WTRIS Relationship Manager I
Wilmington Trust, an affiliate of M&T Bank
in AZ

Sr. Conversion Manager
Charles Schwab
in OH, TX

Communications Consultant
Charles Schwab
in OH, TX

IRT Territory Manager
Wells Fargo
in MN

Record Keeping Specialist
The Online 401(k)
in CA

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Defined Contribution: A Playbook for Employers - Recorded
February 26, 2014 WEBCAST
(bswift)

6th Annual Leadership Summit on Consumerism through Health Plan Innovation
March 11, 2014 in FL
(World Congress)

Webcast: Affordable Care Act: Obligations and Opportunities
April 1, 2014 WEBCAST
(National Institute of Pension Administrators)

Health Care Reform
April 10, 2014 in GA
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

COBRA Compliance for Group Health Plans
April 11, 2014 in GA
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

Health Care Reform for Employers: Now What?
May 7, 2014 in UT
(Lorman Education Services)

2014 Regional Conference: Chicago
June 5, 2014 in IL
(American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA))

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Issues Final ACA Employer Mandate Regulations and Eases 2015 Requirements (PDF)
"The relaxation of [the coverage] requirement to 70% for the 2015 plan year will greatly ease the compliance efforts for many large employers in 2015, and provide them with additional time to comply with the more stringent requirements that will apply in 2016 and later.... The regulations note ... that an employer cannot use the look-back measurement method for variable hour employees and the monthly measurement method for employees with more predictable hours of service. This limits the flexibility of these methods." (Buck Consultants)  

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[Guidance Overview]

Employer Mandate Delayed Again for Some Employers
"The regulations make clear that there are no specific requirements that you obtain signed declinations of coverage from your employees, but rather the general substantiation requirements that apply to other benefits requirements will govern the level of 'proof' that you need to retain. In addition, while offers can be made electronically, you should be careful to make sure you comply with the safe harbors for use of electronic media[.]" (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

Agencies Extend Reprieve for Employer Pay-or-Play Mandate
"Employers with an average of 50-99 full-time employees are not subject to the pay-or-play mandate until the first plan year beginning on/after 1/1/2016, provided the employer: [1] does not reduce its workforce between 2/9/2014 and 12/31/2014 in order to avail itself of the extended delay (i.e., to fall within the 50-99 employee range); [2] satisfies certain coverage maintenance requirements for the period beginning on 2/9/2014 and ending on the last day of the first plan year beginning on or after 1/1/2015; and [3] certifies that it satisfies all of the foregoing requirements on a designated form." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

The Employer Responsibility Final Rule (Part 1)
"The final rule addresses four major issues that must be resolved for the employer responsibility provision, as described above, to be implemented.... [1] [H]ow to determine whether an employer is a large employer subject to the requirement or a small employer that need not offer coverage.... [2] [H]ow to determine whether an employee is full-time and thus must be offered coverage, or part-time and not covered by the mandate.... [3] [T]he circumstances under which the $2,000 and $3,000 penalties will be applied.... [4] [V]arious transition provisions intended to smooth the implementation of the coverage requirement in situations where it might be particularly disruptive. Throughout, the rule is attentive to very specific situations -- such as those of seasonal workers, volunteer fire fighters, adjunct instructors, airline pilots, or home care workers -- where employees do not work in traditional employer-employee relationships and 40 hour a week settings." (Timothy Jost in Health Affairs Blog)  

[Guidance Overview]

The ACA Employer Mandate: Treasury Issues Final Regulations
"[T]he new final regulations ... [p]rovide two measurement methods for determining full-time employee status for purposes of whether the sledge hammer or tack hammer penalties apply. Employers may apply: (i) a 'monthly measurement method' (which determines full-time status by counting each employee's hours of service each month), or (ii) a 'look back measurement method' (which determines full-time status for a future period based upon each employee's hours of service in a prior period)." (Mazursky Constantine LLC)  

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[Guidance Overview]

A Mixed Bag of Guidance: IRS Issues Final Regulations on Employer Pay-or-Play Mandate Under ACA
"The requirement to cover dependents will not apply for the 2014 plan year or the 2015 plan year so long the employer meets the following criteria: [1] The employer did not offer dependent coverage during the 2013 or 2014 plan year. [2] The employer is taking steps to arrange for dependent coverage to begin in the 2016 plan year.... The regulations define a 'seasonal employee' as an employee who is hired into a position for which the customary annual employment is six months or less. The preamble to the regulations further [clarifies] that 'the reference to customary means that by the nature of the position an employee in this position typically works for a period of six months or less, and that period should begin each calendar year in approximately the same part of the year, such as summer or winter.'" (Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP)  

[Guidance Overview]

New HIPAA Certification Requirement Under HIPAA Standard Transaction Rules (PDF)
"The new rules require health plans to obtain a certification that they -- or their business associates -- comply with the HIPAA standard transaction rules ... [which] require covered entities that conduct certain transactions electronically to use standards and code sets designated by the Secretary of HHS. Under the proposed rules most health plans will be required to obtain certification -- by December 31, 2015 -- from an outside organization and then file an attestation with HHS that the plan has obtained the necessary certification (small health plans generally have a delayed effective date of one year). Plans may be penalized $1 per covered life per day (up to a maximum cap) for failure to file the required certification." (Groom Law Group)  

Is Charging Smokers More for Healthcare Really Legal?
"Policies should be reviewed in light of requirements under the ACA, HIPAA, the ADA, ERISA, and state law.... [Consider] which tobacco products to target, and how 'tobacco use' is defined. For example, is some tobacco use permissible? What about a celebratory cigar? Some employers are choosing to include e-cigarettes in the list of prohibited products while others decide it's a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes. And you'll need to decide which disciplinary measures to include in the policy for employees who misrepresent their tobacco use to attain the reward." (Fisher & Phillips LLP)  

Redefine ACA's Definition of Full-Time Employee to 40 Hours Per Week, Hearing Witnesses Say
"Hearing witnesses testified that the 30-hour rule impacts employers' economic incentives to hire or retain workers.... One witness testified that there is considerable evidence that the concern about creating an incentive for firms to keep workers' hours below 30 has been overstated.... Additional concerns raised at the hearing included the increased costs and reporting and recordkeeping burdens due to the 30-hour rule." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)  

ACA Health Insurer Fee: Estimated Impact on State Medicaid Programs & Medicaid Health Plans, January 2014 Update
"[T]he Medicaid managed care portion of the insurer tax will cost the Medicaid program about $37.7 billion over a ten year period starting in 2014. The state government portion of this will be $13.6 billion and the federal government portion will be $24.1 billion. About one-sixth of the total tax will be paid by Medicaid managed care plans. However, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 put in place federal actuarial soundness requirements mandating that states must pay Medicaid health plans actuarially sound rates which adequately cover medical costs, administration, taxes & fees. This means that the government will actually be required to fund the entire insurer tax." (Medicaid Health Plans of America)  

The Real Reason Health Spending Has Slowed
"Three developments track the slowdown in health care spending very closely: the growth of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), the growth of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) and the general trend toward higher deductibles. All three changes mean that patients are paying more medical bills out of their own pockets. And that has produced profound changes -- on both the demand and supply sides of the market." (John C. Goodman and Peter Ferrara, for National Center for Policy Analysis)  

Obamacare's Employer Mandate Keeps Getting Delayed. What Happens If It Gets Killed?
"The employer mandate's main point is to preserve an employer-sponsored system of health insurance. Right now, most Americans (56 percent in 2012) get health insurance coverage through their workplace. That number has, however, been eroding in recent years, as mostly smaller businesses have shed health insurance as a benefit they offer workers.... At the Urban Institute, [Linda] Blumberg ... estimates that removing the employer mandate from Obamacare would increase the uninsured rate by 0.1 percent." (Sarah Kliff in The Washington Post; subscription may be required)  

Can an Employee Insist That the Employer Pay for FMLA Medical Certification?
"[T]he FMLA regulations ... make clear that the employee is solely responsible for obtaining medical certification.... [However, if] the employer requires the employee to be examined by a physician chosen by the employer ... it is the employer's responsibility to pay all costs associated with the examination.... [A] number of states also have very specific statutes that require the employer to pay the cost of a medical examination where the exam is required as a condition of employment." (FMLA Insights)  

[Opinion]

What Republicans and Democrats Don't Understand About the Insurance Company 'Bailout'
"After one month, there are signs that insurers got their pricing significantly wrong.... It certainly looks like the adventure will be very expensive. By 2015, the insurers will likely ask the federal government for risk corridor subsidies. The administration has no flexibility in this regard. It would be a mistake to blame the insurance industry, however. It would be unreasonable to expect them to lose money on ObamaCare." (John Goodman's Health Policy Blog)  

[Opinion]

After Numerous Employer Reprieves, Now is the Time to Help the Individual Health Consumer
"From health care plan cancellations to hardship extensions to a delay in the SHOP exchange, America's smallest businesses -- the self-employed and micro-businesses nationwide -- largely fall into the individual market and continue to ride the rollercoaster of changes and obstacles while large employers continue to get a pass from the Administration. Now is the time to put the American consumer who is shopping for an affordable health care plan first." (National Association for the Self-Employed)  

ERISA Litigation Round-Up, 4th Quarter 2013 (PDF)
8 pages. Summary articles include: [1] Supreme Court agrees to review presumption of prudence in stock drop cases; [2] Supreme Court resolves a conflict related to statute of limitations in benefit claims' cases; and [3] Class action developments: Rule 23(a) requirements, and Rule 23(b) requirements. (Schiff Hardin LLP)  

D.C. Circuit Tosses Out IRS Tax-Preparer Regulation
"The problem, Judge Kavanaugh's opinion for the court explains, is ... that [the agency's] action had no basis in the text of the statute. Preparers are not 'representatives' because they have no authority at all to act on behalf of the taxpayer, who is still responsible for signing his or her own return. Preparers also aren't engaged in 'practice ... before' the IRS because they do not present any sort of case to the agency, such as in an investigation or hearing. And finally, the court observed that IRS's broad view of the statute would render superfluous other statutes that do allow the agency to impose penalties on preparers for certain conduct." [Loving v. IRS, No. 13-5061 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 11, 2014)] (Cato Institute)  

Does Your W-2 Include Stock Comp Income and Withholding?
"With incentive stock options, the spread value appears on the W-2 only when you make ... a disqualifying disposition, i.e. when you sell or gift the stock before you have met the required holding periods of one year from exercise and two years from grant. In that case the income appears on the W-2 as compensation income.... [Y]our company does not withhold federal taxes on ISO exercises and no money is owed for Social Security and Medicare ... The W-2 reporting for ESPP income depends on whether your company's ESPP is tax-qualified or not and, if it is tax-qualified, how long you hold the shares." (myStockOptions.com)  

Survey Finds Biopharma Companies Adapting Their Talent and Pay Strategies to Navigate a Difficult Environment
"[B]iopharma companies are sharpening their focus on differentiating pay based on performance as business models and talent strategies continue to be under pressure from the patent cliff, growth in the generics sector, R&D reorganization and continuing M&A activity.... [A]lmost 20% of the survey participants are planning to decrease their long-term incentive (LTI) targets for 2014 and we continue to see biopharma organizations realigning their LTI mix to include restricted stock and performance shares." (Towers Watson)  

Dynamic Health Strategies Receives Contract for Camden Property Trust
Dynamic Health Strategies

American Benefits Council Commends Obama Administration's Deliberate Approach To PPACA Implementation, Attentiveness To Employer Concerns
American Benefits Council

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