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Employee Benefits Jobs
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Webcasts and Conferences
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[Guidance Overview]
The Big Picture of the Employer Shared Responsibility Tax (PDF)
"While the regulations include a complex set of rules for determining who is a full-time employee, some rules apply both for determining if an ALE exists and which individuals are full-time employees on which a tax can be assessed. Not every violation of the rules will result in a tax assessment. Some of the rules can only be used to determine if an individual is a full-time employee on whom a tax may be assessed. So each time an employer discovers a situation where it may not have followed the ESR regulations precisely, it should step back and consider whether this is a violation that triggers a tax assessment or if it might be a violation without a consequence."
(Greta Cowart, Esq., Winstead PC, via Bloomberg Pension & Benefits Daily)
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[Advert.]
Prevention and Well-Being Congress - May 5-6 - San Diego
Challenge the way you think about wellness and reposition your program. Understand the role of employer and employee accountability, comply with new incentives rules and integrate technology customized to impact your workforce.
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[Guidance Overview]
Wellness Programs Alive and Well?
"There are two things that the EEOC proposed rules do not do: [1] Address the extent to which an employer can condition a wellness reward on a family member's participation in a wellness program, which may run afoul of Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).... [2] Discuss in any detail whether the statutory provision, which at least two courts have held provides the basis for permitting wellness programs under the ADA (i.e., the insurance safe harbor or exception, which among other things permits an employer to observe the terms of a bona fide employee benefit plan) provides an alternative means for wellness programs to comply with the ADA."
(Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP)
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[Guidance Overview]
Mixed Messages from EEOC Proposed ADA Regulations on Wellness Programs
"Although all this guidance represents a welcome step in the right direction, the EEOC's proposed ADA regulations are still more restrictive than the HIPAA/ACA regulations and are applicable to one of the fundamental building blocks of any wellness program -- screenings designed to identify health risks that can be managed under the program."
(Morgan Lewis)
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[Guidance Overview]
California Labor Agency Cautions Employers Who Ask for Doctors' Notes to Verify Paid Sick Leave
"[T]he state legislature passed a law late last year providing mandatory paid sick leave to approximately 6.5 million workers without any provision for allowing employers to seek documentation verifying an employee's use of paid sick leave under the law.... [In a recent] public webinar ... the state labor agency took the position that the new law could prevent employers from conditioning the use of paid sick leave on the submission of documentation verifying the leave because such a requirement arguably interferes with the employee's use of paid sick leave."
(Ford & Harrison LLP)
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Blue Cross Plans to Launch Private Exchange for Retirees Across the Country
"In the latest endorsement of the fast-growing private exchange approach to health benefit offerings, Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies will launch an online portal for retirees to shop for different plans.... The marketplace will provide a 'personalized shopping experience to help retirees purchase the Medicare coverage that best meets their needs,' Maureen Sullivan, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said."
(Forbes)
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HIPAA Business Associate Agreements Broken Down
"Keeping track of [business associate (BA)] relationships can be a challenge for large covered entities, as those facilities can often have numerous BAs in place. The origin of the relationship could also affect this, that some are managed by legal or compliance departments.... [One] question centered on self-insured organizations, and how that related to HIPAA requirements. Essentially, as a covered entity, do they carry out risk assessments and what is the reasonable period to do that? ... [It] is easier to do risk assessments when they have been broken down into smaller sections."
(HealthITSecurity)
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Large Employers Holding the Line on Premium Increases
"Since 2011, total premiums (including both employer and employee portions) increased for large employers by 9.4 percent, or about 2 percent every year. From 2014 to 2015, total premiums increased 2.6 percent, which is relatively modest when compared to the previous decade."
(Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM])
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Thousands May Have Been Shorted on Insurance Subsidies
"Thousands of families with a disabled or deceased parent may have received a lower subsidy than they deserved to buy health coverage through the federal insurance marketplace as a result of a calculation error by the federal government.... Healthcare.gov seemed to be tripping up in cases where children were receiving Social Security income, generally because a parent has died or is disabled.... By adding the child's Social Security income to the family's income, the marketplace was inflating the family's income. The result: Some people were wrongly turned down for Medicaid coverage and others received less in premium tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies than they were eligible for."
(Kaiser Health News)
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Massachusetts Needs $15 Billion Over the Next 30 Years to Pay Retiree Healthcare Benefits
"In fiscal year 2014, the state owed $15.6 billion in future health insurance benefits, which must be paid out over the next 30 years. The state had only set aside money to pay for 3.3 percent of that, leaving an unfunded liability of $15 billion, according to state financial documents. The basic problem is that the cost of providing health insurance to public retirees is increasing faster than Massachusetts is setting aside money to pay for it."
(MassLive)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Official Guidance]
Text of FASB Proposed Accounting Standards Updates: Pension Plans and Health & Welfare Benefit Plans
96 pages. Updates to three accounting standards: [1] Plan Accounting: Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Topic 960); [2] Defined Contribution Pension Plans (Topic 962); and [3] Health and Welfare Benefit Plans (Topic 965). These updates cover: Fully Benefit-Responsive Investment Contracts (File Reference No. EITF-15C-I), Plan Investment Disclosures (File Reference No. EITF-15C-II) and Measurement Date Practical Expedient (File Reference No. EITF-15C-III).
(Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB])
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Press Releases
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