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May 21, 2014          Get Retirement News  |  Advertise
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Employee Benefits Jobs

401(k) Operations Support
American Pension Advisors, Ltd.
in IN

DC Plan Administrator
Karel-Gordon & Associates
in IL

Senior Implementation Project Manager
The Newport Group
in ANY STATE

Operations Specialist
Professional Capital Services
in PA

Project Manager
Verisight, Inc.
in CA

Benefits Systems Implementation Specialist
Northwestern Benefit Corporation of Georgia
in GA

Retirement Operations Analyst I
CUNA Mutual Group
in WI

Retirement Operations Analyst II
CUNA Mutual Group
in WI

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Webcasts and Conferences

Experience Synergies360
June 3, 2013 in PA
(Corporate Synergies)

Tax Forms Workshop: 5500 and More - Atlanta
June 18, 2014 in GA
(SunGard Relius)

PPA Pre-Approved Plans Workshop - Corbel and PPD Documents - Atlanta
June 19, 2014 in GA
(SunGard Relius)

View All Webcasts and Conferences


  LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook Hand-picked links to the web's best news articles,
official guidance, jobs, webcasts and more.
[Guidance Overview]

Health Plan Sponsors: Hurry and Get Your HPID -- or NOT!
"A plan sponsor that is inclined to simply apply for an HPID for each of its group health plans should be aware that the HPID may become the identifier for future administrative simplification initiatives. For example, HHS is considering use of the HPID to track CHPs that have satisfied the certification of compliance for health plans (another HIPAA compliance item but for 2015). Hopefully HHS will exempt self-funded health plans that do not engage directly in covered transactions from the certification in response to comments submitted to the proposed regulations published earlier this year. If this turns out not to be the case, a plan sponsor could set itself up for multiple testing and certification requirements if each plan has its own HPID." (Benefits Bryan Cave)  


[Advert.]

New E-Learning Course: Medicare Basics

Sponsored by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]

Enroll now in Medicare Basics, a self-paced e-learning course that provides employers with a comprehensive overview of Medicare benefits and explains how Medicare coordinates with existing employer-sponsored health care plans. Enroll Now!



[Guidance Overview]

When Two 60-Day Election Periods Are Not Equal, and Why Employers Should Care
"[T]he employee's termination of employment starts the 60-day special enrollment period during which the individual is eligible to enroll in coverage on the Marketplace, while COBRA's 60-day election period begins when the election notice is sent to the former employee. If the COBRA notice is not sent by the employer until near the end of the initial 30-day period and the plan administrator does not act on such notice until near the end of the 14-day period ... there are only 16 days remaining during which the former employee may compare coverage available on the Marketplace to the COBRA considering both the coverage and premiums[.]" (Winstead PC)  

2015 ACA Pay-or-Play Checklist (PDF)
"This checklist is intended to provide a list of common steps that plan sponsors should consider in preparing for compliance with health care reform for 2015. This list is not intended to be all-inclusive and assumes all required compliance steps were taken to-date." (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP)  

Self-Funded Benefit Plans: Is Coverage of Same-Sex Spouses Required?
"In states recognizing same-sex marriages, ERISA benefits, like life and disability benefits provided through insurance contracts, will most likely be viewed as covering a same-sex spouse. But does the same apply to self-funded ERISA plans? Maybe not." [Jane Roe and Jane Doe v. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield and St. Joseph's Medical Center, No. 12-cv-04788 (S.D.N.Y. May 1, 2014).] (Lane Powell PC)  

New Special Enrollment Period for COBRA Participants
"While this is welcome news for some COBRA beneficiaries, there are three important things that employers should know about the new special enrollment period. [1] The special enrollment period applies only to Federally-Facilitated Marketplaces.... [2]  If a COBRA qualified beneficiary elects COBRA during the election period, COBRA coverage will be retroactive to the date of the qualifying event.... Marketplace coverage is prospective only.... [3] Consider a targeted communication to employees and COBRA-qualified beneficiaries on available coverage options." (Hill, Chesson & Woody)  

Can an Employer Require a Doctor's Note for Each Intermittent FMLA Absence?
"[O]nce an employee provides 'complete and sufficient' certification signed by the health care provider, the court opined, the employer 'may not request additional information from the health care provider.' ... For this court, when the employer required a doctor's note for every FMLA-related absence -- doctor's appointment or not -- it was tantamount to requesting re-certification over and over again." [Oak Harbor Freight Lines, Inc. v. Antti, No. 3:12-CV- 00488-KI (D. Ore. Feb. 19, 2014)] (FMLA Insights)  

Remember the Obamacare 'Bailout?' The Administration Has a Plan to Avoid That.
"If HHS collects more money than it needs to pay out in risk corridor charges in 2014, it will hang on to the bonus funds for 2015 in case of a shortfall.... If HHS doesn't collect enough money to cover the charges, it will pro rate the amount it pays out to insurers that year. In the following year, HHS would then pay out the difference from the previous year first before paying risk corridors charges for that year. So what happens if at the end of the three-year program, HHS hasn't collected enough payments or it's collected too much? Well, HHS doesn't know yet what happens then[.]" (The Washington Post; subscription may be required)  

2014 Milliman Medical Index
"$23,215. That's how much is spent in 2014 on healthcare for a typical American family of four covered by an average employer-sponsored health plan ... And yet while the amount has more than doubled over the past 10 years, growing from $11,192 to $23,215, the 5.4% growth rate from 2013 to 2014 is the lowest annual change since the MMI was first calculated in 2002. Employers pay the largest portion of healthcare costs, contributing $13,520 per year, or 58% of the total. However, increasing proportions of costs have been shifted to employees." (Milliman)  

CMS Regs Pave Way for 2015 Plans, with Reinsurance Tweaks
"The risk corridor program's formula will have its administrative costs and profit ceilings each raised by two percent, to 22 percent for administration and five percent for after-tax profits.... For reinsurance next year, CMS is keeping the attachment point at $45,000, down from a proposed $70,000, and for 2016, it will recalculate the factors for some high-cost conditions.... By 2016, according to the ACA, exchange plans need to come with quality ratings for consumers. CMS is getting ready to create a system equivalent to Medicare star ratings.... Along with the quality ratings (technical details to come, CMS said), after 2016 exchanges will eventually show past enrollees satisfaction results for plans with more than 500 members[.]" (Healthcare Payer News)  

[Opinion]

House Ways and Means Committee Demands Treasury Halt Unverified Subsidy Payments
"Instead of taking action now, the Administration intends to continue spending taxpayer dollars and hopes that someday, somehow, it will recapture these improper payments. This is outrageous, but not surprising given the Administration's past performance in implementing the President's health care law." (Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives)  

[Opinion]

For Opponents, Obamacare's 'Bailout' of Insurers Is a Richer Target Than Ever
"The Administration has just published the final rule for 2015, which ... takes a significant step towards abandoning the fantasy of budget neutrality: 'In the unlikely event of a shortfall for the 2015 program year, HHS recognizes that the [ACA] requires the Secretary to make full payments to issuers. In that event, HHS will use other sources of funding for the risk corridors payments, subject to the availability of appropriations'. This is ... the first time the Administration has admitted that appropriations are required to use general revenues to make the risk corridors whole." (John Goodman's Health Policy Blog)  

[Opinion]

People With Chronic Illness Fare Worse Under Cost-Sharing
"The difference between avoiding care and obtaining it wasn't due to being insured or uninsured. It wasn't due to having government or private insurance. It was due to cost-sharing. And cost-sharing is highest among privately covered individuals at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

[Guidance Overview]

Final IRS Regs Allow Tax-Free Purchase of Disability Insurance by DC Plans
"To realize these tax benefits, a disability insurance contract must satisfy all of the following requirements: [1] The insurance contract must provide for payments to the plan if the participant cannot work due to disability. [2] The amount of disability payments may not exceed the reasonably expected amount of annual contributions that would have been made to the plan during the period of disability, reduced by any other contributions credited to the participant's account during such period.... [3] The insurance coverage is not self-insured by the employer, but instead is purchased from a third party insurer." (Husch Blackwell LLP)  

2010 IRPAC Report: Employee Benefits and Payroll Subgroup
Recommendations by a subgroup of the Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee. Items include [1] Health Care Valuation on Form W-2; [2] Tip Reporting Compliance and Enforcement Efforts; [3] EINs for Qualified Plans/Trusts; [4] TIN Masking on Payee 1099s; [5] Transparency for Abusive Use of Multiple EINs to Establish Multiple Tax-Favored Benefit Plans; [6] 2009 Form 5500/5330 Automatic Extension for Calendar Year Plans; and [7] Basis Allocation for Direct Rollovers. Published online by IRS on May 19, 2014. (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

2010 IRPAC Public Report: Ad Hoc Subgroup
Recommendations by a subgroup of the Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee. Items include [1] Electronic Furnishing of Forms 1098, 1099, 5498 and W-2; [2] Form 5498 and Fair Market Value Reporting for Deceased Beneficiaries and Successor Beneficiaries; [3] Information Regarding Non-Resident Alien Taxation and Tax Reporting; [4]  Reporting Guidelines for the Return of Mistaken HSA Contributions to an Employer; [5] Form 1099-R Reporting under EPCRS Guidelines for SEP, SARSEP and SIMPLE Excesses Returned to Employer; and [6]  Form 5498-SA, HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA Information Due Date Change. Published online by IRS on May 20, 2014. (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

Sixth Circuit: ERISA's Whistleblower Provision Doesn't Protect All Volunteered Information
"While the Court agreed that Sexton had given information, it concluded that he had not done so in connection with an 'inquiry' -- regardless of whether inquiry meant something formal or merely an inquiry in the colloquial sense. In so ruling, the Court observed that Congress had enacted approximately four dozen anti-retaliation laws and that most of them include two distinct types of prohibitions: (i) the type that protects employees who report unlawful practices; and (ii) the type that protects employees who participate in inquiries, proceedings, or hearings. With respect to ERISA Section 510, Congress only included the latter and that must be given effect." [Sexton v. Panel Processing, Inc., No. 13-1604 (6th Cir. May 9, 2014)] (Proskauer's ERISA Practice Center)  

IRS Announces Section 409A Audit Initiative
"Section 409A created severe penalties for the service provider (i.e., the employee or director) ... [including] a 20% additional income tax, interest on underpaid taxes, and the acceleration of taxable income once the award is no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. Although the tax consequences apply to the employee or other service provider, companies will want to make sure that their deferred compensation arrangements comply because of potential related exposure, e.g., due to employee claims against the employer, employer withholding and reporting noncompliance, and the allocation of Code Section 409A risks/costs in future M&A or other transactions." (Quarles & Brady LLP)  

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