses for health care rose at a 5.6% annual rate in the fourth quarter ... The jump triggered a sharp upward revision in the government's estimate of consumer spending overall and accounted for nearly a quarter of the economy's 2.6% annualized growth in the last three months of 2013." (USA TODAY)

Text of Amicus Brief by Employer Organizations in Support of Employer on Appeal to Sixth Circuit of Rochow v. LINA (PDF)
"The decision, if affirmed, would significantly increase the risk, cost, and uncertainty associated with offering ERISA-governed employee benefits, including a dramatic increase in the expense and burden of resolving benefits cases. These effects will have negative repercussions for the availability and affordability of valuable employee benefits on which millions of American workers and their families depend.... [T]he district court fashioned a purportedly 'appropriate equitable' remedy under Section 502(a)(3) that is contrary to the carefully balanced scheme and purposes of ERISA, and inappropriately punitive in nature. As such, the decision should be reversed." (American Council of Life Insurers, American Benefits Council, Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, and America's Health Insurance Plans [AHIP])

How to Create a Benefits Plan That Appeals to the Young and Cool
"Millennials care about their benefits.... Millennials want to choose what type of coverage they get.... Millennials have competing benefit offers; they need to be courted.... Millennials want real-time, instant information ... But they also crave face-to-face mentorship.... Insurance Cards will no longer do the trick." (Forbes)

April and May 2014 Filing and Notice Deadlines for Qualified Retirement and Health & Welfare Plans
"[This] filing and notice deadline table provides key filing and notice deadlines common to calendar year plans for the next two months. Please note that the deadlines will be different if your plan year is not the calendar year. Please also note that the table does not include all applicable filing and notice deadlines, just the most common ones." (King & Spalding)

The Continuing Evolution of Executive Retirement Benefit Arrangements
"Although the percentage of U.S. employers that sponsor nonqualified defined benefit (NQDB) retirement plans continues to decline, reflecting the closing or freezing of many broad-based DB plans, most of the organizations surveyed (71%) continue to provide some type of employer-paid arrangement (NQDB and/or nonqualified defined contribution plans). On average, these plans deliver an additional 5% to 7% of earnings in annual retirement income to a mid-level executive." (Towers Watson)

ING U.S. Launches New Online Personal Financial Planning and Budgeting Solution ING U.S.

Great Lakes Employee Benefit Services Changes Name, Combines with McGraw Wentworth McGraw Wentworth

Health Policy Leader Alan Weil To Become New Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Health Affairs

Scott Schaerer Joins Pentegra Retirement Services as Regional Director to Spearhead Business Development on West Coast Pentegra Retirement Services

Pensionmark Retirement Group and Retirement Plan Solutions Partner in Milwaukee, WI Pensionmark Retirement Group

CFDD Launches Liquid Alternatives Website Resource Page For DC Plans Center for Due Diligence

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