Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

August 23, 2016

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National Retirement Services, Inc.
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Webcasts and Conferences

Retirement For Real: Lessons Learned From Ten Years of Retirement
August 25, 2016 WEBCAST
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]

Compensation & Benefits - Section 409A: The Basics Course
September 14, 2016 WEBCAST
Winstead PC

Hot Topics for ERISA Fiduciaries
September 20, 2016 in NY
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

PPA Aftermath and 403(b) Document Update
September 28, 2016 WEBCAST
ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries]

2016 Employee Benefits Regional Roadshow
October 26, 2016 in TX
Littler Mendelson

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[Guidance Overview]

IRS Releases Draft 2016 ACA Information Reporting Forms and Instructions
"The 2016 draft Forms 1094-C and 1095-C are substantially similar to the final 2015 versions. Some changes are intended to help plan sponsors and third-party administrators properly complete and file the forms, while others update indicator codes."
Willis Towers Watson

[Advert.]

Register for NBCH's 21st Annual Conference, Sept. 26-28 in Orlando

Sponsored by National Business Coalition on Health [NBCH]

This must-attend event convenes employers, health plans, providers, business health coalitions and other key stakeholders focused on the future of health care and benefits. Free admission for employers that are members of an NBCH coalition. Join us.


[Guidance Overview]

ACA Information Returns (AIR) Working Group Meeting, August 23, 2016 (PDF)
31 presentation slides. Topics: [1] "New Participants -- General AIR Information; [2] New Participants -- ACA Application for TCC; [3] New Participants -- AIR Getting Started; [4] New Participants -- AIR Schemas, Crosswalk, Business Rules and ACA Assurance Testing System.
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

[Guidance Overview]

HHS to Target HIPAA Breaches Affecting Fewer Than 500 Individuals
"The [HHS] website indicates that the first settlement involving a breach of unsecured electronic PHI affecting fewer than 500 individuals occurred in late 2012. But HHS's formal initiative on breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals appears to reflect the government's belief that investigating the 'root causes' of smaller breaches may reveal the kinds of entity-wide HIPAA noncompliance that have driven some of the large and expensive settlements[.]"
Practical Law Company

[Guidance Overview]

Don't Leave This for Later: Advice for Employers on New Illinois and Chicago Bereavement and Sick Time Laws
"Two recent laws in Illinois and Chicago provide employees with unpaid leave for the death of a child or paid leave for an illness. On June 22, 2016, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance guaranteeing paid sick leave to private sector and City of Chicago employees. On July 29, Governor Bruce Rauner signed the Child Bereavement Leave Act (CBLA) into law, which provides unpaid leave to employees who lose a child. The CBLA became effective at the time of its signing, and the Sick Leave Ordinance becomes effective on July 1, 2017."
Schiff Hardin

Dealing With IRS 1095 Form Rejection
"Thorough documentation and recordkeeping will go a long way in showing you were not willfully negligent but rather made reasonable good-faith efforts to file accurate and timely 1095s and to correct errors identified by the IRS."
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]

[Advert.]

2016 Health Savings Accounts Facts - answers at your fingertips

Sponsored by The National Underwriter Company

Turn to the new 2016 Health Savings Accounts Facts to obtain vital HSA questions and answers right at your fingertips. Updated to include current fiduciary standards; impact of Obergefell v. Hodges; and recent IRS releases on the Cadillac Tax and HSAs.


One in Five New York Manufacturers Have Cut Jobs Because of Obamacare
"One-fifth (21%) of manufacturers and 17% of service firms said they reduced the number of employees because of the ACA's effects.... Twenty-four percent of manufacturers and eighteen percent of service firms said they cut wages and benefits because of the ACA.... [T]he median [health care cost] increase for New York businesses in 2016 was 8.5%, and the median expected cost increase for 2017 was 10%."
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

[Opinion]

Politics and the Exchanges
"If this cannot be worked out by all of the stakeholders, states will aggressively look to implement public plans or single-payer initiatives (Colorado has one on the ballot this fall). In exchange for insurers continuing to operate profitable group policies in the states they are licensed, insurers should be required to have a presence on the exchanges. In return, the government needs to make sure these individual plans are underwritten soundly, that eligibility requirements tighten up in a manner that the industry has advocated for."
Frenkel Benefits

Executive Compensation and Nonqualified Plans

SEC Scrutinizing Severance Agreements for Compliance with Dodd-Frank
"The SEC's recent announcements signal an expansion of the SEC's scrutiny of broad confidentiality and covenant-not-to-sue or release provisions, which the SEC views as a deterrent to whistleblowing under Dodd-Frank."
Greenberg Traurig

SEC Brings Additional Enforcement Actions Against Companies With Employee Agreements That Impede Whistleblowing
"It is important to note that the mere existence of improperly restrictive language can lead to a Rule 21F-17 violation. In three of the four enforcement actions, the SEC expressly acknowledged that it was unaware of any instance in which the agreement had prevented any employee from communicating with the SEC or in which the company had taken action to enforce the agreement against any employee."
Sidley Austin LLP

Making Sense of the Debate on Non-GAAP Performance Measures for Executive Pay Plans
"The focus of this guidance is to help ensure that companies using non-GAAP metrics do so in a manner that isn't misleading or would be presented more prominently than the standard GAAP metrics. Underlying this guidance is the perception that non-GAAP metrics invariably trend toward presenting company performance in a more favorable light."
Willis Towers Watson

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David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9595. Copyright 2016 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All materials contained in this newsletter are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

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