Actuarial Specialist
CBIZ Benefits and Insurance Services, Inc.
in AZ

Executive Compensation Attorney
Harter Secrest & Emery LLP
in NY

Benefits Plan Analyst
Ballard Spahr LLP
in PA

Manager, Quality Assurance
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
in PA

Project Manager
The Newport Group
in FL, NC

Senior Account Executive Retirement Services
The Principal Financial Group
in NJ

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Wellness Programs; Understanding the Why, Knowing How and Making it Work
April 3, 2014 WEBCAST
(MentorHealth)

HITECH Compliance in a Mobile World
April 9, 2014 WEBCAST
(Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC))

Tax Forms Workshop: 5500 and More - Appleton
April 30, 2014 in WI
(SunGard Relius)

Tax Forms Workshop: 5500 and More - Detroit
April 30, 2014 in MI
(SunGard Relius)

Washington Legislative Update
May 5, 2014 in DC
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

Health Benefits Laws Compliance Assistance Seminar
May 13, 2014 in IA
(Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), U.S. Department of Labor)

Spring 2014 Policy Forum
May 15, 2014 in DC
(Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI))

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
May 21, 2014 in PA
(PEBA (Penjerdel Employee Benefits and Compensation Association))

Health Benefits Laws Compliance Assistance Seminar
July 8, 2014 in KY
(Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), U.S. Department of Labor)

2014 Advisor Conference
October 15, 2014 in TX
(Center for Due Diligence)

2014 Fall Forum
November 17, 2014 in AZ
(Ascensus)

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IRS Final Regs Impose Complex Reporting Requirements on Self-Funded Plans and Insurers Starting in 2016 (PDF)
"Beginning in 2016 (for information on 2015), insurers and self-funded plans will be required to report information about health coverage provided during the prior year to all enrollees, including Taxpayer Identification Numbers of all covered individuals and the specific dates that such individuals had such health coverage, as required by Code section 6055. In addition, employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees will be required to report information about health coverage offered during the prior year to full-time employees, including information about the lowest cost option offered and whether the minimum value requirements were satisfied, as required by Code section 6056.... [The authors] address key questions related to the reporting, and summarize the information provided in a chart ... What transition relief is available for 2015? ... Who must file these forms? ... What form is used to report this information? ... How are these forms filed? ... When are these forms due? ... What information must be disclosed? ... What reporting penalty may apply?" (Groom Law Group)

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How to Calculate Employer Health Care Responsibilities
"Two part-time workers combined can equal a full-time employee....No part-time coverage required.... Measurement period.... How to calculate.... Seasonal worker exclusion... Smallest businesses exempt... Two penalties.... Threshold is 70% for 2015." (Journal of Accountancy)

IRS Memo Addresses Health FSA Carryovers and HSA Eligibility
"An individual covered by a general purpose health FSA ... solely because of the carryover of unused health FSA amounts from the prior year may not contribute to an HSA. This is the rule even for months in the plan year after the health FSA no longer has amounts available to pay or reimburse medical expenses.... The [IRS Chief Counsel] memorandum also addresses how the uniform coverage rule applies when an individual elects to carry over unused amounts from a general purpose health FSA to a HSA-compatible health FSA." (Practical Law Company)

High Deductible Plans: Going Back to the Future
"High deductible plans with a $1,000/$2,000 or $1,500/$3,000 deductible are gaining momentum. Plans that include a $500 deductible are an introduction to the deductible environment. They provide employers with some savings to the co-pay plans. These plans also introduce the employees to what the providers are charging." (William Gallagher Associates)

Congress Delays Medicare Cuts until 2015
"On March 31, the Senate voted to pass yet another 'doc fix' bill, which had been approved by the House the week before.... It comes at the 11th hour, as the SGR ... would have meant a sharp 23.7% drop in Medicare payments just hours later on April 1.... This latest doc fix ... again temporarily delays the looming cuts in Medicare payments, replacing the 24% cut with a 0.5% payment update through the rest of 2014 ... Congress is still working on a full repeal of the SGR." (Sheppard Mullin)

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Correction Procedures for Improper FSA Payments
"When an improper payment is discovered, the employer must 'demand' repayment by the employee to the FSA. The correction procedure in the Regulations ... states that the FSA debit card must be deactivated, and the employee must request future payments from the FSA through other methods until an improper payment is recovered." (Pilot Employee Benefits)

NLRB Classification of Athletes as Employees Highlights a Health Care Reform Land Mine
"Let's consider a hypothetical: on January 1, 2016, the IRS reclassifies enough students and independent contractors as 'full-time employees' so as to cause the University to miss the 95% mark, and at least one employee used a premium credit to purchase coverage on an exchange. It appears that after paying all the health care plan costs, the University could also be liable for a penalty in the neighborhood of $20 million, per year.... Given the high stakes involved with a failure to satisfy the 95% test, employers need to consider their margin for error, and give serious consideration to the circumstances involving anyone who is performing services but is not being treated as an employee." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)

IRS e-File Form Submission Process for ACA Providers (PDF)
27 presentation slides. Excerpt: "The following ACA related forms can be submitted electronically: [1] Form 8947: Report of Branded Prescription Drug Information is scheduled to be ready for electronic filing in the fall of 2014. [2] Form 8963: Report of Health Insurance Provider Information. [3] Form 8453-R: Declaration and Signature for Electronic Filing of Forms 8947 and 8963.... ACA information reports can be transmitted electronically via the ACA Form Acceptance (AFA) site on irs.gov." [The slides include detailed instructions for accessing and submitting forms electronically.] (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])

Use of HIPAA-Protected Personal Health Information by Employer Investigating FMLA Issue for Litigation Not Barred in Eleventh Circuit
"[T]he 11th Circuit determined that while HIPAA prohibits the use and disclosure of personal health information in employment-related decisions, it does not bar a defendant in litigation from using the plaintiff's personal health information to defend against that lawsuit. Thus, at least in the 11th Circuit, 'fruit of the poisonous tree' can be used by employers to defend their employment decisions made based on fruit from their HIPAA-covered plans.... [T]he Court seems to gloss over the distinction made in the HIPAA regulations between functioning as a covered entity-health plan and functioning as an employer. The employee was suing the employer in this case, not the plan, and the employer, functioning as an employer, simply should not have had access to this information." [ Bailey v. City of Daytona Beach Shores , No. 13-11127 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 20, 2014)] (Jackson Lewis, via National Law Review)

The Cost of the Affordable Care Act to Large Employers (PDF)
15 pages. Excerpt: "The cost of the ACA to large U.S. employers (10,000 or more employees) is estimated to be between $4,800 to $5,900 per employee. These large employers will see overall ACA-related cost hikes of between $163 million and $200 million per employer, or an increase of 4.3 percent in 2016 and 8.4 percent in 2023 over and above what they would otherwise be spending.... The total cost of the ACA to all large U.S. employers over the next ten years is estimated to be from $151 billion to $186 billion." (American Health Policy Institute)

U.S. House Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Treasury's Final Employer Mandate and Employer Reporting Regs
"[T]he Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on the implications of the recently released final regulations implementing the employer mandate and employer information reporting requirement provisions of the [ACA]. This hearing will allow the Subcommittee to hear directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury about how the Administration reached decisions to further delay the employer mandate, as well as explain the complicated reporting requirements.... The hearing will take place on Tuesday, April 8, 2014[.]" (Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives)

Trucker Huss Benefits Report, March 2014 (PDF)
Article titles include: [1] Final 90-Day Health Plan Waiting Period Rules Issued; [2] United States Supreme Court Decision in Quality Stores Case; and [3] IRS Issues Final Regulations Implementing the ACA's Information Reporting Requirements under Code Sections 6055 and 6056. (Trucker Huss)

Can Obamacare Be Fixed? Part II
"The reason we have so many problems in health care is that almost everywhere we look, people face perverse incentives -- patients, doctors, employers, employees, etc. When they respond to those incentives they do things that make costs higher, quality lower, and access to care more difficult than otherwise would have been the case.... In a well-run insurance marketplace, people will pay the full cost and reap the full benefits of every change they make. That leaves them with an undistorted economic incentive to buy insurance and to choose the insurance that best meets their individual and family needs." (John Goodman's Health Policy Blog)

Text of Comments by American Benefits Council to CMS on Proposed Rule for Certification of Compliance for Health Plans (PDF)
"Under the Proposed Rule ... all health plans that meet the definition of a CHP are required to meet the certification requirements ... regardless whether they actually conduct any standard transactions. The Proposed Rule does not explicitly address the responsibilities of the self-insured plan and the plan administrator with respect to meeting certification requirements ... In the vast majority of these situations, the self-insured group health plan is not self-administered and does not engage in standard transactions, but utilizes third parties to administer the plan, including carrying out any covered transactions." (American Benefits Council)

Morningstar, Inc. Acquires ByAllAccounts, Inc., Provider of Innovative Data Aggregation Technology for Financial Applications Morningstar, Inc.

Maestro First to Feature New Solution For Employer Sponsored Healthcare Market Maestro Healthcare Technology

Willis Strengthens Global Human Capital and Benefits Practice with Alan Hewitt Hire Willis

Bank of America Merrill Lynch 401(k) Scorecard Finds Employees and Employers Taking Action to Improve Financial Wellness Bank of America

The Segal Group Expands Retiree Health Services The Segal Group

Financial Education and Retirement Security Top Priorities for Employers in 2014 International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Fidelity Breaks Sales Record Of Small- And Mid-Sized Defined Contribution Plans, Ending 2013 With $8.9 Billion in New Assets Fidelity Investments

Newly Released Pentegra Retirement Services / Harris Poll Survey Results Pentegra Retirement Services

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