Retirement Plan Specialist
Larson Financial Group
in MO

Senior Retirement Platform Consultant
1st Global
in TX

Retirement Plan Specialist
Financial Services Company - Pasadena, CA
in CA

Prospect Development Consultant
Transamerica Retirement Solutions
in CA, FL, IA, IL

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ACA’s Impact on Global Workforces
July 31, 2014 WEBCAST
(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP])

Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your Small Business
August 6, 2014 WEBCAST
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

What the New Healthcare Law Means for Your Small Business
August 14, 2014 WEBCAST
(Small Business Majority)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Captive Insurance Ruling Creates Opportunities for Plan Sponsors
"Under the arrangement in Revenue Ruling 2014-15, a retiree medical plan sponsor's wholly-owned subsidiary reinsured a noncancellable accident and health policy covering retirees and their dependents that was purchased by a [VEBA]). The [IRS] held that such reinsurance constituted 'insurance,' including for purposes of determining whether the retiree medical plan sponsor's wholly-owned subsidiary qualifies as an insurance company under Subchapter L.... Revenue Ruling 2014-15 also reaffirms the general principle that, depending on the particular structure of an employee benefit arrangement, the 'insured' may be the plan sponsor's employees and their dependents, and not necessarily the plan sponsor or a plan trust." (Groom Law Group)  

[Advert.]

Convenient and Cost-Effective FMLA Training

Enroll now in online FMLA training! This two-hour e-learning course provides a comprehensive overview of the Family and Medical Leave Act and reflects the latest changes resulting from ACA and Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) legislation. Enroll Now!

What Is the Difference Between a Health Plan and a Payer? (PDF)
"By and large, the healthcare industry tends to use the terms 'health plan' and 'payer' synonymously. The HIPAA regulation, however, defines 'health plan' differently than the way the industry commonly uses the term. This variation in terminology usage has also created additional interpretation issues.... Even though an entity can be in both roles, not all payers are health plans and not all health plans are payers. Usage in transactions relies on the identification of the role the entity being identified is playing.... If a health plan, third-party administrator, administrative services organization, or a different entity currently is identified in standard transactions as a payer, it would continue to do so. If the entity currently is identified as a health plan (and continues to be identified as a health plan after November 7, 2016) in standard transactions, it must use an HPID." (Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange)  

Larger Companies More Likely Than Smaller Companies to Offer Medical Care Benefits
"Employer-provided medical care benefits were available to 69 percent of private-industry workers in the United States in March 2014. Availability of medical care benefits varied by establishment size; 53 percent of workers in establishments with fewer than 50 employees were offered medical care benefits, compared with 89 percent of workers in establishments with 500 employees or more." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS])  

Appointment of M.D. Raises Clinical Bar for Private Exchanges
"At least one leading private health insurance exchange operator has made sure that a seasoned physician from the corporate arena has a major say in how care will be managed for employer-clients and their employees.... His responsibilities will include providing physician-level expertise for member engagement and clinical management strategies, as well as developing high-performance networks and key clinical metrics to evaluate and improve population health." (Employee Benefit Adviser)  

Paid Leave Encourages Female Employees to Stay
"Just 59 percent of workers say their employers offer them paid leave ... After California became the first state to offer paid parental leave, new mothers were more likely to return to work ... The policy debate is not just about parents of young children; paid leave policies also cover employees who need to care for aging parents. Elder care is already eating away at women's work force participation, which is why the biggest declines are among women in their 40s and 50s. That need will surge in coming years." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

[Advert.]

Private Exchanges: The Future of Commercial Health Insurance?

This conference will answer important questions about the viability of private exchanges, the role of single-source vs. multi-carrier platforms, and the product, pricing and benefit strategies of top insurers. $200 discount with code BLINK2.

What Makes a 'State' Exchange?
"Establishing the exchange -- that is, using the power of state government to enable the exchange to operate and fulfill its responsibilities -- is different from the carrying out the day-to-day operations of the exchange, which might be carried out by public officials, private contractors, or even the federal government.... It is not enough for a state simply to set up a website. It is also not sufficient if a state Department of Insurance operates some functions in a partnership relationship with a federal exchange." (Timothy Jost, for Health Affairs)  

Private Health Insurance Exchanges Must Live Up to Promises
"Many insurers have little choice but to participate in private exchanges, lest their group accounts start diminishing. But the rise of private exchanges has also meant that retail insurance is being thrust upon the industry, challenging companies to adopt new businesses processes, marketing and technologies. Not getting private exchanges right in the short term ... could vex future prospects -- because employees using private exchanges and the companies paying for them have high expectations." (Healthcare Payer News)  

The Transitional Reinsurance Program: Submission of Annual Enrollment and Contributions Through Pay.gov (PDF)
46 presentation slides. "Purpose and Objectives: [1] Explain key points of registering on Pay.gov; [2] Identify key points of the 'ACA Transitional Reinsurance Program Annual Enrollment and Contributions Submission Form'; [3] Provide an overview of the supporting documentation; [4] Identify key points about scheduling payment of reinsurance contributions; and [5] Review the submission process." (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS])  

HSA Balances, Contributions and Withdrawals in 2012
12 pages. Excerpt: "Twenty-eight percent (28%) of HSAs open during 2012 were initiated that year, 21 percent were opened in 2011 and 15 percent were opened in 2010. More than half (55%) of all accounts received personal contributions during 2012 and 44 percent of the accounts received employer contributions. Of those accounts, the average personal contribution was $2,337 and the average contribution from employers was $1,142. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of all accounts had withdrawals during the year and of those accounts the average withdrawal during 2012 was $2,081." (America's Health Insurance Plans [AHIP])  

Obama Administration to Expand Health Coverage for Federal Workers
"The Obama administration [is publishing] a proposed rule that would give thousands of temporary and seasonal government workers access to the government's health care program, even though current law would appear to prohibit them from using that program. The rule from [OPM] would let these federal workers sign up for coverage ... and also allow some of them to enjoy a government contribution to their insurance premiums. Both steps would be done through OPM's proposed regulation, and not through an Act of Congress." (The Blaze)  

Revisions to CBO's Projections of Federal Health Care Spending
"CBO now projects that, if current laws remained generally unchanged, net federal spending for the government's major health care programs in 2039 would equal 8.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) -- 1.6 percentage points, or about 15 percent, less than the 9.6 percent the agency projected in 2010 ... That revision stems in large part from the observed slowdown in health care spending in recent years, but it also includes the effects of other factors; some of those factors reduced projected spending, and others increased it." (Congressional Budget Office [CBO])  

Text of GAO Report: Railroad Retirement Board Total and Permanent Disability Program at Risk of Improper Payments
"The Railroad Retirement Board's (RRB) policies and procedures for processing total and permanent (T&P) disability benefit claims do not adequately ensure that claimants meet program eligibility requirements.... GAO recommends that RRB explore options for obtaining more timely earnings information; revise its policy concerning the supervisory review of disability claims; establish a regular quality assurance review of T&P disability decisions; develop a performance goal to track decision accuracy; and develop and implement fraud awareness policies, procedures, and annual training." (U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO])  

Obamacare's Taxpayer Bailout of Health Insurers and the White House's Involvement to Increase Bailout Size
"Among today's House Oversight report findings is that almost all insurance companies expect to receive Risk Corridor payments to cover their expected losses on ObamaCare-compliant plans. The projections suggest that the size of the bailout will approach $1 billion this year alone. Between October 2013 and May 2014, the projected size of this bailout increased by more than 33 percent." (Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives)  

2014 Annual Report of the Boards of Trustees of the Medicare Trust Funds (PDF)
283 pages. Excerpt: "The estimated depletion date for the HI trust fund is 2030, 4 years later than was shown in last year's report. As in past years, the Trustees have determined that the fund is not adequately financed over the next 10 years.... The Trustees project slight surpluses in 2015 through 2022, with a return to deficits thereafter until the fund becomes depleted in 2030." (The Boards of Trustees, Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds)  

Medicare Trustees Report Shows Significant Improvements for Seniors and Taxpayers
"Today's annual report from the Medicare program's Boards of Trustees brings good news about the program's financial future: Its Trust Fund will last four more years, to 2030, and projected Part B premiums for 2015 will not increase for the second year in a row." (The White House Blog)  

[Opinion]

Statement of Paul Van de Water on the 2014 Medicare Trustees' Report
"Health reform, along with other factors, has significantly improved Medicare's financial outlook, boosting revenues and making the program more efficient. The HI trust fund's projected exhaustion date of 2030 is 13 years later than the trustees projected before the [ACA]. And the HI program's projected 75-year shortfall of 0.87 percent of taxable payroll is down from last year's estimate of 1.11 percent and much less than the 3.88 percent that the trustees estimated before health reform." (Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)  

[Opinion]

CMS Views Medicare Solvency through Rose-Colored Glasses
"[If] you assume the Medicare physician fee cuts will not take place; if you assume the Independent Payment Advisory Board will not be allowed to gut Medicare reimbursements; if you assume the productivity improvements that are supposed to slow Medicare spending but have failed to work, the percentage of GDP consumed by Medicare in the coming years is one-third higher than the projection under current law." (National Center for Policy Analysis Health Policy Blog)  

[Opinion]

Narrow Networks Redux: Don't Mandate Broader Access
"Make no mistake, restrictive networks are essential to cost containment. Through narrow networks, insurers can negotiate lower prices. More importantly, they can direct enrollees to providers who have lower overall costs and higher quality.... The solution isn't to regulate narrow networks out of existence; it is to shine some light on network structure.... [W]hat we must avoid is mandating broader access. This would spell the end of market-based health reform." (David Dranove and Craig Garthwaite, Kellogg School of Management)  

[Opinion]

Text of Comments by NHeLP to CMS on Proposed Rule for Exchange Annual Redetermination
"[We] strongly recommend CMS require the exchanges, not the issuers, be responsible for auto enrolling consumers who do not actively select a new plan. Requiring the exchange instead of the issuers to choose an alternate plan for auto enrollment will help ensure that the consumer's interest outweighs the issuer's interest, which is to retain a customer[.]" (National Health Law Program [NHeLP])  

[Guidance Overview]

Text of IRS Guidance to Practitioners Regarding Professional Obligations Under Revised Treasury Circular No. 230 (PDF)
"The provisions of Circular 230 apply to: Attorneys; Certified Public Accountants; Enrolled Agents; Enrolled Actuaries; Enrolled Retirement Plan Agents; Appraisers ... The following is a summary description of certain obligations under [the June 2014 revision of] Treasury Circular No. 230. This summary does not address all provisions of the Regulations." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs: A Summary of the 2014 Annual Reports (PDF)
28 pages. Excerpt: "[Social Security's Disability Insurance (DI)] Trust Fund reserves ... declined to 62 percent at the beginning of 2014, and the Trustees project trust fund depletion late in 2016, the same year projected in the last Trustees Report.... The Trustees project that the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund will be the next to face depletion after the DI Trust Fund. The projected date of HI Trust Fund depletion is 2030, four years later than projected in last year's report." (Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees)  

Fact Sheet: Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports
"Taken in combination, Social Security's retirement and disability programs have dedicated resources sufficient to cover benefits for the next 19 years, until 2033. However, the projected depletion date for the separate Social Security's Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund is only two years away, in late 2016." (U.S. Department of the Treasury)  

2014 Proxy Season Review: Good Marks for Most U.S. Companies, but No Room for Complacency
"Say-on-pay results from 2014 annual meetings reveal that, after four years of mandatory say on pay, most U.S. companies are achieving consistently strong shareholder support for their executive pay programs. While that may not be surprising following a year in which both the S&P 500 and Russell 3000 logged annual returns over 30%, focusing on market performance as the sole cause of the support short-changes the improved dialogue and engagement among companies and their shareholders since enactment of Dodd-Frank's say-on-pay mandate." (Towers Watson)  

Delaware Chancery Court Awards Victory to the Good Guys in an Executive Compensation Disclosure Case
"When a company files a supplement to its proxy, the plaintiff's firm usually will demand attorneys' fees from the company and, if the company demurs, file a lawsuit seeking attorneys' fees. That is what happened in Raul v. Astoria Financial Corporation.... [T]he Court declined to award attorneys' fees to plaintiff ... [saying,] 'If, on the other hand, the stockholder has simply done the company a good turn by bringing to the attention of the board an action that it ultimately decides to take, she is not entitled to coerced payment of her attorneys' fees by the stockholders at large.'" [Raul v. Astoria Financial Corp., No. 9169-VCG (Del. Ch. June 20, 2014)] (Winston & Strawn LLP)  

Multiple Employer Plan Specialist Tapped for Testimony to ERISA Advisory Council
American Pension Services, LLC

Health Subcommittee Discusses Legislative Proposals to Prevent Insurance Company Bailouts, Protect Against Further Health Plan Cancellations
U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, Health Subcommittee

AMA Statement on Annual Medicare Board of Trustees Report
American Medical Association [AMA]

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