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27 Matching News Items

1.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
June 18, 2012
"[This issue provides an] annual review of health plan trends and actions employers are taking to keep health plan costs in check. The factors contributing to rising costs are complicated. Some factors can be influenced by employers, while others can't. Employers can take steps to achieve health plan budgets. This Advisor reviews local and national data on how employers are keeping health plan costs in check."

MORE >>

2.  Alston & Bird LLP Link to more items from this source
Oct. 24, 2011

[The court] joined several sister circuits in officially adopting the Moench presumption of prudence. It also joined the Third Circuit in holding that there is no fiduciary duty to disclose information aboutthe company's financial condition to participants.  MORE >>

3.  U.S. Department of Labor [DOL] Link to more items from this source
June 28, 2010

"The district court erred in dismissing these cases based on a presumption that the fiduciaries acted prudently in allowing the plans to purchase employer stock at allegedly inflated prices."  MORE >>

4.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Dec. 19, 2014
"[This article] explains the impact of Section 79 on employer-sponsored group term life plans, voluntary life plans, discriminatory life plans and the potential tax consequences for your employees... Each section details potential tax consequences for each situation ... [and explains] how to calculate tax liability."

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5.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Nov. 12, 2014
"As it stands today, if an employer offers affordable, minimum value coverage to full-time employees, any employees eligible for that coverage are blocked from receiving subsidies in the Marketplace. However, employees are not required to treat plans without inpatient hospital or physician services as minimum value plans when determining their eligibility for tax credits in the Marketplace. For 2015 only, employees may be able to purchase subsidized coverage, and there will be no penalties assessed for the employer."

MORE >>

6.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
July 30, 2014
"[E]mployers continue to embrace CDHPs and wellness as long-term cost control strategies.... New options that may become available to the middle market include: Accountable care organizations (ACOs),... Patient-centered medical homes... Reference-based pricing ... [An] employer may offer telemedicine with a low copay, or no copay at all....[S]ome employers are structuring cost-sharing to steer members to outpatient facilities, stand-alone imaging centers and other less costly treatment venues."

MORE >>

7.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
May 19, 2014
"Employers need to understand Medicaid. Medicaid can offer comprehensive low-cost health coverage to qualifying employees. If a qualifying employee selects Medicaid, employers shift the risk for that employee into a tightly managed, government-funded program. Employers need to be mindful of the strategies they can use to encourage employees to consider Medicaid."

MORE >>

8.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Apr. 28, 2014
8 pages. Excerpt: "The final rules clarify that the Section 6055 reporting is meant for [Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC)] only, not for supplemental coverage. Thus the IRS does not require reports for health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) tied to a medical plan or for onsite clinics, wellness plans or any other medical benefits ancillary to the MEC."

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9.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Apr. 28, 2014
"[IRS Chief Counsel Memorandum 201413005] addressed the impact of the FSA rollover on HSA contrbutions. The memo covered seven different scenarios related to FSA rollovers and HSA contributions. The good news is that employers can offer options that employees could elect that would not block them from contributing to an HSA if the employer plan offered a year-end FSA rollover."

MORE >>

10.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
May 24, 2013
"The government previously indicated that it would change the 2014 SBC to eliminate annual maximums on essential health benefits. However, it did not change the template. The FAQs indicate that the SBC should keep the question 'Is there an overall annual limit on what the plan pays.' The SBC answer column should say 'no.' For the second year of applicability, plans may, at their discretion, remove the row with the question regarding annual dollar maximums."

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11.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Apr. 24, 2013
"Health care reform requires employers to limit their new hire waiting period to 90 days as of the first day of the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2014. This limit applies to all group health plans. It is not delayed for grandfathered plans.... The requirement for health plans to provide HIPAA certificates of creditable coverage will be eliminated after December 31, 2014."

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12.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Apr. 9, 2013
"The government received significant feedback indicating that employers should have the option to choose a single [Qualified Health Plan] to offer employees. In 2015, employers using a federally facilitated Exchange will have two options within the SHOP. The first option allows employers to select a single QHP. The second option allows employers to choose the metal tier and allow employees to select any QHP in that tier."

MORE >>

13.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Jan. 15, 2013
"Beginning in 2014, non-grandfathered individual and small group health plans in or outside an Exchange must cover EHBs. The definition of a small group may differ from state to state. Most states will define it, in 2014 and 2015, as an employer with fewer than 50 employees. In 2016, small groups will be defined as fewer than 100 employees. Few states plan to adopt the 100-employee threshold in 2014."

MORE >>

14.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Jan. 15, 2013
"In 2014, when the 'play or pay' provisions become effective, some employers may decide to discontinue group health plan coverage. Employers who choose to 'get out' may want to consider paying all or part of their employees' premium for non-subsidized individual coverage in the Exchange. Individual premiums will likely be much higher than the contributions for group health coverage. The new rating rules, the prohibition on medical underwriting and the requirement to cover essential health benefits will dramatically influence rates in the individual insurance market in 2014."

MORE >>

15.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Jan. 15, 2013
"[The ACA] allows employers to increase incentives for health-contingent wellness programs. The latest guidance proposes rules on this increase and offers additional detail on the HIPAA nondiscrimination rules. This allowable incentive increase becomes effective on the first day of the first plan year occurring on or after January 1, 2014."

MORE >>

16.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Oct. 5, 2012
"This [Update] is just a brief summary of some of the changes to the health insurance market in 2014. These changes will create uncertainty as carriers attempt to develop rates for a market with new rules and a likely influx of new members."

MORE >>

17.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Oct. 5, 2012
"[T]he ACA language speaks only to applying the penalty if the employer does not extend coverage to employees. In this latest guidance, it appears that the IRS may be extending the statute parameters by requiring employers to offer employees and their dependents coverage or be subject to the penalty."

MORE >>

18.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Aug. 28, 2012
"[This Alert discusses FAQs] recently published for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 ... [which] aimed to provide true parity for mental health and substance abuse benefits. Health plans have struggled with complying with this Act because it is confusing on how parity on these services should be achieved. The FAQs provide key insights to how the government expects plans to comply with various requirements."

MORE >>

19.  McGraw Wentworth Link to more items from this source
Mar. 28, 2012
"Outcomes-based programs are an aggressive approach to wellness.... Most employers turn to an outcomes-based wellness program when they do not see the expected results from programs that offer incentives merely for participation.... This Advisor reviews a number of issues involved in outcomes-based wellness plans[.]"

MORE >>

20.  Workforce Management Link to more items from this source
Apr. 14, 2009
Excerpt: [Employers] must pay 65 percent of the COBRA premium and then file for reimbursement through a payroll tax credit. Employees pay the other 35 percent. Some companies are worried the federal requirement could cause cash flow problems because of the up-to-three-month delay for reimbursement, said Sue Mathiesen, director of research at McGraw Wentworth, a Troy, Michigan-based employee benefits and consulting company.

MORE >>

   Next »

Here's Help About the Advanced Features That Apply Whenever "All Words" Is Selected in the Search Form

  • Quotation marks have a special meaning when "All Words" is selected in the search form (instead of "Any Word"). Any group of words surrounded by quotation marks is required to be found exactly as they appear, in order for a news item to be a match (in other words, they denote an exact phrase).

    Example. "standard of review"
  • By default, every word must be found in a matching news item (hence the "All Words" nomenclature) unless you include the word "or" (whether or not capitalized). A news item is a match if it has one (or both) of the words on either side of "or".

    Example. vested OR vesting
    Note: This can bite you unexpectedly because the word "or" always triggers that functionality. You'll need to refrain from using the word "or" if you want a fully reliable result that matches "all words."
  • The left parenthesis and right parenthesis have a special meaning because they essentially turn multiple words into a single word equivalent. This is handy for words that are synonyms, whether grammatically or in industry usage.

    Example. If this were entered in the search form, a matching news item would need to contain either the word "vested" or the word "lifetime" (anywhere in the news item), plus the word retirement (anywhere in the news item), plus either the word "benefits" or the word "coverage" (anywhere in the news item):
    (vested OR lifetime) retirement (benefits OR coverage)

    You can separate sets of parentheses (or single words) with the word "AND," whether or not capitalized, if you prefer clarity (but this is not necessary because "and" is assumed when "All Words" is selected in the search form):
    (vested OR lifetime) AND retirement AND (benefits or coverage)

  • The word "not" has a special meaning because a news item will not match if it contains the word that follows the word "not" (whether or not capitalized).

    Example. A way to find news items about recently required plan document amendments, while excluding older items about the amendments that were required for certain laws enacted in 1982 or 1984, would be:
    (amended OR amendments OR restated OR restatement) NOT (TEFRA OR DEFRA OR REA)
    Note: This can bite you unexpectedly because the word "not" always triggers that functionality. You'll need to refrain from using the word "not" if you want a fully reliable result that matches "all words."

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