Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

October 18, 2016

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[Official Guidance]

Text of GASB Exposure Draft of Proposed Implementation Guide: Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans
129 pages. "The objective of this Implementation Guide is to provide guidance that clarifies, explains, or elaborates on the requirements of Statement No. 74, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans.... The requirements of this Implementation Guide apply to the financial statements of all state and local governments."
Governmental Accounting Standards Board [GASB]

[Advert.]

Register Today for the 26th Annual Health Benefits Conference & Expo!

Sponsored by Health Benefits Conference & Expo [HBCE]

From new strategies in population health management to cost-containment solutions and ACA updates, HBCE will provide the in-depth information you need to keep your benefit plans compliant and your employees engaged. Register today!


[Official Guidance]

ACA Information Returns (AIR) Submission Composition and Reference Guide, Processing Year 2017 - Early Look (PDF)
130 pages. v. 1.0, dated October 2016. "The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to all types of external transmitters about composing and successfully transmitting compliant submissions to IRS.... This document covers details on composing and submitting Forms 1094/1095-B and Forms 1094/1095-C by transmitters to IRS. The scope of the document addresses the Application to Application Interface ... and the Web User Interface[.]"
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

[Guidance Overview]

More Burdens for Federal Contractors with Mandatory Paid Sick Leave
"If a contractor frontloads the full amount of leave year, it may limit the carryover to the next year to 56 hours. But the contract must still frontload the full amount of leave at the beginning of the accrual year. This means that the employee's leave bank may have more than 56 hours in it each year. Employees are not entitled to be paid for their unused sick leave upon termination or resignation. But unused sick leave must be reinstated if an employee is rehired within 12 months after being separated."
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

The Rights and Duties of Your HSA Trustee
"Your HSA trust agreement cannot limit your reimbursements to eligible expenses.... Your trustee must provide at least one way for you to make distributions (withdrawals) for non-eligible expenses.... Your trustee can place certain restrictions on distributions.... Your HSA trustee does not track your deposits to ensure that you don't exceed your maximum annual contribution.... Your trustee does not have to accept a rollover or trustee-to-trustee transfer from another HSA or an Archer MSA.... Your trustee must surrender balances if you want to move funds from that trustee via a rollover or trustee-to-trustee transfer."
Xerox HR Insights

Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2015 (PDF)
"Disability benefits were paid to just over 10.2 million people.... In December, payments to disabled beneficiaries totaled more than $11.4 billion.... Workers accounted for the largest share of disabled beneficiaries (87 percent). Average age was 54."
U.S. Social Security Administration [SSA]

NC Blue Cross Announces Rate Increase of 24.3 Percent for ACA Marketplace Plans
"Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has announced it will increase premiums for [ACA] plans on the individual market by an average 24.3 percent for 2017.... That is higher than the company's original rate request filed in May for an 18.8 percent increase. The rate was approved by the state Department of Insurance ... Blue Cross received an average 32.5 percent rate increase for 2016 -- one of the highest in the country."
InsuranceNewsNet.com

Are Blues' Plans Benefitting Unfairly from Program to Offset Cost of Sicker Patients?
"Overall, seven of the top 10 recipients for risk-adjustment dollars were Blues' plans for 2014 and 2015, federal data show. Blue Cross Blue Shield plans are major players in most state insurance markets, so their strong performance on risk adjustment could be expected. However, a separate analysis by the Fitch Ratings agency found that some of these top recipients also have higher-than-average administrative expenses companywide."
Kaiser Health News

Benefits in General

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Disaster Relief IR-2016-135, Expanding Relief for Victims of Hurricane Matthew; Parts of Four States Eligible
"Hurricane Matthew victims ... have until March 15, 2017, to file certain individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments ... This includes an additional filing extension for those with valid extensions that run out at midnight tonight, Oct. 17.... Currently, the following areas are eligible for relief:

  • North Carolina: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Harnett, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Tyrrell, Washington, Wayne and Wilson counties.
  • South Carolina: Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper, Marion, Orangeburg and Williamsburg counties.
  • Georgia: Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty and McIntosh counties.
  • Florida: Brevard, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Nassau, St. Johns, St. Lucie and Volusia counties."

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Disaster Relief SC-2016-21: Victims of Hurricane Matthew in South Carolina
"Updated 10/17/16 to include Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper and Williamsburg counties.... This relief ... includes the filing of Form 5500 series returns, in the manner described in section 8 of Rev. Proc. 2007-56."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

Executive Compensation and Nonqualified Plans

[Guidance Overview]

Clawbacks, Clawbacks Everywhere Nor Any Moment to Think
"[In] 2015, public companies filed a total of 737 restatement disclosures. (The quantity of restatement and non-reliance disclosures had peaked in 2006 with 1851 disclosures.) Does that mean 737 companies would have been required to claw back compensation in 2015? Fortunately not."
Winston & Strawn LLP

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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9595. Copyright 2016 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All materials contained in this newsletter are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

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