Vigilant Blog

A second appeals court has weighed in on the legality of the “individual mandate” contained in the federal health care reform law known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), this time ruling that the mandate is unconstitutional.  The ACA’s individual mandate is the requirement that by 2014 nearly all U.S. citizens must maintain health insurance…

Check out HealthCare.gov, for a list of all the preventive services required to be covered with no cost sharing.

Although the restriction on FSA or HRA reimbursement of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and medications went into effect on January 1, 2011, you have until June 30, 2011 to amend your plan document to reflect this change, so if you haven’t yet done so, now is the time. The federal health care reform law known as…

When is the last time you reviewed and updated the summary plan description (SPD) for your company’s health plan or retirement plan? A recent decision by the Supreme Court makes it more important than ever that your plan’s SPD is up-to-date and accurate.   Cigna Corporation converted its defined benefit pension plan into a “cash…

model notices issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The new model notices, for use after April 1, 2011, satisfy the requirement that a group health plan notify Medicare-eligible individuals whether the plan constitutes “creditable coverage” under Medicare Part D. Although there is no requirement to issue the notices in a foreign…

AB 36 brings California tax law in line with federal law, which has permitted tax-free benefits for adult children (through the end of the year in which the child turns 26) since March 30, 2010. Previously, dependent benefits were only tax-free if the child was under 24, a fulltime student, maintaining the same principal residence…

Surprisingly, an employer’s wellness program that penalized employees $20 per paycheck if they did not submit to a health questionnaire and biometric screening was not in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to a recent decision by a federal district court in Florida (Seff v. Broward County, SD Fla, Apr. 2011)….

H.R. 1473, P.L.  112-10). This provision was set to take effect on January 1, 2014 and was intended to make exchange coverage affordable for employees with low incomes who were not eligible for federal income-based assistance.  It remains to be seen how this development will affect employers’ strategies for addressing health reforms in 2014. Vigilant…

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…