leevena

No, you cannot be covered by any other health insurance that reimburses you for expenses, unless that other plan is a HSA qualified plan.

Yes, the employer can. I don't know the legal answer to the question about having the fsa refer to the group plan, sorry. My guess is that you probably do not want to do that. Seems to me that the information should be in the fsa to make the process easier for those employees who may not take your group plan. But this is just a guess, maybe someone else can answer this part.

I am a little confused by your question. 1. You say that your plan reimburses for individual policies, but does it also reimburse for other types of plans? What does your plan document say? 2. Why do you believe that the premiums paid (you assume the wife paid these) are pre-tax? So, if you plan only reimburses for individual policy premiums, you cannot reimburse for group. If it does reimburse for group plan premiums, you need to reimburse him. As for proof of the premium responsibility, the answer should be yes. I am assuming that you ask others to show proof of expenses, correct? By the way, blaming the govt for this "mess" is incorrect. You do not need to do any of this if you don't want to. Remember, it was the employer who opted for this plan.

Don't have a list, but I am in California. CA gives you a percentage of the deduction. A suggestion I have is to go to each state's website and look at the appropriate tax return form. Don't know if it is faster, but it is a way for you to get the info.

You can be covered by two hdhp hsa's if you wish. However, the contribution limits to the hsa remain the same...you cannot double yuor contribution. You cannot be reimbursed by both hdhp for the same expense because it violates the cob rules.

Are these regular employees or are they independent contractors. I don't know if I ever ran across a group that has bonafide employees that are not subject to withholding.

I am confused about your question. Any employee, at any company, regardless of the size can opt out any plan. Did you mean to ask a different quesion?

Now I understand, and do you have a problem. It appears to me that the plan was set-up incorrectly because a qualified HDHP would not be able to pay those types of expenses. There must be something else going on, but be that as it may, my first suggestion is to meet with the person(s) responsible for setting up this plan and find out why they did it t his way. Then I would get qualifed legal or financial advice on this right away. Sorry, but I have never seen something like this before.

If you are familiar with prevailing wage work/benefits, this is similar. The city is requiring it at the local level. The link you provided has another link within it that takes you to the text of the code, which can answer your questions. It essentially says that to do business with the city, you must spend $2 per hour towards health benefits.

Still confused, sorry. How does an employer collect the full deductible? I have never heard of this. A health plan has the deductible, which is paid by the employee. The HSA account accumulates monies from the employer and/or employee for use in paying some/all of the deductible. Once the monies are in the HSA, it is the employees.

I apologize if I am being dense, but I have read your question a few times and cannot figure it out. It sounds like the employer set-up a HSA plan for the employees. Contributions to the HSA are 100% vested to the employee. The deductible is part of the insurance contract. So how can the employer waive, or collect, the deductible? Could you be more specific on the situation? Thanks.

Your employer can make contributions for you and yes, you can use HSA monies for cobra premiums. However, if the employer makes contributions to a non-employer plan (yours) the employer must make the same for others in your situation. As for researching the product, there are many sources and tools that you can use. The first is to get a good broker. By that, make sure they know and understand the HSA product. Just because someone sells health insurance does not mean the know HSA's. Other sources include business associations you may be a memeber of, google HSA and you will get plenty of hits.

L: What was the fraud committed by the Participant? Failure to notify the plan of the change in marital status is not fraud because the participant did not profit from such failure to notify. Further the participant can claim the he was not aware of such a duty to notify the plan because he never read the spd. To prove fraud you have to prove that the employee intended to proft from providing false information. The plan's only recourse is against the spouse who will deny any knowledge of ineligibility. The case would have to be brought in Fed ct. since it involves overpayment of benefits. The participant was, or should have been aware, that the divorce resulted in the ex being non-qualified for coverage. They did profit, someone paid the medical bills for an ineligible person. Failure to know that something is a crime is not a defense.

States that I have lived/worked in do outline what requirements are needed for proof. You may want to start with the specific state's website and see what you can find out. Also, check an attorney. I don't know about your questions 2, 3,4.

Your basis is fraud. The participant should have notified you of the change. As for any legal questions, you should rely on your attorney(s) for advice. Good luck.

Your question about different the employer paying different compensation for people appears to be correct. These types of payments should be structured as compensation. However, there is are some potential issues going forward. 1. How does the employer police this and make sure the employees are truthful about the costs under the spouse plan? 2. If the employer decides to reimburse the difference up to the amount of single coverage under its plan, how much savings does the employer now realize? Good luck.

There is very little difference. A few weeks ago there was a discussion about this topic, try this link. http://benefitslink.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=37066 it is under Cafeteria Plans Good luck.

I have never seen a situation where the employee would contribute to the MERP. If I were to guess, the only scenario I could see it worth while in is as a FSA type of a program. Remember, an FSA is a 105, so prior to 125 plans, I guess you could have used it as an FSA. Recently I have seen the MERP being used in groups where the employer want to provide top of the line benefits. For example, a physician group I know of has a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) that the employer funds. It leaves about $2,000 of OOP for the employees. However, the physicians have an employer funded MERP for the additional $2,000.

I agree with TXCafe completely. Usually groups under 10 lives or so find it difficult to breakeven on the costs. But I do have some other suggestions that might be of help. 1. Some carriers sometimes offer free or reduced cost plans if you purchase their products or services. (Voluntary carriers like AFLAC or Colonial, and regular carriers). 2. Some brokers/agents might offer some help (reduced costs or subsidy) via their company. 3. You said you were a former accountant, perhaps you know of an accounting person/firm that does this type of work and would be willing to barter/professional discount? I realize these may not fit your needs, but they are things that I have seen over the years. And, as for my disclaimer, I am not affiliated with any of these companies mentioned. I use their names as a ready source only. Good luck.

jpod...I don't believe I am disagreeing with you. My point, which may not be as clear, is to say that the plan must start with the expenses defined in 501. While the employer can eliminate some of the eligible expenses, it cannot go beyond 501 and add ineligible expenses, is this correct?

I am guessing you mean a health fsa, not the dependent care. Eligible expenses are defined by the IRS in 502. However, you may have a situation involving a limited fsa or something to do with OTC drugs.

It's funny/frustrating that you say this. Seems to me that clarity of a tax vehicle such as section 105 and 125 would be appropriate and helpful. You bring up a good point, but as I said, I don't have a single link. My guess is that it has to do with money. If I were to develop a site as a single source for all questions about a subject, say Section 125 plans, how would I get compensated for my time, work, and knowledge? Sorry.

Wish I could, but I don't have one and I don't believe one exists. I have been working in the EE benefit field for 25 years and have learned many of this over time. If you would like to, you can always go to the IRS and review Section 105, or any other section that you like.

The issue of rolling money over (my post of Oct 30 2007, 03:33 PM) is referring to a HRA, not the MERP. Since HRA's cannot accept Employee money, only Employer, there would be no Employee money to rollover. Hope this answers your question.

Calm down skippy. To begin with, many questions are posted to incorrect boards, so I tend to ignore that. So if I am guilty, I am sorry. As I read the original question is appears to be focused on the MERP product along with the HDHP and HRA. Second, the post by Chaz is not correct, MERP contributions by an employee do not need to be in a 125 plan. So it becomes a strategy and design issue as to whether you use a 125 plan. Third, there was discussion about whether you could or should put it into a 125 plan.