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Wellness and Reducing Healthcare Costs
March 5, 2015 WEBCAST
(Trion)

401(k) Advisor Symposium in Orlando, FL on March 19th
March 19, 2015 in FL
(401k Rekon)

Pensions on Peachtree
April 16, 2015 in GA
(SunGard Relius)

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[Guidance Overview]

Text of IRS Publication 5196: Getting Ready -- Monthly Tracking (PDF)
2 pages; dated Feb. 2015. "To prepare for 2016, applicable large employers need to track information each month in 2015, including: [1] Whether you offered full-time employees and their dependents minimum essential coverage that meets the minimum value requirements and is affordable. [2] Whether your employees enrolled in the self-insured minimum essential coverage you offered.... All applicable large employers are required to report health coverage information for the first time in early 2016 for calendar year 2015. To be prepared to report this information to the IRS and issue the new Form 1095-C to employees, you'll need to: [1] Determine if your organization is an applicable large employer. [2] Determine the kind of health insurance coverage you offered to full-time employees and their dependents, if any. [3] Identify who your full- time employees are for each month and track health coverage information in 2015 to help complete new IRS forms." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

Ready for ACA Reporting? Join our free web briefing on March 12!

With a user-friendly website, daily emails, and regular web briefings, Mercer Select members stay informed about health, retirement, and other key benefit, comp and HR issues. Register for a free web briefing on ACA play-or-pay and MEC reporting on Mar. 12 at 1 pm ET.

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Rules Further Define Payment of ACA Insurer Fees
"The rules exist to help insurers decide the extent to which they have to pay taxes on premiums collected, particularly by their subsidiaries, some of which may have qualified for exclusions.... The fee will be based on the ratio of the covered entity's net premiums written for health insurance for U.S. health risks that are taken into account for the calendar year immediately before the fee year (data year) to the aggregate net premiums written for health insurance of U.S. health risks of all covered entities that are taken into account during the data year. Covered entities include: [1] health insurers; [2] HMOs; [3] Medicare Advantage, Part D and Medicaid insurers; and [4] non-fully insured multi-employer welfare arrangements." (Thompson SmartHR Manager)  

[Guidance Overview]

OPM Finalizes Changes to ACA Multi-state Plan Program
"Among other changes (some of which are non-substantive and technical), the final regulations address benefits provided under the MSPP, the phased-in approach to coverage, application and contracting procedures, and compliance actions." (Practical Law Company)  

[Guidance Overview]

Five Health Care Developments Important to Employers
"This [article addresses] these important health care issues confronting employers: [1] Potential ACA Changes Impacting Health Care Employers Under the New Congress; [2] Pending Supreme Court Cases Involving the Affordable Care Act; [3] Telemedicine and Employers: The New Frontier; [4] Wellness Programs Under EEOC Attack -- What to Do Now; and [5] Employer-Sponsored, On-Site Health Care." (Epstein Becker Green)  

[Guidance Overview]

Potential Pitfalls for Private Equity under the ACA
"Private equity firms should take note that the 'controlled group' rules used in determining the employer for ACA purposes could potentially combine their fund and their portfolio companies, or combine multiple portfolio companies, as one single employer group. To protect against the risk of ACA employer mandate liabilities, private equity firms (and buyers in general) should review their current structures and update their acquisition diligence and procedures." (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

Philadelphia Adopts Paid Sick Leave Law (PDF)
"Although paid sick leave laws in other cities (such as New York City) require an employee's previously accrued, unused sick time to be reinstated upon rehire within a stipulated timeframe, Philadelphia's ordinance has no such requirement." (Buck Consultants at Xerox)  

2015 ACA Reporting Requirements: A Summary for Employers
Outline describes "Who must report?", "What must be reported?" and "When and Where to Report?" for [1] W-2 Reporting of health care premiums paid by employers; [2] Section 6056 Reporting -- Applicable large employer health coverage reporting; and [3] Section 6055 Reporting -- Reporting of health coverage by health insurance issuers and sponsors of self-insured plans. Appendix outlines steps for "Calculating Full-Time Equivalents." (Bond Beebe Accountants & Advisors)  

Obamacare Defense Is Tailored for Key Supreme Court Justices
"Supporters of the law say that even if Congress meant to restrict subsidies to marketplaces created by the state, no one warned state officials that relying on the federal version would deprive their residents of millions of dollars in insurance subsidies.... Late last month, lawyers for 22 states... told the justices they were blindsided by the claim that federal subsidies might be cut off because they failed to establish state marketplaces.'Surprising states with a dramatic hidden consequence' violates a basic principle of fair dealing between Washington and the states, the state lawyers said in the court brief. Congress 'does not hide elephants in mouse holes,' they added, quoting a comment by Justice Antonin Scalia in a previous case." (Los Angeles Times)  

Insurance Markets in a Post-King v. Burwell World
"Insurers in the affected states would immediately find themselves in a situation where premiums revenues were insufficient to cover the health care expenses of the remaining enrollees, who would be far sicker on average than what insurers assumed when they set their premiums for 2015. This would trigger a classic adverse selection 'death spiral,' where insurers would seek very large premium increases, which in turn would cause the healthier of the remaining enrollees to drop coverage." (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)  

Humana to Integrate Weight Watchers Programs Into Employer-Sponsored Health Plans
"Humana aims to help lower obesity rates by partnering with Weight Watchers, giving its members with employer-sponsored plans access to Weight Watchers weight loss programs that are integrated within Humana's own wellness program. The insurer called the partnership a 'first-of-its-kind program' that connects its members to either Weight Watchers' online or in-person weight loss programs for free for six months and then at a 'significant discount' afterward[.]" (FierceHealthPayer)  

Health Care Spending Rises, But Trend in Prices Is Moderate
"[T]he pace of health care spending accelerated in 2014, growing at an annual rate of 5.0 percent through the first three quarters of 2014, considerably higher than the 3.6 percent growth rate for the same period in 2013. The main drivers are prescription drug spending, which was important throughout the year, and health care services, which has accelerated largely in the third quarter." (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)  

Another Site Vies in the Consumer Health Transparency Space
"The nonprofit Health Care Cost Institute is out with a new website called Guroo.com aimed at bringing Americans national, state and local price information for 78 common medical conditions, tests and services, based on claims from insurers covering some 40 million people. These are 'numbers that no one else has,' the organization said. The website currently covers 300 cities, 41 states, coastal California and Washington D.C. based on information from Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and Assurant Health. No Blue Cross insurers are contributing to the database, but could in the future. It's open to all payers, the organization said." (Healthcare Payer News)  

Self-Purchasers Are Confident, But Feel Unprepared for High Medical Costs
"Seventy percent of the [consumers who purchased their own health insurance] surveyed reported feeling financially secure, compared to 66% of the general population, and 74% of [such] self-purchasers expect their financial situation to improve in the next 12 months, compared to 69% of the general population. Furthermore, 93% of self-purchasers said they think more about the cost of their health insurance than they do about the cost of cable television, compared to 63% of the general population." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)  

Jonathan Gruber Fired from Massachusetts Health Insurance Exchange Board
"Massachusetts' governor has fired Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber from a board that oversees the state's health insurance exchange ... Gruber ignited a controversy last December when a series of videos surfaced where the [MIT] professor discussed the 'stupidity of the American voter' was vital to passing the [ACA].... An immediate reason for the firing was not clear[.]" (Washington Examiner)  

Letter from Sen. Orrin Hatch to CMS Requesting Information on Opt-Out for Insurers on Federal Exchanges
"While the Administration assures HealthCare.gov policyholders that 'nothing has changed,' it has been conveying a contradictory message to health insurance companies. Late last year, CMS altered the agreements to participate in the federal exchange, guaranteeing insurance companies the right to pull out of their contracts should federal subsidies ... come to an end -- in other words, if the Administration loses before the Supreme Court." (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance)  

[Opinion]

Letter from Sens. Hatch and Grassley to Treasury: Administration's Guidance on Cadillac Tax Caves to Unions
"The structure of this tax creates a draconian policy that will penalize countless Americans with a 40 percent excise tax, whether they are a shop foreman, a factory manager, or an office secretary. Now is not the time to divide workers against one another, creating different rules to protect favored constituencies from a poorly designed, drafted, and implemented law. Instead, we urge you to work with Congress to relieve all Americans from the burdens of the health care law." (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance)  

2015 ERISA Advisory Council to Hold First Meeting March 20
"Open to the public, the meeting will begin with the introduction of the new council chair and vice chair. An update on the activities of [EBSA] and a determination of topics to be addressed by the 2015 advisory council will follow." (Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])  

CEO Pay Three Times That of Other Named Executive Officers
"CEO pay is 2.93 times that of the other named executive officers at companies in the S&P 500. Median multiples of CEO to named executive officer (NEO) pay ranged from 2.61 to 3.65 at information technology and materials companies, respectively ... Unlike the CEO to median employee ratio, the CEO to NEO ratio can provide insight on the executive team in charge of the company, including talent development, succession planning and retention." (Steven Hall & Partners)  

Key Executive Comp Issues to Address in M&A Due Diligence
"[1] Severance plans and individual executive severance agreements.... [2] Executive ownership levels at the target company.... [3] Guaranteed compensation in employment agreements.... [4] Retention plans.... [5] Noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements.... [6] Public company disclosures." (Towers Watson)  

Investor Seeks to Link Exec Pay to Worker Engagement
"Connecticut's state pension fund leader has proposed linking a portion of Wal-Mart Stores' executive compensation to a measure of 'employee engagement,' ... [The proposal] defines engagement as the extent to which workers are motivated to 'apply discretionary effort to accomplish organizational goals' and calls on Wal-Mart's compensation committee to work with outside experts to measure engagement, which would complement financial metrics in determining pay. 'Essentially, the idea is to tie executive pay to how happy and productive the company's low-wage workers are,' ThinkProgress reported[.]" (CFO)  

Groom Law Group Welcomes Two Experts on ACA Implementation and Enforcement: Lisa Campbell and Rachel Leiser Levy Join Firm
Groom Law Group

Fidelity Investments Looks to Boost Retirement Preparedness by Introducing The IRA Match
Fidelity Investments

Vanguard Expands Target-Date Lineup, More Diversification
Vanguard

Judgment Adds to $12M Recovered for Michigan and Iowa-based Pension Plans
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor

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