Retirement Planning Consultant
Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in NY

Relationship Manager
DailyAccess Corporation
in AL, KS

Retirement Planning Specialist
Nationwide Insurance
in MD

Actuarial Assistant
The Benefit Practice
in CT, FL

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2014 San Francisco Mid-Sized Retirement & Healthcare Plan Management Conference
March 16, 2014 in CA
(University Conference Services)

The Affordable Care Act: What Employers Need to Know
April 16, 2014 in IN
(Lorman Education Services)

Overcoming Obstacles to HSA Participation
May 22, 2014 WEBCAST
(TRI-AD)

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[Guidance Overview]

Final Mental Health Parity Regulations Mostly Confirm and Clarify Earlier Guidance
"The PPACA makes the MHPAEA applicable to grandfathered and non-grandfathered health insurance issuers in the individual health insurance market for policy years beginning on or after January 1, 2014. Sponsors of self-funded, nonfederal governmental plans may continue to opt out of the MHPAEA. Plans covering fewer than two current employees (i.e., retiree-only plans) are not subject to the MHPAEA. Through at least 2014, the departments will treat employee assistance programs (EAPs) as excepted benefits not subject to the MHPAEA as long as these programs do not provide significant benefits in the nature of medical care or treatment." (Towers Watson)  

[Advert.]

Improve Employee Health and Productivity -- As Well as Your Bottom Line

Healthy Employees, Healthy Business offers practical advice to implement a low-cost wellness program. You'll get the tools needed to establish a program immediately and learn how to target the major health concerns in your workplace. Order Now!

IRS Releases 2013 Version of Publication on HSAs, HRAs, Flexible Spending Accounts
"The IRS has released the 2013 Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans. This publication is compiled to help taxpayers properly take advantage of the tax benefits of HSAs, Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs), health flexible spending accounts (FSAs), and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs)." (Ascensus)  

New Health Flexible Spending Account Carryover Rules: Employers Have Choices to Make
"Employers have three options for the administration of unspent [health flexible spending account] balances at the end of a plan year -- grace period, carryover or neither. Employers will have to decide whether or not to change current plan designs and implement a carryover. Based on the existing guidance under Notice 2013-71, [this article summarizes] the best practice for employers based on their current plan designs[.]" (TRI-AD)  

Government Workers' Health Benefits Cost 40 Percent More Than Private Workers
"Last year, public-sector health benefits cost $8,551 per employee while private-sector coverage cost only $6,040." (John Goodman's Health Policy Blog)  

Health Care Spending Slowdown? Not for States and Localities
"[T]he Government Accountability Office -- the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress -- warns that health care spending is the primary driver of the long-term fiscal challenges that it expects state and local governments to face. According to the GAO's simulation, state and local health-related expenditures will nearly double as a percentage of gross domestic product from 2014 to 2060." (Pew Center on the States)  

[Advert.]

4th Annual Leadership Summit on Ancillary Products and Voluntary Benefits

This unique Summit convenes health plans, non-medical insurance carriers and brokers to discuss leveraging ancillary and voluntary products to increase their competitive edge and to meet the needs of a consumer driven market. March 11-12, Orlando. BLINK3 for discount.

Economists See Little Effect on Hiring from ACA
"Most, 85 percent, also said the law wouldn't prompt a change in their hiring practices, according to the survey. Some 6 percent said it would lead to more employment of part-time help and fewer full-time staff, while 8 percent said it would lead to less hiring of all types of workers." (Bloomberg)  

High Court Offers Some Relief from Contraceptive Coverage Mandate Accommodation for Religious Nonprofit Organization (PDF)
"On January 3, 2014, the government filed a brief opposing the Little Sisters' application for an injunction, arguing that the organization can free itself from compliance with the mandate by the simple 'stroke of a pen' in signing EBSA Form 700. In the government's view, once the organization signs the form, it has no obligation whatsoever to provide contraceptive services to its employees. Additionally, the government maintains that the organization cannot show that it will actually suffer harm because of the EBSA Form 700 requirement." (Buck Consultants)  

Bi-Partisan Legislators, Religious Leaders, Legal Scholars and States File Support in Supreme Court for Hobby Lobby
"At midnight [on Wednesday, January 29] more than 50 briefs [were] filed in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Hobby Lobby Stores and the Green family, supporting their challenge to the HHS mandate. The Becket Fund represents Hobby Lobby and David and Barbara Green, owners of the family business, and is the leading resource on all HHS Affordable Care Act mandate cases." (The Becket Fund)  

HHS Doing 'Regulatory Gymnastics' to Create Exemption for Certain Self-Insured Plans, Group Says
"The 'regulatory gymnastics' that the [HHS] is doing to exempt union multi-employer plans from the [ACA] reinsurance fee raises serious questions and increases the cost for other employers, according to HR Policy Association comments submitted to HHS." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)  

[Opinion]

Cato Institute Files Amicus Brief in Sibelius v. Hobby Lobby Supreme Court Case
"These cases will determine whether individuals who wish to conduct their lives in accordance with their religious beliefs forfeit the right to do so when they engage in business activities, particularly through the corporate form. Cato has submitted a brief supporting Hobby Lobby and Conestoga. We argue that individuals should be able to order their professional lives according to their religious beliefs, that engaging in business doesn't demand the surrender of religious freedom, and that there's nothing inherent in the corporate form that requires denying the owners of a corporation the right to direct their business in a manner that comports with their religion." (Cato Institute)  

[Opinion]

Text of Amicus Brief of American Center for Law & Justice in Sibelius v. Hobby Lobby Supreme Court Case (PDF)
"The federal regulation at issue in these cases requires employers to pay for and provide abortifacient drugs and devices, contraception, sterilization, and related patient education and counseling services in their health insurance plans ... [T]he ACLJ currently represents thirty-two individuals and corporations in seven pending actions against the government, including a case with a petition for certiorari currently pending before this Court. The ACLJ has obtained preliminary injunctive relief for its clients in all seven cases." (American Center for Law & Justice)  

[Guidance Overview]

Qualified Plans and Executive Pay Programs Exempt from Net Investment Income Tax
"Qualified [retirement] plans and executive pay programs are generally exempt from the 3.8% net investment income tax on high-income individuals. Employers might want to consider expanding deferral opportunities to enable executives to accrue earnings and receive income exempt from the tax." (Towers Watson)  

Income Subject to Payroll Tax Increases in 2014; FICA Withholding Needed
"By Jan. 1, U.S. employers should have: [1] Adjusted their payroll systems to account for the higher taxable maximum under the Social Security portion of FICA. [2] Notified affected employees that more of their paychecks will be subject to FICA." (Society for Human Resource Management)  

Supreme Court Says a District Court's Decision on the Merits of an ERISA Lawsuit Triggers the Time to Appeal, Irrespective of a Pending Attorneys' Fee Application
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous opinion that an unresolved claim for attorney's fees does not prevent a decision on the merits of an ERISA suit from becoming final for purposes of the deadline to file a notice of appeal to a federal appellate court.... In so ruling, the Court resolved a split among the circuit courts as to whether an appeal of a decision on the merits should proceed before there has been a final ruling on a corollary application for attorneys' fees, and whether the resolution of that issue should depend on whether the claim for attorneys' fees was based on contract or statute." [Ray Haluch Gravel Co. v. Central Pension Fund of Int'l Union of Operating Engineers and Participating Employers, No. 12-992, 2014 WL 127952 (S. Ct. Jan. 15, 2014)] (Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center)  

Tegrit Group Completes SSAE 16 Review
Tegrit Group

Tegrit Group Completes SSAE 16 Review
Tegrit Group

HealthCare Consumerism Solutions Announces Special Issue Focused on Health Insurance Exchanges
The Institute for HealthCare Consumerism

ConnectYourCare Wins Paybefore Award - Vies for Best-in-Category Recognition
ConnectYourCare

Fringe Benefit Group Launches New Website with Educational Resources & Calculators for Government Contractors at TheContractorsPlan.com
Fringe Benefit Group

OneAmerica Introduces Index(b)
OneAmerica Financial Partners

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