Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

September 17, 2014

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Employee Benefits Jobs

Conversion Consultant
Verisight, Inc.
in CA

Conversion Manager
Verisight, Inc.
in CA

Marketing Manager, Retirement Plan Services-Customer Strategy
T. Rowe Price
in MD

Relius Pension Support Administrator
Pension Consulting Firm located in Kansas City
in KS

Marketing Manager, Retirement Plan Services-Advisor Market
T. Rowe Price
in CO, MD

Operations Supervisor
ICMA-RC
in DC

Retirement Plan Administrator
Noble-Davis Consulting, Inc.
in OH

Senior Client Employee Benefits Advisor
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
in PA

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Webcasts and Conferences

Washington Update: Legislation and Regulation Changes in Retirement Plans
September 18, 2014 in CA
(Western Pension & Benefits Council - Orange County Chapter)

Transitional Reinsurance Program: Supporting Documentation Job Aid Review and Updating Reinsurance Contribution Filings
September 24, 2014 WEBCAST
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

Full Scope vs. Limited Scope Audits in Retirement Plans
September 24, 2014 WEBCAST
(Multnomah Group)

Rehires: Brush up on the Rules with ASCi
October 7, 2014 WEBCAST
(ASC Institute)

New Face of Wellness: A Business Case for Optimizing Employee Population Health Strategy
October 8, 2014 in TX
(Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - Houston Chapter)

IRA Excess Contributions
October 9, 2014 WEBCAST
(Ascensus)

Conversions and Recharacterizations
October 14, 2014 WEBCAST
(Ascensus)

Symposium in Honor of 40th Anniversary of ERISA
October 21, 2014 WEBCAST
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)

Bank on It! Evaluating and Implementing Paid Time Off (PTO) Banks
October 23, 2014 WEBCAST
(Clear Law Institute)

View All Webcasts and Conferences



[Guidance Overview]

Five ACA Issues Employers Should Be Following (PDF)
"Employers have about three months to finalize their employer mandate compliance plans under the [ACA].... While most employers are in the final stages of planning, ... [other] issues that employers should be aware of as they move forward into 2015 and beyond [include]: [1] ACA-related litigation [2] Employer mandate reporting [3] Section 510 liability [4] Alternatives to traditional plan offerings [5] The looming Cadillac tax." (Epstein Becker Green)  


[Advert.]

24th Annual National Health Benefits Conference & Expo (HBCE)

Sponsored by HBCE

Plan now to attend the National Health Benefits Conference & Expo, January 27-28 in Clearwater Beach, Florida. The conference provides cutting-edge case studies and advanced cost control strategies presented by national thought leaders. Register Now!



[Guidance Overview]

New California Paid Sick Leave Law is Nothing to Sneeze At; No Exception for Smaller Employers or Part-Timers
"In addition to accounting for and providing the accrued leave, employers are required to display posters telling employees of their right to paid sick days and informing them that retaliation for requesting or using paid sick days is illegal. Employers are also required to include the amount of paid sick leave accrued on employees' itemized wage statements. Employers could face fines of up to $4,000 per day for withholding paid sick leave or violating the bill's requirements." (Greenberg Traurig)  

Measuring Wellness: From Data to Insights
"[A recent survey explored] the extent to which employers use health-related employee data to guide the operation and outcomes measurement of US wellness programmes.... Key findings: [1] More matters than cost effectiveness: Wellness programmes can be part of a progressive HR strategy to make the organisation an employer of choice. [2] Better data collection is needed, but what to do with it? Employers struggle to interpret the data they have and they lack sufficient insights to assess key programme objectives. [3] Leading obstacles to participation in wellness programmes are insufficient time and privacy concerns, employees say." (The Economist)  

Wellness Programs and the Challenge of Pinning Down ROI
"[By] 2017 as many as 76 percent of employers could have outcome-based incentives programs in place ... Today, 18 percent of respondents already have them in place, ten percent plan to implement them in 2015, and 48 percent are considering them for either 2016 or 2017.... [L]ess than half of employers surveyed describe any specific aspect of their health and productivity programs as successful. Employers report little success in achieving goals such as lower cost, fewer employee sick days, and reduced chronic disease and lifestyle-related risks in employee and dependent populations." (ExtendHealth)  

Are Wearables a Good Fit for Your Wellness Program?
"Wearables are more expensive than the typical pedometer by $10 to $15 per participant. As a result, while some companies distribute a device to every employee, others require employees to complete an activity to earn one. For example, a large financial services firm rewarded employees with a Fitbit for completing a health assessment. And for those employees who wanted to upgrade to a more expensive version, the company subsidized the cost." (HealthFitness)  


[Advert.]

Join us at IHC FORUM West November 10-12, 2014 in Las Vegas!

Sponsored by IHC [The Institute for HealthCare Consumerism]

Come to the ONLY national event 100% dedicated to health care consumerism progress, collaboration and educational content. We'll provide a real-time look in at this year's open enrollment results and much more. Sign up today for the lowest rates!



Optimizing Enrollment in Employer Health Plans: A Comparison of Enrollment Strategies in the Diabetes Health Plan
"The subjects were 5014 eligible employees from 11 self-insured employers who had purchased the Diabetes Health Plan, which offers free or discounted copayments for diabetes related medications, testing supplies, and physician visits.... Overall, the proportion of eligible members who were enrolled within the automatic enrollment strategy was 91%, compared with 35% for voluntary enrollment. Income was a significant predictor for voluntary enrollment but not for automatic enrollment. Within automatic enrollment, covered dependents, Hispanics, and persons with nondiabetes comorbidity were more likely to enroll than other subgroups." (American Journal of Managed Care)  

What's Causing Healthcare Premiums to Rise?
"[1] New premiums may be an attempt to correct for errors in the previous year. If insurers set premiums higher than necessary in 2014, they may not have needed to raise them as much for 2015. [2] [HHS] has warned insurers against raising premiums by more than 10 percent, threatening to analyze any such increases. As a result, insurers have an incentive to raise premiums by smaller amounts from year to year, to avoid attracting attention from HHS. [3] Some Americans are still allowed to be in noncompliant (and therefore cheaper) plans. In 25 states, non-ACA-compliant plans are allowed to run through at least 2015." (National Center for Policy Analysis)  

Seventh Circuit Judges Skewer Doctor Group's Case Against Obamacare
"After a morning spent skewering a hapless anti-Obamacare lawyer, the 7th Circuit appears poised to throw out a politically conservative medical association's challenge to the law to avoid a 'breathtaking expansion of jurisdiction.' ... This latest challenge to the law was filed by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons [AAPS] ... which sued the IRS to block the law's enforcement and 'fight the government takeover of medicine.' " [AAPS v. Koskonen, No. 14-2123 (D. Wis. Mar. 18, 2014; on appeal to 7th Cir.)] (Courthouse News Service)  

Text of GAO Report on Healthcare.gov: Actions Needed to Address Weaknesses in Information Security and Privacy Controls
"While CMS has taken steps to protect the security and privacy of data processed and maintained by the complex set of systems and interconnections that support Healthcare.gov, weaknesses remain both in the processes used for managing information security and privacy as well as the technical implementation of IT security controls.... GAO is making six recommendations to implement security and privacy management controls to help ensure that the systems and information related to Healthcare.gov are protected. HHS concurred but disagreed in part with GAO's assessment of the facts for three recommendations." (U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO])  

New ACA Tools and Payment Models Deliver $372 Million in Savings, Improve Care
"[Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)] ... generated over $372 million in total program savings for Medicare ACOs. The encouraging news comes from preliminary quality and financial results from the second year of performance for 23 Pioneer ACOs, and final results from the first year of performance for 220 Shared Savings Program ACOs." (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS])  

New Data Show Early Progress in Expanding Health Care Coverage, with More Gains to Come
"[T]he share of Americans without health insurance averaged 13.1 percent over the first quarter of 2014, down from an average of 14.4 percent during 2013, a reduction corresponding to approximately 4 million people. The 13.1 percent uninsurance rate recorded for the first quarter of 2014 is lower than any annual uninsurance rate recorded by the NHIS since it began using its current design in 1997." (The White House Blog)  

Benefits in General; Executive Compensation

Taft-Hartley Trustees: Traveling Outside State Lines Requires Staying in Line with the IRS Travel Expense Reimbursement Rules
"Under the actual expense method, there must be records to evidence the actual cost of travel expenses.... As an alternative to the actual expense method, the IRS standard rates can be used for meals and incidentals. The only documentation required under this method is proof of time, place, and business purpose of the travel.... Expense reimbursements for the departure and return days must be prorated under the standard meal allowance method by one of two methods." (Belfint Lyons & Shuman, CPAs)  

The Ambushed Fiduciary: Does Authority Over a Corporate Bank Account Cross the Line?
"[T]his officer had nothing to do with running the plan, and ERISA contemplates that a fiduciary (other than an investment adviser) is someone with discretion or control over plan administration or plan assets. This officer had neither in the common understanding of those terms simply because he was a signer on a corporate account, though the court accepted the [DOL's] argument that the unpaid employee contributions were plan assets. In fact, since it required two signatures to act for the account, this officer was unable to unilaterally even direct the contributions." [Perez v. Geopharma, No. 8:14-cv-66-T-33T (M.D. Fla. July 25, 2014)] (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP)  

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