Employee Benefits Jobs
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Webcasts and Conferences
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[Official Guidance]
Text of DOL Submission to OMB with Comment Request: Revisions to Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the ACA (PDF)
"[EBSA] is soliciting comments on the revision of the Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act information collection to reflect the new option of notifying [HHS] of the respondents' objections to providing coverage in response to the Supreme Court of the United States' interim order in connection with an application for an injunction in the pending case of Wheaton College v. Burwell.... No change to the existing ICR is proposed or made at this time."
(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor)
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[Guidance Overview]
Do You Have California Employees? Action Required by January 1, 2015 to Comply with California's New Paid Sick Leave Law
"The law treats accrual and use differently. Although employees begin to accrue paid sick leave immediately, employers may prevent employees from using their paid sick leave until the 90th day of employment. Employers may also cap the use of paid sick leave to 24 hours (3 days) per year. In other words, although a full-time employee could theoretically accrue a maximum of up to 8.6 paid sick days per year (or 6 days if the employer sets an accrual cap), the employer may cap the employee's use of that time to 3 days per year. Employers may also establish minimum usage blocks of up to 2 hours."
(Haynes and Boone, LLP)
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[Guidance Overview]
Healthcare Reform Transparency Requirements Again Delayed
"The [ACA] requires [HHS] to establish criteria for certification of insurers' health plans as 'qualified health plans' eligible to be sold on the exchanges, including marketing requirements, ensuring sufficient choice of providers, implementing quality improvement and using uniform enrollment forms and formats for presenting health plan options.... Although cost-sharing data were included on the Internet as part of the comparison of plan options available during last year's open-enrollment period, HHS still has not published rules for the nine categories of consumer protection coverage data set out in Section 1311(e)(3). The delay in enforcement reflects the greater complexity of the coverage data and the corresponding challenges in developing disclosure rules."
(McGuireWoods LLP)
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Will More Small Firms Self-Fund Their Healthcare Plans?
"The [ACA] was intended to increase access to quality and reliable healthcare, partly through the employer mandate. However, the ACA may inadvertently push small firms toward riskier activities by financing their own healthcare plans.... In theory, small firms could be steered away from self funded plans by SHOP exchanges with attractive group policies. In practice, the deck is stacked against SHOPs. At the very least, the current tax credits available to very small employers for using SHOPs should be made permanent."
(The Brookings Institution)
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Health Savings Accounts for Retirement: Maximizing Retirement Savings Options
"HSA enrollments have grown substantially since their inception in 2004, more than doubling in the last 5 years, and are expected to reach almost $25 billion by year-end 2014, and $40 billion by 2016.... Many HSA providers have investment options available for participants, ranging from a set menu of mutual funds, to a self-directed brokerage window. As balances continue to grow, and more participants build up sufficient funds to cover their maximum out-of-pocket exposure under their high deductible health plans, this trend is also expected to continue."
(Manning & Napier)
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Obamacare CO-OPs Cut Prices, Turn Up Heat on Rival Insurers
"HealthyCT, which cut its 2015 premiums by an average of 8.5 percent, is one of at least a half dozen co-ops created through the [ACA] that have lowered 2015 premiums in a bid to boost membership in their second year of operation. But those low premiums are upsetting so-called 'legacy' insurance plans like Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates that have traditionally dominated insurance markets."
(Kaiser Health News)
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California's New Paid Sick Leave Law
"Effective July 1, 2015, this legislation entitles employees to accrue and use up to three paid sick leave days in a 12-month period for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition or preventative care for an employee or an employee's family members. The bill also provides paid sick leave where the employee is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. This legislation will cover most temporary, extra help, part-time, and seasonal employees, as long as they work 30 days or more within a year of beginning employment."
(Liebert Cassidy Whitmore)
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Jonathan Gruber: 'I Am Embarrassed, and I Am Sorry'
"Economist Jonathan Gruber apologized Tuesday for his 'thoughtless' and 'glib' past comments about the political process behind the [ACA] ... Gruber sparked a firestorm last month when several videos surfaced in which he called American voters 'stupid,' suggesting that a 'lack of transparency' in the [ACA] contributed to passage of the law."
(The Washington Post; subscription may be required)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, September 2014 (PDF)
"Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $32.20 per hour worked in September 2014... [B]enefits averaged $10.07 and accounted for ... 31.3 percent [of costs].... State and local government employers spent an average of $43.56 per hour worked for employee compensation in September 2014.... [B]enefits averaged $15.67 per hour worked and accounted for ... 36.0 percent [of those costs]."
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS])
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ISS and Glass Lewis Update Policies for the 2015 Proxy Season (PDF)
"Many aspects of the new [equity plan scorecard (EPSC)] policy remain unknown, including the specific weighting of factors under each EPSC pillar as well as the 'deal breakers' that will cause ISS to oppose a proposed plan regardless of whether it otherwise achieves a passing EPSC score. Hopefully the impending Compensation FAQ will address these issues and provide a better understanding of how ISS Research will, in fact, apply this new policy."
(ExeQuity)
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Press Releases
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