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Text of IRS Rev. Proc. 2018-18: Inflation-Adjusted Amounts, Revised for Statutory Amendments of the Budget Reconciliation Act (PDF)
" Employee Health Insurance Expense of Small Employers: For taxable years beginning in 2018, the dollar amount in effect under Section 45R(d)(3)(B) is $26,600. This amount is used under Section 45R(c) for limiting the small employer health insurance credit...

" Medical Savings Accounts : For taxable years beginning in 2018, the term 'high deductible health plan' as defined in Section 220(c)(2)(A) means, for self-only coverage, a health plan that has an annual deductible that is not less than $2,300 and not more than $3,450, and under which the annual out-of-pocket expenses ... do not exceed $4,550....

Health Care Management Conference

Discount Ends March 19-Save $300! At this year's Health Care Management Conference, you'll hear from industry experts working in the field as you review the latest communication strategies, management methods and tactics for lowering health care costs.

Text of IRS Notice 2018-12: Transition Relief for HDHPs and HSAs Providing Certain Benefits for Male Sterilization or Male Contraceptives (PDF)
"This notice clarifies that a health plan providing benefits for male sterilization or male contraceptives without a deductible, or with a deductible below the minimum deductible for a high deductible health plan (HDHP) under Section 223(c)(2)(A) ... is not an HDHP under current guidance ... This notice further provides transition relief for periods before 2020 during which coverage has been provided for male sterilization or male contraceptives without a deductible, or with a deductible below the minimum deductible for an HDHP."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Text of IRS Publication 15-B: Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits, for Use in 2018 (PDF)
33 pages. "What's New: [1] New tax legislation ... [2] Qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements.... [3] Cents-per-mile rule ... [4] Qualified parking exclusion and commuter transportation benefit ... [5] Contribution limit on a health flexible spending arrangement (FSA)."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Text of IRS Publication 969: Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans, for Use in Preparing 2017 Returns (PDF)
22 pages. "This publication explains the following programs. [1] Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). [2] Medical Savings Accounts (Archer MSAs and Medicare Advantage MSAs). [3] Health Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs). [4] Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs)."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Austin Adopts Paid Sick and Safe Leave
"The sick and safe leave ordinance will take effect on October 1, 2018 for employers with five or more employees. Employers with fewer than 5 employees will have an additional two years -- until October 1, 2020 -- to begin complying. While there seems to be growing support in the Texas Legislature for a bill that would reverse this ordinance, ... [the Legislature] would not take up any such legislation until early 2019 at the earliest."
Mintz Levin

Employer Health Care Cost & Quality Congress | Washington DC

4/29-5/2/2018 in Washington DC. This event brings together Employers, Brokers, and TPAs. Qualified HR & Benefits Professionals may attend as our guest ? See website for details/restrictions & to apply.

Supreme Court Orders Sixth Circuit to Clean Up Its Retiree Health Benefits Case Law 'Mess'
"The Court stressed that a contract is not ambiguous unless it is subject to more than one reasonable interpretation, and the inferences made by the Sixth Circuit under its own precedent cannot generate a reasonable interpretation because they are not 'ordinary principles of contract law'. Six days after Reese , ... the Court granted certiorari to another Sixth Circuit case ... immediately vacated the lower court's judgment, and remanded the case for further consideration in light of Reese ." [ CNH Industrial N.V. v. Reese , No. 17-515 (U.S. Feb. 20, 2018, per curiam)]
Jackson Lewis P.C.

Claim Denial Letter Is Only as Good as the Analysis Contained in the Medical Examiner's Report
"Don't rely on the mere conclusions by the independent reviewer and inform your independent medical reviewer that the reasons for the conclusions are as important as the conclusions themselves. That is because ... your denial letter is only as good as the analysis/reasons stated in the IME report." [ Westfall v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston , No. 16-2921 (N.D. Ohio Feb. 28, 2018)]
Lane Powell PC

Administration Announces MyHealthEData Initiative
"[T]he MyHealthEData initiative ... aims to empower patients by ensuring that they control their healthcare data and can decide how their data is going to be used, all while keeping that information safe and secure.... This effort will approach the issue of healthcare data from the patient's perspective.... Medicare's Blue Button 2.0 ... will significantly improve the Medicare beneficiary experience by providing them with their claims data in a universal and secure digital format.... CMS believes that the private plans that contract through Medicare Advantage and the exchanges should provide the same benefit that is being provided through Medicare's Blue Button 2.0."
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]

DOL Updates Employer CHIP Notice
"[The DOL] has updated its model notice for employers to provide information on eligibility for premium assistance under Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).... Employers that provide health insurance coverage in states with premium assistance through Medicaid or CHIP must provide employees with the Employer CHIP notice annually before the start of each plan year."
QBI

Need a Medical Procedure? Pick the Right Provider and Get Cash Back
"Paid? To get a test? It's part of a strategy to rein in health care spending by steering patients to the most cost-effective providers for non-emergency care. State public employee insurance programs were among the early adopters of this approach. It is now finding a foothold among policymakers and in the private sector."
The Washington Post; subscription may be required

UnitedHealthcare Says It Will Pass on Rebates from Drug Companies to Consumers
"Insurers like UnitedHealthcare, whose parent company also owns a large pharmacy benefit manager, OptumRx, have come under increasing public pressure as drug prices -- especially for brand-name drugs -- continue to rise, angering consumers and lawmakers. The decision by UnitedHealthcare is the latest in a series of steps taken by drug makers and health plans to try to lessen public discontent over drug prices, even as the companies spar over who is to blame."
The New York Times; subscription may be required

DOL Urged to Release Data on Fraudulent Health Plans
"A group of stakeholders [in a comment letter dated March 1, 2018, asked the DOL] to hold off on finalizing the association health plan rule until the agency releases data on fraudulent health plans.... The group also filed a [FOIA] request demanding that the DOL release any statistics or information it has about the agency's enforcement efforts against [MEWAs].... The coalition says the public needs a fuller picture of the problems association health plans could face and to have that, the public needs data on fraudulent MEWAs."
Bloomberg BNA

Evaluating Options to Finance Retiree Medical Commitments
"With health care reform and tax reform as key legislative initiatives, employers have increased interest in alternative financing and annuity buyout strategies.... An annuity purchase eliminates the organization's long-term obligations with retiree medical benefits ... Annuity buyouts and other exit strategies would not be possible if retirees did not have ready access to individual health insurance coverage.... Employers can take a multiyear approach to solving this problem, which can help to make transitions easier on beneficiaries."
Willis Towers Watson

House Committee Comment Letter to DOL on Proposed Regs for Association Health Plans (PDF)
28 pages. "[We] ask that you consider the provisions included in the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2017 as a strong, workable, and bipartisan model to successfully promote affordability, flexibility and predictability for American businesses. Excerpts from the Committee's report on the legislation are attached as additional comments for your consideration on the proposed rule."
Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives

ARA Comment Letter to DOL on Proposed Regs for Association Health Plans (PDF)
"[ARA recommends] the final regulation be modified to permit ... member-based associations ... the opportunity to sponsor an AHP. The Proposal contemplates that the association sponsoring the AHP would do so for the benefit of its members who are employers. Unfortunately, this would deprive thousands of associations whose membership is made up [of] individual members the opportunity to sponsor an AHP."
American Retirement Association [ARA]

American Academy of Actuaries Comment Letter to DOL on Proposed Regs for Association Health Plans (PDF)
"This comment letter provides information on the potential implications of broadening AHP eligibility on the ACA small group and individual markets.... By allowing AHPs to offer coverage under large group rules, the proposed rule would exempt AHPs from the ACA's essential health benefits requirements (EHBs) and related restrictions.... AHPs could design plans more attractive to lower-cost small groups, leading to adverse selection and higher premiums among ACA small group plans.... Cross-state marketing of AHPs raises concerns of an unlevel playing field."
American Academy of Actuaries

Premium Interest Tax for 409A Failures (PDF)
17 pages. "IRC Section 409A and Proposed Treasury Regulations established premium interest tax as an additional income tax on Section 409A failures. The purpose of the tax is to retroactively disqualify deferrals from having received tax-deferred status without causing an extreme administrative burden on plan sponsors or participants.... This article will describe a comprehensive list of steps used to calculate premium interest tax as well as explore common issues with each step."
Aon Hewitt, via Journal of Deferred Compensation

Reporting and Withholding on Nonqualified Deferred Compensation (PDF)
20 pages. "This article discusses the reporting and withholding requirements for NQDC plans ... Reporting requirements include understanding which form to use and how to complete the form. Withholding requirements include the amount and timing of withholding for FICA taxes, federal income taxes, and state income taxes."
Aon Hewitt, via Journal of Deferred Compensation

Large Plan's Audit Not Finished by Extension Deadline
Years ago before e-filing, we had a large plan that filed right at the extension deadline with a "note" from the CPA stating something to the effect that the audit would be filed once completed. The plan sponsor filed the 5500 with the note and at some point after the extension deadline the audit was filed. Is this still an acceptable procedure?
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