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[Official Guidance]
List of Key Tax Provisions in the Affordable Care Act
"The following is a list of provisions now in effect; additional information will be added to this page as it becomes available." Items listed on the page, with useful hypertext links to IRS official documents, include: Small Business Health Care Tax Credit; Reporting of Health Coverage for Employees Is Voluntary for All Employers for 2011 and Small Employers for 2012; Changes to Flexible Spending Arrangements; Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit; Health Coverage for Older Children; Group Health Plan Requirements; Medical Loss Ratio (MLR); and Limitation on Deduction for Compensation Paid by Certain Health Insurance Providers.
(Internal Revenue Service)
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[Official Guidance]
Text of HHS-Mandated Procedures for Medical Loss Ratio Reporting by Insurance Companies (PDF)
"This memorandum outlines the process by which health insurance issuers will submit their Medical Loss Ratio ... data to fulfill reporting obligations under the MLR provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The report for the MLR reporting year 2011 must be filed by June 1, 2012."
(U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight)
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[Official Guidance]
Text of EBSA Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2012-01: Use of Plan Assets by Apprenticeship and Training Plans for Graduation Ceremonies and Program Marketing
"The Regional Offices have asked whether the use of plan assets for such purposes violates ERISA's exclusive purpose and fiduciary duty requirements.... [W]e would not treat the plan's payment of expenses associated with a modest graduation ceremony attended by graduating apprentices, family, plan officials, and other persons connected with the program or industry outreach, including light refreshments, as an impermissible use of plan assets provided [these conditions are met: ...] Similarly, we believe that certain outreach expenses related to the program can be paid for by the apprenticeship and training plans consistent with ERISA's fiduciary requirements."
(Employee Benefits Security Administration)
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State Employers Cannot Be Sued Under Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, District Court Says
"Sovereign immunity shields state employers from liability under Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), a federal district court has held. The ruling is the first to address whether state employers — including hospitals, schools and other instrumentalities — can face damage claims under GINA. Though Congress clearly meant for GINA to protect state employees, the court found no unconstitutional pattern of genetic bias by states."
(Mercer)
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New Private Health Exchanges Offer Large Companies Cost Control
"While state insurance exchanges are mandated by healthcare reform to be up and running by 2014, some private health insurance exchanges that target corporations are already doing business, suggesting that healthcare benefits may follow retirement benefits' shift to a defined-contribution model."
(Treasury & Risk)
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Nearly Half of All Employer Plans Have Zero In-Network Deductibles
"[The 2012 Medical Plan Trends Report] revealed that the difference between in- and out-of-network costs employees face has increased substantially since 2011. For example, out-of-network primary care physician co-pays are now 53% higher than in-network co-pays, compared to a difference of just 16% in 2011."
(HighRoads)
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Summary of Oral Arguments in Supreme Court's Review of Affordable Care Act (PDF)
"[The Groom Law Group summarizes each day of oral argument and offers] some thoughts as to its implications for the federal health care reform law. It is important to note that it is not possible to predict the outcome of a Supreme Court case based on the questions asked during oral argument, although oral argument does allow some insight as to issues that are of particular concern to the Court."
(Groom Law Group)
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No, The Feds Aren't Taking Over Workers' Comp
"[Managed Care Matters] last post was, in fact, MCM's annual contribution to the national celebration of April 1."
(Managed Care Matters)
[BenefitsLink Editor's Note: BenefitsLink regrets very much any confusion that yesterday's link in the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter might have caused. Please accept my apology. -- David Baker]
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Why Health Care Isn't Broccoli: Some Basic Economics
"It isn't often that the course of history turns on principles taught in freshman economics. But the fate of the health reform legislation is now in jeopardy in part because some Supreme Court justices have so far failed to grasp such principles.... When someone consumes broccoli, one is not normally imposing costs on other consumers that make broccoli more costly or unaffordable. Furthermore, broccoli is not vital to preserving life or reducing pain."
(Brookings)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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Repercussions for Stock Plans in the JOBS Act
"The JOBS Act [Section 501] now greatly expands the exception for private companies and stock plan awards by amending [a section of the 1934 Act] to read as follows: (A) within 120 days after the last day of its first fiscal year ended on which the issuer has total assets exceeding $10,000,000 and a class of equity security (other than an exempted security) held of record by either — (i) 2,000 persons, or (ii) 500 persons who are not accredited investors (as such term is defined by the Commission)[.]"
(Winston & Strawn LLP)
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Senate Bill Introduced to Extend Variety of Federal Employee Benefits to Same-S.ex Partners
"Legislation that would allow a range of benefits for same-s.ex domestic partners of federal employees gained a boost last week with the announcement of 20 new Senate co-sponsors and the endorsement of 35 organizations.... In addition to health benefits, under the Lieberman/Collins Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, same-s.ex domestic partners of federal workers living together in a committed relationship could get retirement, family and medical leave and long-term care benefits."
(The Washington Post; free registration required)
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Employees vs. Independent Contractors: A Benefits Perspective
"Employers and their advisors have used several techniques to limit the group of workers that are covered by benefit plans. Before the enactment of [ERISA], some employers divided their operations into multiple business entities with one business employing high-paid employees who earned generous benefits and another business employing rank-and-file employees who earned no or minimal benefits. This technique was limited by ERISA's controlled group rules, which resulted in the aggregation of employee groups for discrimination testing purposes."
(Society for Human Resource Management)
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Employee Ownership Update for April 2, 2012
NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers discusses new initiatives from the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, the Secretary of Labor's comments on re-proposing the DOL's fiduciary rule, UK proposals on options and employee ownership, Deloitte's global share plan survey, low awareness of company facts among U.S. workers, and new employee ownership fellowships at Rutgers.
(National Center for Employee Ownership)
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