Retirement Plan Coordinator
T. Rowe Price
in MD

Retirement Plan Implementation Data Specialist
Alliance Benefit Group of Houston, Inc.
in TX

Relationship Manager
John Hancock Retirement Plan Services
in CA

Employee Benefit Specialist
Principal Financial Group
in KY

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Affordable Care Act: Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage Information Reporting Requirements for Applicable Large Employers
RECORDED
(IRS [Internal Revenue Service])

In the Deep End: IRS Play or Pay Reporting for Difficult Employee Groups
September 8, 2015 WEBCAST
(Cowden Associates, Inc.)

Turning Mergers & Acquisitions from M&Ayhem to M&Agnificent
September 10, 2015 in CA
(NIPA - San Diego Chapter)

Advanced Cross-Tested Plans: Adding More Tools
September 18, 2015 in NY
(SunGard Relius)

Rehired Employees
September 21, 2015 WEBCAST
(SunGard Relius)

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[Guidance Overview]

IRS Releases Draft 2015 Instructions for 6055/6056 Reporting
"For the 1094-C and 1095-C forms, the following important clarifications were provided: [1] who must file, [2] information on extensions and waivers, [3] how to correct returns, [4] an example and further information on the 98% offer method, [5] information on the new plan start month box, [6] multiemployer plan reporting, [7] offers of COBRA coverage, [8] reporting on employee premiums, and [9] break in service information. For the 1094-B and 1095-B forms there were fewer updates, with information regarding penalties for not reporting and how to file for an extension." (Cowden Associates, Inc.)  

[Advert.]

Mercer Select's Guide to ACA Employer Shared Responsibility

Fortify your compliance efforts with the Guide to ACA Employer Shared Responsibility. This 300-page resource will help you understand your obligations, identify compliance steps, and set a play-or-pay strategy. Contact us at select@mercer.com.

[Guidance Overview]

IRS Addresses Tax Consequences of Employer-Provided Identity Protection Services for Data Breach Victims
"Presumably, the IRS has concluded that when identity protection services are offered to mitigate a risk of identity theft that has been heightened by the employment relationship, the purpose is to make employees whole rather than to enhance their compensation. Because the relief applies to any individual whose personal information 'may have been compromised,' an employer does not have to be certain that the data was taken in usable form." (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)  

Federal District Court Won't Overturn HHS Determination That Self-Insured Supplemental Prescription Drug Fund Is Not Excepted Benefit Coverage
"A court has rejected a union's request to overturn an HHS determination that the union's self-insured benefit fund is subject to health care reform's prohibition on annual and lifetime limits (and cannot impose a $10,000 annual limit on prescription drug reimbursements) because it is not an excepted benefit.... The union [had argued] ... that the fund ... is supplemental to its members' employer-provided health coverage and, as such, is a 'supplemental excepted benefit' or a 'non-coordinated excepted benefit' even though it is not offered under a 'separate policy, certificate, or contract of insurance.' " [Seabrook v. Obama, No. 14-Civ-4431 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 4, 2015)] (Thomson Reuters / EBIA)  

Waking Up to the Opportunity of Self-Funded Employee Health Benefits
"Some of the benefits that can be realized by developing a self-funded health benefit plan include: [1] Plan design flexibility; [2] Premium and healthcare cost savings; [3] Cost transparency; and importantly, [4] the availability of detailed analytics, which provide information on fees, expenses, and costs not usually able to be provided by fully insured plans." (American Journal of Managed Care)  

The Startups That Give You a Second Opinion on Costly Surgery
"Second-opinion services allow employers to take a softer approach than enforcing strict rules requiring workers to get permission before seeking costly treatments. Most companies that offer services ... make them voluntary, and though there may be incentives to get a medical decision reviewed, workers can usually skip the second opinion or ignore it if they disagree. That makes the services seem less coercive than restrictive HMO rules. It also means companies sometimes struggle to get workers to use them." (Bloomberg)  

Insurance Exchanges Need to Better Support Patient Decision Making
"Only 3 states had out-of-pocket cost estimators that added together their premium and expected costs based on consumers' predicted use while most sites only allowed consumers to sort or filter plans by premium and deductible amounts. Most states using the premium amount as their default plan order, which may cause consumers' to be overly influenced by the premium amount while not paying enough attention to other potential out-of-pocket expenses, such as meeting a high deductible[.]" (American Journal of Managed Care)  

Blue Cross May Snarl Anthem-Cigna Mega-Deal
"For Anthem to remain eligible to use the Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols, the Indianapolis-based insurer must make sure it derives at least two-thirds of its health care revenue across the country from its Blue-branded businesses. In addition, in each of the 14 states where Anthem operates a Blue Cross health plan, it must derive 80 percent of its health care revenue from that plan. But buying Cigna will put Anthem out of compliance with those rules ... So Anthem must convert some of Cigna's health insurance business to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand names. And it might have to assuage the fears of other Blue Cross insurance plans -- possibly by offering them a few concessions." (InsuranceNewsNet.com)  

[Opinion]

Obamacare Provision Took Your Money, Gave It to Insurers
"Over 138 million people paid a total of $8.7 billion to a reinsurance fund. Only 16.3 million people were in the risk pool that this money was set aside to fund claims. The money in this fund was supposed to reimburse insurance companies 80 percent of the large claims. Instead the government paid the insurance companies 100 percent of the large claims. The total paid out was $7.9 billion." (The Federalist)  

BrightScope Highlights Top Industries with the Best 401k Plans
BrightScope

DST Announces Completion of WMSI Acquisition
DST

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