Senior Actuary
Acuff & Associates, Inc.
in TN

Retirement Plan Consultant, Vice President of Client Relations
401(k) Advisors - Arizona
in AZ

Client Service Representative
Alliance Benefit Group of Michigan, Inc.
in MI

Retirement Plan Consultant
QRPS, Inc.
in NC

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Health Care Reform Information Reporting (Code Sections 6055 And 6056) -- The Final Regulations!
April 3, 2014 WEBCAST
(Trucker Huss)

Hot Topics in Employee Benefits Litigation (NY CLE Program)
April 10, 2014 in NY
(Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB) New York)

A New, Holistic Way to Look at Defined Benefit Plan Termination Strategies
May 15, 2014 WEBCAST
(University Conference Services)

HSAs in a Post-ACA World and Recent Lessons Learned
May 20, 2014 WEBCAST
(University Conference Services)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Notice 2014-24: Health Insurance Providers Fee; Procedural and Administrative Guidance (PDF)
"This notice provides a temporary safe harbor for covered entities that report direct premiums written for expatriate plans on a Supplemental Health Care Exhibit (SHCE). A covered entity may apply this temporary safe harbor for purposes of reporting direct premiums written on Form 8963, Report of Health Insurance Provider Information, which is used to calculate the fee imposed by section 9010 of the Affordable Care Act." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Guidance Overview]

To Be, or Not to Be (Compatible with an HSA When Enrolled in a Health FSA) -- That Is the Question
"For those employers who have already struggled with the questions presented by having both a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with an HSA and a health FSA with a carryover feature, the guidance [of IRS Chief Counsel Memo No. 201413005] is welcome.... Even if the employee (or spouse) does not make an election for the health FSA in Year 2, anticipating the need to make HSA contributions, if the health FSA has money leftover from Year 1 the employee may be ineligible to contribute to the HSA for all of Year 2." (Hill, Chesson & Woody)  

[Guidance Overview]

CMS Clarifies Availability of Retroactive Premium Tax Credits and Special Enrollment Periods, and Provides Guidance on Direct Enrollment in SHOPs
"[P]rior transition relief was provided for employers unable to obtain timely FF-SHOP eligibility determinations. Now, this guidance allows state-based SHOPs to mirror the FF-SHOP relief (with CMS approval), giving otherwise eligible small employers the opportunity to claim a tax credit for 2014 even if their state-based SHOP does not have a fully functional enrollment portal." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)  

New HIPAA Risk Assessment Tool from HHS Is Much Ado About Nothing
"While the HHS Security Risk Assessment tool does provide some software, here are few specific cautionary notes: By design, it is intended 'to help guide health care providers in small to medium sized offices not larger organizations ... It comes with several disclaimers, among them: The Security Risk Assessment Tool at HealthIT.gov is provided for informational purposes only. Use of this tool is neither required by nor guarantees compliance with federal, state or local laws.... It does not follow HHS' own Guidance on Risk Analysis Requirements under the HIPAA Security Rule' published in July, 2010 ... The HHS Security Risk Assessment tool is an interesting work product. Please be very careful." (Clearwater Compliance)  

Religious Freedom, Contraceptive Services, and the ACA: The Dilemma of the Self-Certification Provision
"The opinion expands, as compared to the merits holdings of district courts, the obligations of TPAs under the Affordable Care Act. According to the majority, TPAs have an independent obligation to provide contraceptive services merely by contracting with a plan sponsor, which goes well beyond the existing district court case law suggesting that TPAs have a conditional obligation to provide contraceptive services only after -- not before -- a plan sponsor files the EBSA 700.... The imposition of fines on the employer seems to reinforce the conclusion, which the majority challenges, that the employer-sponsor possesses a distinct and affirmative obligation to ensure the provision of contraceptives (not the TPA under some federally-imposed obligation under the ACA)." (Ogletree Deakins)  

Court Considers Rights and Benefits of Employee on Active Military Duty
"A business transaction may or may not create a triggering event that causes a loss of coverage for covered employees and their families. And, as this case illustrates, employees on leave for active military duty, and the resulting interaction of USERRA and COBRA, may significantly increase the complexity and potential for liability. With this in mind, employers may want to review their policies and procedures for military and other leaves of absence and consult legal advisors to ensure compliance with USERRA, COBRA, and other applicable laws." [Dorris v. TXD Services, LP, 2014 WL 747476 (8th Cir. 2014)] (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)  

New York Might Drive Its Obamacare Exchange Premiums Up Another 30 Percent
"According to the [HHS] March enrollment report, New York's state-run ObamaCare exchange has signed up fewer than half the people who were determined eligible for the exchange when they enquired. What is the problem? One seems to be that the provider networks available in the exchange are very narrow. What the proposed solution? At a recent presentation, exchange officials threatened to impose out-of-network access requirement on insurers who bid to participate in the exchange." (John Goodman's Health Policy Blog)  

How to Find Out If Your Employer's Health Plan Is Good Enough
"If you have comprehensive health coverage from an employer, the government, or that you buy, you will not be subject to penalties. But if you are uninsured for more than three months, or if you only have very limited coverage -- such as coverage that only pays for cancer care or that only pays a fixed dollar amount when you are in the hospital or that only gives you a discount on medical services -- you could face a tax penalty. While the documents that employees will receive are helpful, some employees will still struggle to get needed information." (Families USA)  

Taking a New Route: San Francisco Employers Must Offer Commuter Benefits
"The Commuter Benefits Program, which was recently signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown, requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees within the jurisdiction of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in San Francisco to choose among four commuter-benefit options.... HR professionals ... need to designate a commuter-benefits coordinator; submit an online registration form to the Air District/commission and update company registration information annually; notify employees of the commuter-benefit option and maintain records to document." (Human Resource Executive Online)  

[Opinion]

Forget the Spin: Was Obamacare Worth It?
"Are enough people getting coverage who didn't have it before to justify the sacrifices the people who were already covered -- in the individual, small group, and large employer market -- are making or will make?... Forget the Obama administration's spin over hitting 6 million. Forget all of the opposition spin over Obamacare's failings. The country's judgment should and will come down to a simple answer to this simple question." (Bob Laszewski's Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review)  

Supreme Court Holds Severance Payments are Taxable Wages under FICA
"Employers should be aware that attempts to convert promised severance payments into non-wage payments (e.g., consulting fees) in order to avoid FICA tax can subject both the employer and employee to IRS scrutiny and possible penalties." (Dorsey & Whitney LLP)  

Supreme Court Rules That Severance Payments Are Subject to FICA Taxes
"The Supreme Court unanimously resolved the dispute between the Federal and the Sixth Circuits by agreeing with the IRS's long-held position. The Court first held, because the term 'wages' for FICA taxes includes 'all remuneration for employment,' it must include payments for 'not only work actually done but the entire employer-employee relationship for which compensation is paid.' ... The Court further held that, although the Code treats SUB payments 'as if' they are wages for federal income tax purposes, the 'as if' language does not mean that severance payments are not wages for other purposes." [U.S. v. Quality Stores, No. 12-140 (S.Ct. Mar. 25, 2014)] (Ballard Spahr)  

Proposed Tax Reform Potentially Impacts Executive Compensation (PDF)
"The proposed law would also undermine the benefits derived from non-contributory nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, such as SERPs or restoration plans. Among these benefits is the deferral of taxation on amounts accrued and any earning thereon until such amounts are distributed to the employee. Under the proposed law, upon vesting these amounts would become subject to federal income tax." (Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC)  

Nonqualified Deferred Comp Plans See Higher Participation, Deferrals for 2014
"The eighth annual MullinTBG/PLANSPONSOR Executive Benefits Survey reveals while general plan participation rates were up only slightly to 46% (from 43.9% in 2012), 30% of survey webinar registrants observed higher participation, 19% higher deferral amounts and MullinTBG saw a 10.5% increase in enrollment. Similar to previous survey results, participation rates were highest (56%) for firms that offered a company match.... The survey, the longest-running of its kind, also revealed almost all companies (95%) offer [non-qualified deferred compensation plans (NQDCPs)] to their highly compensated employees, making it the most common executive benefit surveyed. In 2012, roughly 90 percent of responding companies said they offered a NQDCP." (Prudential)  

Employers Council on Flexible Compensation Names New Chairman of the Board, Appoints New Board Members
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC)

ICMA-RC Recognized by Pension & Investments with Eddy Award for Education Website
ICMA-RC

River and Mercantile Group Announces Appointment of New Chairman Paul Bradshaw
River and Mercantile Group (RMG)

FCRC Apps Announces a New Surveying Tool for eFiduciary.net
FCRC Apps, LLC

Well-recognized Industry Specialist Joins Sapers & Wallack Retirement Plan Division
Sapers & Wallack, Inc.

Northeast Professional Planning Group, Inc. Appoints Lance P. Roteman
Northeast Professional Planning Group (NPPG)

Northeast Professional Planning Group Launches 3(16) Fiduciary Service
Northeast Professional Planning Group (NPPG)

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