Clare

Business has a premium only QSEHRA just covering health insurance premiums and not dental, vision premiums etc. An employee will be going on Medicare soon. While I know Medicare part B, Medicare Advantage (part C), part D, and Medicare Supplemental premiums may be reimbursed under QSEHRAs, is it fair to cover the supplemental/voluntary medicare premiums like Part D or medigap premiums for this employee if we only cover primary health insurance premiums for employees with market place or other health insurance coverage? Would that be considered a difference in how we are treating employees with market place coverage vs. an employee on Medicare? Or would that mean we should permit employees who do not use the full amount of the reimbursement amount if they have marketplace coverage (say if they are young with a relatively lower premium) to use the "extra" amount toward supplemental health insurance too if they so wish? Would it be safer to just reimburse the employee's Part B premiums and/or Medicare Advantage premiums, but not supplemental premiums such as Part D and medigap? Or should we amend the plan document to be more specific as to what premiums are covered and which ones are not? Thank you.

We have three senior executives that are part-time and don't work enough hours to be eligible for the GHP. Two are actually on Medicare. We would like to somehow help pay for the health insurance or medigap coverage they have obtained elsewhere. We realize that direct reimbursement creates an employer payment plan that runs afoul of the ACA. Any ideas? It is my understanding we could increase their taxable wages to help them pay for these individual insurance policies and/or medigap coverage, but that we can't require that the funds be used for that purpose. However, we would want to determine the amount of the increase by doing some research on how much this alternative insurance is costing and base the compensation adjustment on our findings. Would that pass muster?

The 401(k) plan has auto enrollment. Apparently a few years ago, three participants were not auto enrolled and it was discovered on audit. HR spoke with these employees and they all indicated they would have opted out from the start if they had been provided with an opt out form. If we have them sign a document indicating they would have opted out, will that save us from having to make corrective contributions on their behalf? Of course that would save us money and make our lives much easier, but it somehow doesn't seem quite right to me. While the employees are willing to execute such a document, I could see the IRS arguing that employees could be pressured into signing such types of documents to please their employers etc. Any input would be appreciated.