Frequently Asked Questions” about the federal health care reform law known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), focusing on issues of how plans lose grandfathered status. Key points include guidance on the anti-abuse provisions of the grandfathering rules—specifically, what is a “bona fide employment-based reason” for transferring employees from one grandfathered plan to another, such…
Read More…76 Fed Reg 65, April 5, 2011). Under the program, the federal government has made available $5 billion to reimburse early retiree medical plans for up to 80 percent of claims between $15,000 and $90,000. Based on the rate at which the available funding is being disbursed, the Centers for…
Read More…If the courts take the same approach as the EEOC did in this case, it will be a huge relief for employers. One question that was left unanswered, though, is what happens when there is a significant gap in time between an employee’s last date of employment, and the date of…
Read More…Although last year’s health care reform law made coverage available to employees’ adult children up to age 26, and provided a federal income tax exclusion for the coverage, California employers should be aware that California’s tax law does not provide such an exclusion from income for adult child coverage. If passed by the…
Read More…HR 2, titled “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” and many other proposed bills. But regardless of the volume of legislative activity devoted to opposing health care reform, most experts agree that if our legislators have anything to say about it, health care reform is here to stay. The Democratic-controlled Senate is…
Read More…IRS Notice 2011-5).The new guidance modifies previous IRS guidance and allows FSA and HRA debit cards to be used to purchase OTC medicines or drugs at non-health care merchants that have pharmacies, and at mail order and web-based vendors that sell prescription drugs, as long as certain conditions are met.…
Read More…The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently promised to issue guidance about automatic enrollment in employer-sponsored health plans—sometime in the next three years. Automatic enrollment is a mandate imposed by last year’s health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The mandate will apply to employers of 200 or…
Read More…If you sponsor an insured, non-grandfathered group health plan, Christmas has come a little early this year. The IRS has officially delayed the effective date of the impending nondiscrimination requirements for insured plans until after regulations or other administrative guidance can be issued (
Read More…Kristine Cienfuegos at 800-733-8621.
Read More…fourth set of FAQs clarifies that this notice need not be included on the explanation of benefits (EOB) documents issued by the plan in response to a claim for benefits, but that it should be included in any plan summaries, such as the summary plan description (SPD) or similar documents.…
Read More…