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Benefit Consultants Group
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Chimento & Webb, P.C.
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Application of the Controlled Group Rules
April 21, 2015 in CA
(Western Pension & Benefits Council - San Diego Chapter)

2015 Ethics and Professionalism: Case Studies One
April 23, 2015 WEBCAST
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

FMLA Intermittent Leave Issues: Strategies for Preventing Abuse
April 28, 2015 WEBCAST
(Clear Law Institute)

Spring 15 Retirement, Annuity, and Life Insurance Benefit Planning
April 30, 2015 in NY
(New York State Bar Association)

Legislative Update 2015
April 30, 2015 WEBCAST
(NAGDCA [National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc.])

ERISA Fiduciary Responsibility: Hot Topics, Latest Trends and Confronting The Difficult Issues
April 30, 2015 WEBCAST
(Clear Law Institute)

Case Study: How a Major Insurer Extended Its Legacy System to Thrive on HealthCare.gov
May 5, 2015 WEBCAST
(Atlantic Information Services, Inc.)

Form 5500 Workshop 2015
May 13, 2015 in VA
(SunGard Relius)

Form 5500 Workshop 2015
May 13, 2015 in TX
(SunGard Relius)

View All Webcasts and Conferences

International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans [IFEBP]

[Official Guidance]

2015 Key Dates: Qualified Health Plan Certification in the Federally-Facilitated Marketplaces; Rate Review; Risk Adjustment, Reinsurance, and Risk Corridors (PDF)
2 pages. Includes deadlines and timeframes applicable to [1] QHP Certification (application submission and review, QHP agreement/final certification, and open enrollment); [2] Rate Review for Single Risk Pool Compliant Plans; and [3] Risk Adjustment, Reinsurance, and Risk Corridors for PY2014. (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS])  

[Advert.]

Early Discount Ends April 27 -- June Global Benefits Certificate

This 4½ day course provides the latest and most important information you need for managing global benefit plans. Additionally, you will be exposed to a variety of practitioners from a group of global industry experts. Register now and save $250!

[Guidance Overview]

May the Era of Medicare's Doc Fix (1997-2015) Rest in Peace. Now What?
"Before we bury the SGR under spilled champagne, we should consider what Congress is actually replacing it with.... [T]he formulaic approach to setting base payment rates is gone, replaced with automatic increases for all doctors from 2015 through 2019.... Assessments will be based on four categories of metrics ... The poorest performing doctors, determined by their composite score drawn from relevant aspects of all four categories, will see their payments cut by up to nine (nine!) percent.... CMS [is required to] publish information regarding physician payments and resource utilization. This type of information was recently published stand-alone ... but must be integrated into the Physician Compare website by 2016." (Health Affairs)  

[Guidance Overview]

ACA Information Reporting: Forms and Instructions 1095-B and 1094-B (PDF)
47 presentation slides. Topics include: [1] Brief refresher on minimum essential coverage (individual mandate) reporting requirement; [2] Walk-through: Forms 1094-B and 1095-B; [3] Exceptions to reporting; [4] TIN solicitation rules; [5] Statements for individuals; and [6] Penalties. (Groom Law Group, for American Benefits Council)  

Congress Passes Bill to Fix Medicare's Doctor Payments
"The House package would scrap the old Medicare physician payment rates ... known as the 'sustainable growth rate' (SGR). Instead, it would give doctors an 0.5 percent bump in each of the next five years as Medicare transitions to a payment system designed to reward physicians based on the quality of care provided, rather than the quantity of procedures performed, as the current payment formula does.... Starting in 2018, wealthier Medicare beneficiaries (individuals with incomes above $133,500, with thresholds higher for couples), would pay more for their Medicare coverage, a provision expected to impact 2 percent of beneficiaries. In addition, starting in 2020, 'first-dollar' supplemental Medicare insurance known as 'Medigap' policies would not be able to cover the Part B deductible for new beneficiaries." (Kaiser Health News)  

Local Conditions Affect Wellness Program Design
"[An] across-the-board wellness program (beyond its many other limitations) [can] miss many needs by not addressing local conditions that could make life changes more difficult to sustain.... So, how do you find out about what life is like for your people outside of the workplace? One approach might be the Health Policy Institute of Ohio's Health Value Dashboard.... The Dashboard brings the data closer to home by allowing you to zero-in county-by-county to see local factors affecting health that you probably couldn't know otherwise.... The Dashboard can provide the same kind of data on counties across the country, allowing you to see what differences exist at your various locations, allowing you to localize your well being efforts. Got a plant north of Atlanta in Cherokee County? Take a look at the data. The well being job to do there might be completely different than in [Ohio's] Cuyahoga County." (Chelko Consulting Group)  

[Advert.]

2015 SALGBA National Conference - May 3-6 in Bonita Springs, FL

SALGBA is the premier organization providing educational and collaborative support for public sector employee benefits professionals, such as national and regional conferences, member directory, and more. For a complete list visit www.salgba.com.

Beyond HIPAA: Connected Health Care and the Internet of Things
"The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Staff Report titled 'Internet of Things: Privacy & Security in a Connected World' ... continues to generate interest and questions about the regulation of health information within and beyond HIPAA. This article explores the intersection of HIPAA/HITECH and the increasing involvement of the FTC in enforcing privacy and security protections for health information." (Pepper Hamilton LLP)  

Health Insurance Shoppers Look to Limited Networks to Save Money
"Consumers seem increasingly comfortable trading a greater choice of hospitals or doctors for a health plan that costs significantly less money.... This year, nearly half of the plans offered on public health care exchanges are so-called narrow network options, which sharply limit the medical providers whose services will be covered ... Furthermore, nearly a fifth are considered 'ultranarrow networks,' which offer even fewer choices. At the same time, more employers are also embracing the plans for their workers, largely as a way to lower health care costs." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Testimony of IRS Commissioner Koskinen Before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Implementation of the ACA
"The IRS has been charged with implementing the numerous tax-related provisions of the ACA. This testimony will focus on two major provisions that took effect last year -- the premium tax credit and the individual shared responsibility provision. In preparation for the 2015 filing season, the IRS did substantial work to ready our business processes and systems to facilitate return filing and compliance with these two provisions, and to ensure that taxpayers would know how these two provisions would affect them at tax time.... [A]ll the work the IRS has done and continues to do to implement the major tax-related provisions of the ACA has occurred in the absence of funding that had been requested for this effort." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

HHS Rejects ACA Open Enrollment for Pregnant Women
"[HHS] has denied a request from Democrats to create a special open enrollment period under the [ACA] for women when they find out they are pregnant. In a response to the March letter sent by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee ranking member Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) with 36 signatures, HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said the agency does not have 'the legal authority to establish pregnancy as an exceptional circumstance' to create a special enrollment period. Burwell said pregnant women could enroll in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)." (The Hill)  

Average Fine for Noncompliance with Obamacare: $1,130
"An estimated 6.3 million people will be required to pay a penalty this year because they didn't buy qualifying health insurance in 2014, [Doug Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office] testified. Another 30 million people didn't buy the mandated coverage either but won't have to pay the penalty because of the myriad exemptions the Obama administration is allowing, with or without legal justification.... 'In reality, the individual mandate has been less of a mandate and more of a suggestion,' he told the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee[.]" (Forbes)  

[Opinion]

A Smarter Way to Pay Doctors
"[T]he Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is concerned that the doc fix will raise payments (without fully funding them) whereas the Medicare actuaries are concerned that the legislation will cut payments too much. They're both wrong, for different reasons." (Bloomberg View)  

[Guidance Overview]

Final Section 162(m) Regs Clarify Transition Rules for Newly Public Companies and the Per Participant Limit Requirement
"The final regulations ... [1] reiterate the IRS's position in the proposed regulations that the transition relief for newly public companies is limited to compensation attributable to options, stock appreciation rights and restricted stock, but not restricted stock units (RSUs) and [2] clarify the rules relating to the equity incentive plan per participant limit necessary for compensation attributable to options and stock appreciation rights to qualify as 'performance-based compensation.' None of the changes made by the final regulations are intended to be substantive changes to the requirements of the Section 162(m) regulations previously in effect." (Wilmer Hale)  

Sixth Circuit: Employer Breached its Fiduciary Duty by Issuing Inaccurate SPD
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the employer [1] functioned as an ERISA fiduciary when it prepared and distributed the SPD to participants, and [2] breached its fiduciary duty by furnishing the participant with a misleading SPD. In particular, the SPD provision describing the annual increase in benefits did not refer to the other sections of the SPD on which the employer and the insurer had relied to deny the benefits increase. Also, the insurer's self-serving interpretation of the SPD to deny increased benefits was determined to constitute a breach of the insurer's ERISA fiduciary duty." [Stiso v. Int'l Steel Group, No. 13-3503 (6th Cir. Mar. 25, 2015)] (Haynes and Boone, LLP)  

ERIC Urges Senate Finance Committee and Congress to Use Caution when Considering Changes to Employer-Sponsored Retirement System
ERIC [ERISA Industry Committee]

REDW Forms Alliance Benefit Group Southwest - Sister Firm to Focus Exclusively on Providing Retirement Plan Administration Services
REDW LLC

Prudential Ignites National Conversation on Women and Retirement Readiness during ‘National Retirement Planning Week’
Prudential Financial, Inc.

Major Groups Applaud Public Release of Dept. of Labor’s Proposal to Protect Americans’ Retirement Savings
Pension Rights Center

Hill, Chesson & Woody Adds Decorated Hire To Sales Team
Hill, Chesson & Woody

Natalie Nathanson Joins Jackson Lewis’ Growing Employee Benefits Practice
Jackson Lewis LLP

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