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Pension Corporation of America
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Cultural Institutions Retirement Systems
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Information Risk Management Essentials
March 27, 2015 WEBCAST
(Clearwater Compliance)

Fundamentals Series 06: ADP/ACP Testing 2015
March 30, 2015 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

Fundamentals Series 07: Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans 2015
April 6, 2015 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

ACO’s / ACA Payment Reform / Shared Savings Arrangements Audio/Webcast
May 6, 2015 WEBCAST
(Conference of Consulting Actuaries)

Transforming Diabetes Management: New Directions for Employers
May 6, 2015 WEBCAST
(Healthcare Web Summit)

Nondiscrimination Rules Audio/Webcast
May 20, 2015 WEBCAST
(Conference of Consulting Actuaries)

2015 IHC Forum & Expo Atlanta Conference
June 23, 2015 in GA
(Institute for HealthCare Consumerism)

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[Guidance Overview]

Agencies Finalize Regs on Limited Wraparound Coverage as Excepted Benefits
"It appears that wraparound coverage would primarily appeal to some large employers seeking to offer additional limited benefits to part-time employees. As the preamble explains, the regulations are not intended to create an opportunity or incentive for employers to discontinue group health plan coverage and transition employees to the Exchange ... In addition, the agencies have made it clear that plan sponsors may not combine multiple excepted benefits (e.g., both a health FSA and wraparound coverage) into an arrangement that functions as a 'material substitute for primary group health plan coverage' and still be exempt from applicable mandates." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)  

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EEOC Sends Proposed Regs on ADA and Wellness Programs to OMB for Clearance
"This proposed rule, which was approved by a bipartisan vote, would amend the regulations implementing the equal employment provisions of the ADA to address the interaction between Title I of the ADA and financial incentives as part of wellness programs offered through group health plans. The submission of the NPRM to OMB represents the start of the regulatory process." (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC])  

House Leaders Release Working Summary Outlining Framework of Bipartisan Medicare SGR Agreement
"[B]ipartisan leaders from the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees released a working summary outlining the broader framework of an agreement being negotiated to permanently replace the broken Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula with a system that rewards quality, efficiency, and innovation.... This broader agreement builds upon the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act, H.R. 1470 -- legislation reintroduced [on March 19] in the House along with a companion in the Senate." [Available online are: [1] a working summary of the SGR package; [2] a one-page summary of H.R. 1470; and [3] a section-by-section summary of H.R. 1470.] (Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives)  

Is There a Future for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance?
"The impacts of the ACA on firms will vary widely based on three main factors: [1] the size of the firm, [2] the average compensation within the firm, and [3] the degree to which wages within the firm are homogenous or heterogeneous. Keeping in mind that employees pay for all their health insurance, group insurance is not intrinsically superior to private exchanges, and cost trumps choice for consumers, firms will choose the option that maximizes benefits to their workers, takes advantage of the best available subsidies while avoiding tax penalties, and results in the lowest administrative costs." (Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative)  

Do Consumer-Directed Health Plans Bend the Cost Curve Over Time?
"Prior research shows that CDHPs reduce spending in the first year. However, there is little research on the impact of CDHPs over the longer term. [This study uses] data from 13 million individuals in 54 large US firms to estimate the effects of a firm offering CDHPs on health care spending up to three years post offer.... [The authors] find that spending is reduced for those in firms offering CDHPs in all three years post. The reductions are driven by spending decreases in outpatient care and pharmaceuticals, with no evidence of increases in emergency department or inpatient care." (National Bureau of Economic Research [NBER])  

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The Midwest Business Group on Health's 35th Annual Conference will be held April 29-30 in Chicago, featuring leading employers and industry experts providing objective, timely and practical information on the latest research, trends and best practices.

2015 Is Already the Year of the Health-Care Hack, and It's Only Going to Get Worse
"Data [for] about more than 120 million people has been compromised in more than 1,100 separate breaches at organizations handling protected health data since 2009, according to [HHS] data ... 'That's a third of the U.S. population -- this really should be a wake-up call,' said Deborah Peel, the executive director of Patient Privacy Rights. The data may double-count some individuals if they had their information compromised in more than incident, but it still reflects a staggering number of times Americans have been affected by breaches at organizations trusted with sensitive health information. And the data does not yet reflect the hack of Premera[.]" (The Washington Post; subscription may be required)  

California Legislative Analyst's Office: Consider Phasing Out Retiree Health Care for State Workers
"Gov. Brown's plan to curb the long-ignored debt for state worker retiree health care, now much larger than their unfunded pension debt, may look familiar. It's similar to the standard state and local government pension reform. Workers contribute more, most going from zero to 3 percent of pay, and new hires not protected by vested rights get lower benefits, working five years longer to get health coverage capped at what they received on the job. Last week, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, noting that most of the plan bypasses the Legislature, recommended that lawmakers hold hearings on state worker retiree health care, going back to square one, 1961, when the benefit began." (Calpensions)  

Medicaid Enrollment and the ACA (PDF)
"Expansion states had an average uninsured rate of 18.2 percent, with a drop of 40 percent (7 percentage points).... Among states that have implemented the Medicaid expansion and were covering newly eligible adults in January 2015, Medicaid and CHIP enrollment rose by over 26 percent compared to the July-September 2013 baseline period. This compares to an 8 percent growth during the same time period among states that have not implemented the Medicaid expansion." (Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS])  

Five Years Down, But Final ACA Implementation Phase Still Looms: Insured Plan Nondiscrimination, Automatic Enrollment, and Cadillac Tax
"[1] Health FSA: The statute specifically provides that both employer contributions (including through flex credits) and employee salary reduction contributions will count toward the Cadillac tax limit. [2] HSA: The statute states that 'employer contributions' to an HSA count toward the Cadillac tax limit. However, the IRS has determined that because employee pre-tax salary reduction contributions to an HSA are treated as employer contributions for tax purposes, both employer and employee contributions will count toward the Cadillac tax.... [3] HRA amounts -- which are funded solely by the employer -- will also count toward the Cadillac tax limit. The IRS is considering how best to determine the cost of coverage provided under an HRA, including potentially relying on the amounts made newly available to a participant each year (and not carryover amounts made available prior to 2018)." (ABD Insurance & Financial Services)  

[Opinion]

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Letter to Congress in Support of the 'Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act' (PDF)
"EEOC's actions have created tremendous uncertainty among employers who have gone to great lengths to ensure that their wellness programs are compliant with the ACA. This bill would help to ease this uncertainty by specifically verifying that wellness programs that conform to the requirements set forth in the ACA are also lawful under ADA and GINA. Significantly, this bill would do nothing to limit EEOC's ability to investigate and pursue claims of discrimination, even when they involve workplace wellness programs." (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)  

[Opinion]

Health Plans Covering Yoga: The Next Frontier?
"Insurers should cover 'new wellness- and prevention-oriented treatments such as yoga and meditation,' Sukanya Soderland, a partner in consulting firm Oliver Wyman's health practice, wrote recently in the Harvard Business Review.... Especially as the so-called 'Cadillac tax' on high-cost employer-based health plans is going to start sinking its teeth into those plans, why would any employer want to increase the likelihood of incurring that tax liability by channeling more of employees' compensation in to health plans that pay for benefits like yoga?" (National Center for Policy Analysis Health Policy Blog)  

Support for Executive Compensation Tax Reform on Capitol Hill
"Sen. Ron Wyden (OR) and the Democratic Committee Staff have released a summary report entitled 'How Tax Pros Make the Code Less Fair and Efficient: Several Tax Strategies and Solutions'.... [T]he report broadly endorses a number of proposals offered by other lawmakers ... including: [1] Further restricting the rules dealing with vesting of deferred income and the timing of income recognition; [2] Potential dollar limits/caps on deferred compensation; and [3] Closing perceived loopholes in the application of the Section 162(m) deduction limitation." (Squire Patton Boggs)  

vWise's Retirement Plan Engagement Software Receives Superior Uptake and Usability Ratings in Independent Testing
vWise Inc.

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