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Ameriprise Financial
in MN

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Lockton Companies
in PA

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Principal Financial Group
in TX

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Multiple Plan Compliance Testing Webcast
December 8, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASC)

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Workshop
December 8, 2015 in CA
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

Regulatory Update and Emerging Issues in the Retirement Plan Marketplace
December 8, 2015 in FL
(ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Central Florida)

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program Workshop
December 9, 2015 in CA
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

Impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's Affordable Care Act Decision - Part II
December 15, 2015 WEBCAST
(Wagner Law Group P.C.)

ESOP Plan Processing Webcast
December 15, 2015 WEBCAST
(ASC)

Health Benefits Laws Compliance Assistance Seminar
January 12, 2016 in MD
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

Commercial Agility to Maximize Your Life Sciences Business
January 13, 2016 WEBCAST
(Healthcare Web Summit)

Health Benefits Laws Compliance Assistance Seminar
January 13, 2016 in MD
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

ERISA Plan Investment Committee Governance: Avoiding Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims
January 27, 2016 WEBCAST
(Strafford)

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Text of CMS Guidance on Policy-Based Payments (PDF)
4 pages. Unnumbered document dated Dec. 4, 2015. "This guidance sets forth the criteria CMS will use to evaluate whether an issuer's data and processes will be considered ready to receive policy-based payments and the payment withholding policy for issuers whose data is not deemed ready for a timely transition to policy-based payments in January 2016. It also lays out the early-2016 transition approach by which Marketplace payment amounts will be adjusted for issuers moving to policy-based payments." (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS])

[Advert.]

Controlling Health Care Costs With Self-Funded Plan Options

December 14 webinar - Factors that may motivate employers to self-insure; how self-insurance influences benefit design, benefit claims decisions, and financial exposure; and practical tips for decision-making. BenefitsLink discount .

IRS Explains When an Employer Can Reimburse Group Health Coverage from a Spouse's Employer on a Tax-Free Basis
"While the situations in [ CCA 201547006 ] involve insured coverage, the same conclusions would seem to apply to self-insured plan coverage. In addition to reaffirming that the tax exclusion is only available for reimbursements of after-tax payments and highlighting the plan-wide consequences if an HRA or other arrangement reimburses amounts that have already been excluded from income, the CCA underscores that substantiation of a spouse's after-tax payment is required[.]" (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

HHS Releases Proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2017
"Of interest to insurers is a draft 2017 actuarial value calculator. There are also points of interest for those working with student health insurance plans or individuals who may be eligible for hardship or other exemptions from the individual responsibility mandate." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

Practical Advice for Complying with New York Leave Laws (PDF)
"[This article] discusses the obligations of private employers in the state of New York and City of New York to provide their employees with leave. For each statutory or regulatory form of leave, the discussion includes the rights and obligations of employees and employers under each statute as well as the statutory requirement of each form of leave." (Fox Rothschild LLP)

Analysis of the Supreme Court 'Gobeille' Filings on Whether Vermont May Compel an ERISA Plan to File Health Care Claims Data
"This article analyzes the legal arguments presented by filings about why ERISA permits or prohibits the burden of complying with the Vermont statute, and how this resembles or differs from other state-law administrative burdens.... If the Court and the parties continue on the Court's current preemption path, the Court is likely to increase the incoherence of the Court's preemption principles and their discrepancy from the ERISA statute." [ Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. , (2d Cir. Feb. 4, 2014, oral argument Dec. 2, 2015)] (Albert Feuer, Esq., via SSRN)

HSA Enrollment Shows Dramatic Growth
"There has been an increase of approximately two million enrollees in Health Savings Account (HSA)-eligible insurance plans since January 2014 ... for a total of 19.7 million Americans with such coverage.... [T]he large group market continues to lead in enrollment gains, and now represents 78 percent of all enrollment in these plans." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Trends in HIPAA Enforcement Actions
"[W]hat can covered entities and business associates learn from [recent] enforcement actions? [1] Encrypt! Encrypt! Encrypt! ... [2] Risk analyses.... [3] Device management.... [4] Hard-copy PHI.... [5] Training.... [6] Incident response.... [7] Audit preparedness." (Poyner Spruill LLP)

Bankruptcy Court Grants Hospital Group an ERISA 'Special Collection Agent' for All Denied Claims
"[A] federal Bankruptcy Court approved an application to employ an ERISA 'Special Collection Agent' for Debtors filed by Victory Parent Company, LLC in the wake of the Hospital group's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings. The approval underscores the profound impact ERISA will have for the entire hospital industry and medical providers, particularly out-of-network, facing economic hardships, including bankruptcy filings. Compliant ERISA and PPACA appeals and litigation are the only way to protect a hospital or healthcare provider from bankruptcy." [ In Re: Victory Medical Center Mid-Cities, LP et al. , No. 15-42373-rfn-11 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. Dec. 3, 2015)] (AVYM Healthcare Revenue Consultants)

The Little Sisters, the Supreme Court and the HSA/HRA alternative
[A]ny religious employer objecting to any otherwise ACA-mandated item of medical coverage should have the right to instead fund an independently-administered health savings account (HSA) or health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) for each of its employees. Any employer maintaining HSAs or HRAs for its employees could then decline to offer its employees any particular form of medical coverage to which the employer objects on religious grounds. Employees can use their employer-provided HSA or HRA funds to purchase any medical service or device they want -- in the same way such employees can use their cash wages as they please." (Prof. Edward Zelinsky, OUPblog)

An Affordable Health Care System Would Look Nothing Like Obamacare
"[T]here are more opportunities to reduce health care spending by carefully managing the sickest 5 percent instead of wasting our efforts on the 80 percent who are relatively healthy.... To sufficiently slow medical spending, policymakers must allow plan designs that create price sensitivity among patients long after they have met their deductibles. To reduce health spending from the supply side, policymakers must allow insurers to promote competition among providers. In addition, plans and providers must be rewarded when they implement cost-saving programs that provide high-quality care at a lower cost." (National Center for Policy Analysis Health Policy Blog)

Form 5500 for 2015 Plan Year Released, Including New IRS Compliance Questions
"The addition of the IRS retirement plan compliance questions to the Form 5500 series and the draft Form 5500-EZ for 2015 is not a surprise, but since the first draft of these questions was released only a year ago, retirement plan sponsors and their advisors will welcome the news that they are optional for the first reporting year. Few adjustments will be needed for welfare plan filings, as the changes from the 2014 form are quite minor." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

Consider New IRS Guidance on 162(m) When Drafting Proxy Statement Disclosures
"Issuers that are not smaller reporting companies or emerging growth companies may want to make clear that the description of Section 162(m) included in their proxy statement does not include the application of Section 162(m) for those issuers entitled to rely in Item 402(m). Obviously, smaller reporting companies and possibly emerging growth companies will want to consider tailoring their description of Rule 162(m) to [ IRS Chief Counsel Memorandum 201543003 (the CCA)] as well as considering the substantive implications of the CCA." (Dodd-Frank.com, a blog by Stinson Leonard Street)

End of Year Considerations for Equity Compensation Plans
"[Determine] whether the term of a corporation's plan is set to expire in the coming year.... [R]eview the shares remaining available for issuance for future grants to ensure that there are a sufficient number of shares available for grant to cover the expected grants for the coming year.... [R]eview the per-person limit under the plan to ensure that grants are not made in any year that exceed the applicable limits." (Morgan Lewis)

Court Declines to Dismiss Claims Against TPA for Benefits and Equitable Relief
"The TPA argued that it should be dismissed from the lawsuit because it did not have discretion to make eligibility determinations and was not a fiduciary. But the court disagreed, applying Ninth Circuit precedent under which the logical defendants in an ERISA lawsuit include not only the plan and plan administrator but also other parties able to redress the violation and provide the requested relief[.]" [ Radevska v. Noble Americas Energy Solutions, LLC , No. 15-cv-0271-GPC-RBB (S.D. Cal. Nov. 9, 2015)] (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

The Effect of Health Reform on Retirement
"[The authors] analyze whether these new health insurance options led to an increase in retirement or part-time work among individuals ages 55 through 64 during the first 18 months after the policy took effect. Using data from the basic monthly Current Population Survey from January 2005 through June 2015 ... there was no increase in retirement in 2014 either overall or in Medicare expansion states relative to nonexpansion states. [The authors] also find no change in the fraction of older workers who are working part-time." (University of Michigan Retirement Research Center)

Signature Select Expands into Texas Signature Select LLC

Open Window Financial Solutions, Ltd. is Certified for Fiduciary Excellence Centre for Fiduciary Excellence [CEFEX]

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services Hires Jerry Lopez As Regional Vice President in the Central Division John Hancock Retirement Plan Services

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