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[Guidance Overview]
IRS Issues First Guidance on Nonprofit CO-OP Health Insurers
"The IRS issued its first guidance on the requirements for new qualified nonprofit health insurance issuers under IRC § 501(c)(29) and has requested comments on specific issues (Notice 2011-23). The notice clarifies that the IRS is not yet accepting applications for recognition of tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(29) and will not accept applications until it has issued further guidance."
(Journal of Accountancy)
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Health Risk Assessments Unnecessary for Wellness Plan Design, According to Expert
"For a non-biased picture of the health risks in your company, you're better off assuming you have the same general prevalence of health risks for similar people in each state - data that are readily (and freely) available from public resources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
(Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
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Personalized Information Improves Employee Health, Engagement and ROI
"Engaging people with personalized, tailored information about their health improvement and cost savings opportunities can increase compliance by 10 - 20% and save money by early identification and cost avoidance for a return-on-investment of 2.5 - 3."
(Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
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Patient-Centered-Medical-Home Model Designed to Offer Comprehensive, Coordinated and Timely Care
"[E]mployers that piloted the PCMH model with their employees experienced beneficial healthcare outcomes . . . including: approximately 10 percent lower overall healthcare costs; a 30-percent reduction in unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency room visits; and patient-reported satisfaction rates that have quadrupled to the mid-80s, from rates as low as 20 percent."
(Human Resource Executive Online)
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Pay May Be Hot Issue, But Other Factors Push Harder on Health Costs
"Nearly two-thirds of the increase [in health costs] was driven by rising costs in three areas: hospitals, which accounted for 33 percent of the increase; doctors, which accounted for 19 percent; and prescription drugs, which accounted for 10 percent."
(The Boston Globe)
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Congressmen Introduce Bill to Drop 'Use it or Lose it' FSA Provision
"[The bill the congressmen] put forward would allow participants to cash out any remaining FSA balances at the end of the year, and those funds would be treated as normal, taxable wages. Currently, unused FSA funds are forfeited back to the employer at the end of the year."
(PLANSPONSOR.COM)
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CBO's Options on Health Spending
"Many of the 100 options the report lays out concern health care spending, military and veterans' health care, funding for the National Institutes of Health and most prominently, Medicare and Medicaid. KHN has excerpted the health-care-related options [on the target page.]"
(Kaiser Health News)
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Patients Pound on Doctors' Doors for FSA-Eligible Prescriptions
"Patients are demanding doctors' orders for over-the-counter products because of a provision in the health-care overhaul that slipped past nearly everyone's radar. It says people who want a tax break to buy such items with what's known as flexible-spending accounts need to get a prescription first."
(The Wall Street Journal)
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Is the Tiered Approach for Employee Health Insurance Contributions Really Fair?
"Most employers charge their employees contributions based upon rate tiers. Under this approach, employees pay contributions based upon whether they enroll in single, employee plus spouse/domestic partner, employee plus child(ren) or employee plus family coverage."
(Employee Benefit News; free registration required)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
The Say on Golden Parachute Pay Shareholder Vote (PDF)
Excerpt: 'The Dodd-Frank Act and recently adopted SEC rules require a shareholder advisory vote on golden parachute compensation in M&A and similar transactions. What is the real effect of this new requirement?"
(Wang Kobayashi Austin, LLC)
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DOD Will Distribute Employer Poll over Reservist Use
"A new Department of Defense . . . survey of 80,000 U.S. employers will try to find out how the past decade of war and the heavy use of reserve-component forces has affected civilian workplaces."
(PLANSPONSOR)
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Press Releases
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