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Bredhoff & Kaiser, PLLC
in DC

VP, State Sponsored Retirement Plan - Business Development
Ascensus
in MA

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Text of CMS Manual for Reconciliation of the Cost-Sharing Reduction Component of Advance Payments for Benefit Year 2017 (PDF) 49 pages. "CMS is releasing this final manual to all issuers offering a qualified health plan (QHP) through a health insurance Exchange. The manual provides information on the process for reconciling the cost-sharing reduction component of the advance payments that QHP issuers have been paid through the September 2017 payment cycle against the cost-sharing reduction amounts those issuers provided to eligible Exchange enrollees for the entire 2017 benefit year to determine any charges owed to CMS. The manual also provides QHP issuers with general instructions on using the standard, simplified, and actuarial value (AV) methodologies ... for the purpose of determining the value of cost-sharing reduction amounts provided to eligible Exchange enrollees, and describes the data elements issuers are required to submit when the annual cost-sharing reduction reconciliation process begins April 2, 2018."

Final CSR Reconciliation Issuer to MIDAS package for Benefit Year 2017 and Benefit Year 2016 Restatements also includes:

• Inbound Specification for Submission of Cost-Sharing Reduction Reconciliation Data
• Data File Error Code List
• Inbound Specification for Attestation Files
• Attestation Error Code List

The New Tax Bill and Its Impact on Employee Benefits

April 9 webinar will help employers understand the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on their total rewards packages, including planning opportunities and potential areas of concern. Discount for BenefitsLink readers .

IRS Interprets Tax Reform Deduction Rule for Transportation Benefits Paid by Employee Salary Reductions
"IRS guidance has clarified that employee salary reduction contributions to pay for transportation expenses are not deductible.... [S]everal larger cities and metropolitan areas, like New York City, San Francisco and the District of Columbia, have laws requiring employers to sponsor plans allowing employees to make pretax salary reductions to pay for transportation expenses."
Lockton

Court Says Employers Need Not Approve Multiple Leaves of Absence Where Employee Could Not Provide a Definite End Date to the Leave
"The court acknowledged that an individual who cannot perform the essential functions of her position may be qualified if she will be able to perform those functions at some definite point in the future, and if it would not pose an undue hardship on the employer to give the individual leave until that time arrives. In this case, however, there was no dispute that the employee was unable to perform the essential functions of her job when she requested the additional leave, nor did she provide the employer with a date by which she would be able to perform these functions." [ Ruiz v. Paradigmworks Group, Inc. , No. 16-2993 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 22, 2018)]
FordHarrison

Anticipatory Resignation Was Not Constructive Discharge; FMLA Claims Fail
"[T]he Sixth Circuit agreed that a superintendent who resigned after the board first criticized her time away from work (some of it for FMLA-protected leave) and then audited the school district's business office records to see if it was properly tracking time off could not show that she suffered a constructive discharge or other adverse employment action." [ Groening v. Glen Lake Community Schools , No. 17-1848, (6th Cir. Mar. 12, 2018)]
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business

Decision Support Tools Can Help Employees Make More Meaningful Benefits Choices
"Forty-six percent of employees bought the medical plan that was recommended to them. Of those who didn't buy the recommended plan, 32% bought a more expensive plan, while 22% bought a less expensive plan.... About two-thirds of employees who were recommended to buy HSA-qualified plans did so, compared with 40% who purchased an HSA-qualified plan when they didn't receive a recommendation.... Generations X and Y were more likely to follow recommendations concerning the purchase of life insurance."
Willis Towers Watson

Now is a great time to join Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB)

Worldwide Employee Benefits Network provides me a forum for education and information exchange with other Benefits Executives. Join today .

GAO Review of the Audit of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Financial Statements for Fiscal Year 2017
"This report presents the results of GAO's review of PCORI's fiscal year 2017 financial statement audit.... PPACA requires PCORI to obtain an annual financial statement audit from a private entity with expertise in conducting financial audits. PPACA also requires the Comptroller General of the United States to annually review the audit of PCORI's financial statements and report the results to the Congress." [GAO-18-423R, Mar. 30, 2018]
U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO]

EBSA Continues to Shrink
"The Employee Benefits Security Administration employed 869 people in late 2017, down about 17 percent from its Obama-era peak of 1,043 workers in September 2012. The agency lost employees in each of the past five quarters ... EBSA's workforce hasn't been this small at any recorded point since September 2001, when it employed 855 people."
Bloomberg BNA

Press Releases

Ascensus Continues to Add to Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit Expertise with Agreement to Acquire ASPERIA Retirement Plan Solutions Ascensus

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