Actuary - Retirement Plans
Charles Schwab
in OH

Product Manager
Fringe Benefit Group
in TX

Client Service Manager
July Business Services
in ANY STATE

Post Your Job

View All Jobs

RSS Feed: All Jobs

Myth of Multitasking
RECORDED
(ASPPA [American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries])

View All Webcasts and Conferences

[Guidance Overview]

IRS-Adjusted ACA Fee Amounts for the 2015/2016 Policy or Plan Years, and Additional Payment Options
"The new adjusted PCORI fee is $2.17 per life, for policy and plan years ending on or after October 1, 2015 and before October 1, 2016. Employers and insurers will need to file Internal Revenue Service Form 720 and pay the updated PCORI fee by July 31, 2016.... The new adjusted transition reinsurance fee is $27 per covered life for 2016 ... [C]ontributing entities can elect to pay: [1] The entire year's contribution in one payment no later than January 15... or [2] Two separate payments for the benefit year, with the first remittance due by January 15... and the second remittance due by November 15[.]" (McDermott Will & Emery)  

[Advert.]

Telehealth & Remote Patient Monitoring Summit – Jan 27-28, 2016 – Atlanta

Incorporating Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring practices has been shown to increase access to care, improve outcomes, and decrease health delivery costs. Take $200 off registration -- promo code BLINK2 (not valid on Webcast or Government Rate).

[Guidance Overview]

Federal Contractors Required to Provide Paid Sick Leave
"[F]ederal contractors will need to track their employees' work on covered contracts (unless they decide to extend the policy to all employees). If employees divide their time among different contracts, some covered and others not, it is not entirely clear whether the paid sick leave accrues only for work under the covered contract or for all hours worked by the employee." (Towers Watson)  

Seventh Circuit Holds That FMLA Limitations Period Begins to Run at Time of Each Leave Denial
"The Seventh Circuit is now aligned with the Eighth Circuit, which also has held that an FMLA violation occurs when an employer improperly denies an employee's leave request and not when an employee is later terminated for excessive absences. In contrast, the Sixth Circuit has held that an employee fired for excessive absenteeism may still challenge her termination even if the limitations period for the alleged FMLA-protected absence had expired." [Barrett v. Ill. Dept. of Corrections, No. 13-2833 (7th Cir. Oct. 20, 2015)] (Proskauer's Law and the Workplace)  

Employer's Personalized Wellness Program Shows Quick Return on Investment
"The program used voluntary genetic screening to assist program coaches and client managers in personalizing behavioral reinforcement strategies to help ... employees who signed up for the wellness program lose weight ... The year-long study, which included 445 company employees at high risk of developing metabolic syndrome, found that when employees made lifestyle changes -- mostly improving nutrition and increasing exercise -- the program had clinical and economic impact in just 12 months." (FierceHealthPayer)  

Eight Key Questions to Consider When Adding Telemedicine to Your Benefit Plan
"[1] Will my employees be receptive to a telemedicine option?... [2] What types of telemedicine will be offered? And will there be worksite access to telemedicine available?... [3] Will adding telemedicine lower our total health care costs?... [4] What are the main health concerns of your employees that would be best addressed by telemedicine?... [5] How will telemedicine be integrated into our current health benefits? ... [6] Who will be on my workplace team to ensure that telehealth is properly implemented?... [7] How will you construct a year-round telemedicine communications plan for your employees?... [8] What kinds of data will be available to provide measurement of ROI?" (The Alliance)  

[Advert.]

Use Promo Code "BENEFITSLINK" to Receive $100 off Registration

IHC FORUM West in Las Vegas is part of the ONLY conference series 100% dedicated to health care consumerism. Where all health & benefits stakeholders gather under one roof to share best industry practices, innovative strategies, and expert insights.

Read This Before You Pull the ACO Lever
"[R]esults across ACOs are highly variable.... To understand how they can support your quest to avoid the excise tax, start by looking in your own backyard.... Ask your carrier for detailed reporting on how many of your employees are accessing these systems. Ask what you are paying in fees and bonuses. Ask what types of savings you are achieving via these arrangements. Ask what type of growth they are anticipating in the prevalence of these arrangements in your key markets." (Mercer/Signal)  

Medicare at 50: Medicare Advantage Plans (PDF)
"[Medicare Advantage] provider practice patterns ... appear to have a spillover effect by bringing cost-effective improvements to [fee-for-service (FFS)] practice patterns. As a result, hospital spending in the FFS program is reduced in communities where MA penetration is significant. These spillover effects offset a portion of the higher payments to MA plans." (American Academy of Actuaries)  

GAO Report: Preliminary Results of Undercover Testing of the Federal Marketplace and Selected State Marketplaces for Coverage Year 2015
"For 10 fictitious applicants, GAO tested application and enrollment controls for obtaining subsidized health plans available through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace ... and two selected state marketplaces ... Although 8 of these 10 fictitious applications failed the initial identity-checking process, all 10 were subsequently approved by the federal Marketplace or the selected state marketplaces. Four applications used Social Security numbers that ... have never been issued, such as numbers starting with '000.' ... For 8 additional fictitious applicants, GAO tested enrollment into Medicaid through the same federal Marketplace and the two selected state marketplaces, and was able to obtain either Medicaid or alternative subsidized coverage for 7 of the 8 applicants." (U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO])  

Investigation Finds Errors in Coverage and Payments Under ACA
"In one case ... a fictitious applicant received subsidized insurance coverage from the federal marketplace and from two state marketplaces at the same time. Federal and state officials 'told us there is no current process to identify individuals with multiple enrollments through different marketplaces,' [Seto J. Bagdoyan, the director of forensic audits at the GAO, said].... Meaghan Smith, a spokeswoman for [HHS], said the department's online verification systems had thwarted the investigators' initial attempts to enroll, and she noted that consumers must attest to information they provide under penalty of perjury." (The New York Times; subscription may be required)  

Obamacare Still Can't Catch Fraudulent Enrollees
"Government auditors were able sign up 17 out of 18 fake ObamaCare enrollees for coverage through federal and state exchanges ... despite the fact that some applications included obvious signs of fraud.... While eight didn't make it through the initial identity-checking process, all 10 eventually obtained coverage ... They all were able to keep their coverage despite filing fake follow-up documentation.... This is the second time the GAO has been able to bypass ObamaCare's supposed verification procedures and obtain coverage using false information." (Investor's Business Daily)  

ACA Litigation Yields Marketplace Data Access Precedent
"In 2013 Consumer Checkbook submitted a [FOIA] request to [HHS] asking for federally facilitated marketplace plan data that would allow it to create a ... tool for comparing marketplace plans.... Subsequently the parties agreed that HHS would provide the requested information ... Although this litigation continues, this agreement sets a useful precedent for private companies that seek access to qualified health plan rate and benefit information to allow them to create consumer shopping tools in time for the beginning of open enrollment." (Health Affairs)  

Texas Opens Up New Obamacare Lawsuit
"At issue is a fee that ObamaCare imposed on health insurers as a way to help pay for the law. Texas's Medicaid program uses a system called managed care, in which the government contracts with private insurers to provide insurance for the poor. Part of the money that Texas gives to the insurers under this set-up reimburses them for paying the ObamaCare fee to the federal government. The three states are arguing that the fee is essentially being passed on to them and is unconstitutional federal coercion of states, because if they don't pay the fee, they lose their federal Medicaid funds." (The Hill)  

Palmetto Nightmare: South Carolina CO-OP Latest Obamacare Domino to Fall
"South Carolina's closure brings the total to nine out of the original 23 co-ops that will be out of operation in 2016, bringing the total cost to taxpayers to $917,524,470. South Carolina's news comes on the heels of co-ops in Tennessee, Colorado, and Oregon announcing that they too would close." (Energy & Commerce Committee, U.S. House of Representatives)  

[Opinion]

The Cadillac Tax vs. a Cap on the Tax Exclusion of Employer-Based Health Benefits: Is This a Battle Worth Fighting?
"Without an agreed-upon replacement for the revenue that has the same cost-containment properties, eliminating the Cadillac tax would endanger the financial soundness of the ACA. A cap on the tax exclusion of employer-based health benefits represents a viable alternative to the Cadillac tax. In a period of intense partisanship, it would be a risky gamble to expect bipartisan cooperation to quickly pass an alternative to help fund the ACA's Medicaid expansion and marketplace tax credits." (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)  

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services Hires Grant Argall As Regional Vice President, Midwest Division, Focusing on Southern Wisconsin, Eastern Iowa and Northwest Illinois
John Hancock Retirement Plan Services

View All Press Releases