Manager-Pension Administration
Aon Hewitt
in CA, IL, NC, TX

Sr. Benefits Administrator
Beneco Trust Company
in AZ

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

2014 Webinar: Conducting Your Own Compliance Audit
May 13, 2014 WEBCAST
(Ascensus)

Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and Abandoned Plan Workshop
May 21, 2014 in KY
(EBSA [Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor])

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Issues Final Regs on Employer Shared Responsibility Requirements (PDF)
"It will be important to determine whether workers characterized as independent contractors who are not offered medical coverage may, in fact, be common-law employees. In the final regulations, the IRS declined to provide relief from the assessments for previously misclassified employees.... The concept of 'seasonal workers' is used only for purposes of determining applicable large employer status and should not be confused with 'seasonal employees,' which describes certain employees who may not have to be treated as full-time even though they are expected to average at least 30 hours of service a week at their start date." (Buck Consultants)  

[Advert.]

How Will Health Care Reform Impact You in 2014?

May 21 live webinar. Know your obligations, and when you need to comply. Gain an understanding of health exchange options, grandfathered plans, and defined benefit plans. Review notice requirements and how they apply to you. BenefitsLink discount.

[Guidance Overview]

Final ACA Shared Responsibility Regulations Issued
"Some key changes in the final regulations include: [1] Delay the shared responsibility mandate for employers with 50-99 employees; [2] Extend certain transition rules; [3] Temporarily liberalize the requirement to offer coverage from 95% to 70% of employees; [and] [4] Provide a definition of seasonal employee as well as other types of employees." (ErisaDiagnostics)  

Employers, Start Your Reporting! (Or at Least Start Preparing)
"[E]mployers need to start looking at the reporting process now. First, since the obligations under [Internal Revenue Code sections] 6055 and 6056 are somewhat duplicative, employers should first figure out whether they have to file both. Second, collecting this information is going to take a lot of coordination between the HR, payroll and benefits departments. Now is a good time to see what information is available and how responsive information will be collected and aggregated for final reporting." (Fox Rothschild LLP)  

Four Years Into a Commercial ACO for CalPERS: Substantial Savings and Lessons Learned
"In 2007, Blue Shield of California, along with provider and employer partner organizations, began exploring development of one of the first ACO-like programs in the country to serve Commercial patients. It launched in 2010 ... Of particular note has been overall cost of health care savings reported at gross savings of more than $105 million, with net savings of $95 million to CalPERS members, since 2010. [In this article] the partners illuminate the ACO's future directions and offer lessons for other organizations considering development of an ACO delivery system for the Commercial market." (Glenn Melnick and Lois Green in Health Affairs Blog)  

Update on the Basic Health Program
"Currently, only a few states have shown an interest in implementing a Basic Health Program. Some states have studied the option, and seven states -- California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington -- and the District of Columbia are part of a discussion group sponsored by CMS on topics related to the Basic Health Program, including funding, eligibility, and enrollment. In the final rule, CMS estimated that a total of three states would create a Basic Health Program over the next five years." (Health Affairs Blog)  

White House Fact Sheet: Affordable Care Act by the Numbers
"The Affordable Care Act is working.... 8 million people signed up for private insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace ... 3 million young adults gained coverage ... 3 million more people were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP ... 5 million people are enrolled in plans that meet ACA standards outside the Marketplace ... Health care costs are growing at the slowest level on record ... Medicare spending growth is down." (The White House)  

Making the Case Against Allowing Health Insurers to Raise Premiums
"In Colorado ... rate review saved consumers as much as $32 million in one year. And in Oregon ... rate review cut at least $69 million from 2014 premiums. In the next few months, health insurance companies will be notifying state health insurance commissioners of their planned health insurance premium rates (known as 'rate review filings') for 2015. Because these rate review filings will peak in May and June, advocates and consumers should start preparing now by learning how the rate review process works in their states." (Families USA)  

The Next Stage in Executive Compensation's Evolution
"Among the most impactful drivers of change over the past decade have been so-called best practices, regulators and proxy advisors. On the plus side, these forces supported a number of improvements in pay design and governance. However, on the downside, they've helped to create a compliance-driven and 'play it safe' environment.... [We] hear an undue focus on narrow pay issues and standardized rules, that third-party opinions have supplanted empirical research and that pay programs have become increasingly similar across organizations. The notions of customization ... and differentiation ... have received short shrift." (Towers Watson)  

New Custom Report Cards Grade Retirement Readiness
Great-West Financial

Willis Strengthens Health and Productivity Capabilities
Willis

View All Press Releases