Compliance Analyst
Pentegra Retirement Services
in NC, NY, OH

Associate - Benefits/Health Care
Medium-sized Employee Benefits Firm
in DC

Retirement Program Manager (HR Benefits)
Recology
in CA

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Affordable Care Act -- What's Trending and What's Next
October 1, 2015 in NY
(Mintz Levin)

Making Plan Committee Meetings Truly Work – Workshopping Real Problems with Real Solution
October 20, 2015 WEBCAST
(Each Enterprises)

Final IRS Forms 1094 and 1095: In-Depth Analysis for 2016 Mandatory Filings
October 22, 2015 WEBCAST
(Thomson Reuters / EBIA)

ABC Carolinas Fall Conference
November 17, 2015 in NC
(ASPPA Benefits Council [ABC] of Carolinas)

Retirement Plan Insights Seminar
November 23, 2015 in MD
(McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)

IRA Required Minimum Distributions
December 8, 2015 WEBCAST
(Ascensus)

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[Guidance Overview]

Text of IRS Health Care Tax Tip 2015-58: The Importance of Workforce Size Under the Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions
"The vast majority of employers fall below the workforce size threshold and, therefore, are not subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions. You will determine each year -- based on your average employee count for the 12 months of the prior year -- whether you're an applicable large employer for the current year. Just for 2015, an employer may measure over any consecutive six-month period during 2014, rather than measuring all 12 months of 2014." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

[Advert.]

NEW! IRS Forms 1094/1095 Module

Meet the ACA reporting requirements with this new module from ftwilliam.com, which will offer an upload of data via .csv file, data entry in forms and e-filing capabilities. To learn more, attend our upcoming free webinar.

[Guidance Overview]

2015 Transitional Reinsurance Fee Due Soon
"The Fee for the 2015 benefit year is equal to $44 per covered life per year. It is expected that the Fee for the 2015 benefit year will generate approximately $8 billion in revenue.... The 2015 ACA Transitional Reinsurance Program Annual Enrollment and Contributions Submission Form will be available on www.pay.gov on October 1, 2015.... For the 2015 year, the number of covered lives must be reported to the Department no later than November 16, 2015. The Department will then notify reporting organizations no later than December 15, 2015 the amount of the fee that will be due and payable." (WithumSmith+Brown, PC)  

[Guidance Overview]

HHS Proposes First of Anticipated Nondiscrimination Regulations
"Although the proposed regulations are aimed primarily at preventing discrimination by health care providers and insurers, it would also apply to the employee benefits programs of an employer that is principally or primarily engaged in providing or administering health services or health insurance coverage, or employers who receive federal financial assistance to fund their employee health benefit program or health services. Employee benefits programs include fully insured and self-funded plans, employer-provided or sponsored wellness programs, employer-provided health clinics, and longer-term care coverage provided or administered by an employer, group health plan, third party administer, or health insurer." (United Benefit Advisors)  

[Guidance Overview]

Executive Order Requires Federal Contractors to Provide Paid Sick Leave
"Under the executive order, accrued, unused sick leave does not have to be paid out upon termination of the employment relationship. That said, paid sick leave shall carry over from one year to the next and must be reinstated for employees rehired by a covered contractor within 12 months after a job separation." (Littler)  

ACA Reporting: IRS Issues More Forms, Instructions
"Based on the draft instructions the agency had issued earlier in the summer, employers were worried there would be additional reporting obligations for HRA plan sponsors with fully insured health plans. However, in the [final instructions] the agency laid those concerns to rest. According to the IRS, employers with fully insured plans with an HRA that have employees enrolled in both plans aren't required to report the cover under the HRA. This is also true for firms with self-insured plans with HRAs." (HR Benefits Alert)  

[Advert.]

Are you prepared for an audit?

DOL audits are on the rise -- no business is immune. Are your plan documents up to date? Have you filed your Form 5500? Plan compliance is all about the process of managing risk, and it begins by asking a few questions. Let's start the conversation.

Three Ways to Prevent Health Risk Assessment Fatigue
"In the anatomy of a corporate wellness program, the health risk assessment with biometric screening is equivalent to the heart. However, many employers who have offered this important health-status indicator are beginning to question its long-term value. A well-executed and outcomes-based [health risk assessment (HRA)] keeps the program running smoothly and effectively because all other elements depend upon its accurate assessment and ongoing data. When employers do not experience positive results, including long-term cost savings, positive health outcomes and/or improved productivity promised from the HRA, the result is HRA fatigue." (Employee Benefit News)  

Health Insurers Aetna, Anthem Defend Deals, Say Markets Will Stay Competitive
"In their testimony before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, Mark T. Bertolini of Aetna and Joseph R. Swedish of Anthem emphasized that health care is delivered largely on a local basis, and they argued that markets would remain competitive if they completed their mergers. Both CEOs also said their deals would benefit consumers and encourage new forms of payment to health-care providers." (The Wall Street Journal; subscription may be required)  

PricewaterhouseCoopers Will Give Employees $7,200 for Student Debt
"A recent survey by Iontuition found that 80 percent of 1,000 people surveyed wanted to work for a company that offered student loan repayment assistance. Yet few businesses do this. Many organizations offer tuition assistance, but only about 3 percent have student loan repayment programs, according to a 2015 survey by the Society for Human Resources Management." (Bloomberg)  

[Opinion]

ERISA Industry Committee Speaks Out on the Rising Costs of Health Care
"The government's decision to unilaterally decrease out of pocket cost-sharing in plans has also been hugely disruptive as most companies had already set pricing structures, including employee contributions, for 2016. Because the cost-sharing limits were changed so late in the year, companies are finding it difficult to implement the necessary changes, affecting their ability to provide high quality benefit plans and resulting in additional increased costs for their employees. ERIC believes that while some individuals may experience lower cost-sharing, all will face higher premiums." (The ERISA Industry Committee [ERIC])  

Benefit Contribution Limits Unlikely to Change Much for 2016
"Contribution limits on 401(k) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) will probably remain the same or increase only marginally in 2016, as evidenced by recent consumer price index (CPI) reports. The same is likely for annual changes to the amount of income subject to Social Security payroll withholding (FICA) ... Contributions from all sources to HSAs linked to individual coverage will remain at $3,350 next year, the same as in 2015. But for HSAs linked to family coverage, the limit will increase by $100 to $6,750." (Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM])  

Courts of Appeal Continue to Circumscribe Instances in Which ERISA Plan Administrators May Rely on an Internal Plan 'Statute of Limitations'
"Notwithstanding Heimeshoff's stated reverence for adhering to ERISA plan terms, [three federal circuit courts of appeal] have held that to be able to enforce a plan limitations provision, an ERISA fiduciary must clearly notify claimants of the limitations period in the claim denial letter.... ERISA plans should adopt a term containing a reasonable limitations period to limit the plan's liability for stale claims. But now that more courts are holding as the Third Circuit recently did in Mirza, fiduciaries should also ensure that their form appeal denial letters specifically detail such limitations periods." (Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP)  

New IRS Equity-Based Compensation Audit Guide Highlights Importance of Documenting Compensation Practices
"The Guide provides a general discussion of potential tax issues that could arise with respect to these arrangements (e.g., disqualifying dispositions of incentive stock options, Code Section 83(b) elections for restricted stock). Interestingly, the Guide devotes a fair amount of detail to explaining where auditors may find these documents, encouraging them to review [SEC] filings as well as internal documents. As such, the Guide serves as an important reminder to employers to be mindful that the IRS (or other third parties) someday could seek to review their corporate documents." (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP)  

Another Heads-Up for Companies and Committees Making (or Preparing to Make) Performance Awards
"Many incentive stock plans give the Committee the discretion to adjust performance metrics for the impact that extraordinary items have on the performance measures under the plan. To the extent a plan uses the term 'extraordinary items,' the Committee may be limited in its discretion in the future, as this standard is phased out." (Winston & Strawn LLP)  

Recommended Steps to Successful Equity Plan Approval, Part 1
"Companies that are planning to submit an equity plan for shareholder approval in 2016 should start the process early and consider a wide range of issues, from shareholder perspectives to future needs for equity grants to evolving case law. In this two-part blog series, [the authors] outline 15 steps to be considered when submitting an equity plan for shareholder approval in 2016." (Morgan Lewis)  

NextCapital Upgrades Its 401k Digital Advice Platform
NextCapital Group

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