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Creative Plan Designs, Ltd.
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New DOL Disability Claims Regulations: Effects on Employee Benefits and Nonqualified Compensation Plans
March 27, 2018 WEBCAST
Strafford

Cool Compensation Considerations for the Private Company 2018: Pay, Performance and Perspectives
March 12, 2018 WEBCAST
Practising Law Institute

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[Official Guidance]

Text of 2018 IRS Form 8963: Report of Health Insurance Provider Information (PDF)
"On the first line, list information for the single-person covered entity or designated entity, whichever applies. Next, for a controlled group, separately list information for every person who is a controlled group member at the end of the day on December 31, 2017, and who would qualify as a covered entity in 2018 if it were a single-person covered entity (see instructions)."
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

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ACA Reporting Requirements and Lessons Learned

March 5 webinar. Despite the uncertainty of the ACA's future it remains the law of the land. This webinar covers lessons learned from the past two years and identifies focus areas to prevent problems next year. CE credits. Discount for BenefitsLink readers.

[Guidance Overview]

Transportation and Parking Benefits Provided by Tax-Exempt Employers Might Be Taxable
"There is significant confusion and lack of clarity regarding how these provisions will be interpreted or applied. For example, will an organization have UBTI if it permits employee parking in spaces owned by the employer, or only if the parking is in spaces for which the employer must pay a third party? Will an organization have UBTI if it sponsors a pre-tax employee parking or transit program, or only if it provides those benefits at no cost to the employees?"
Quarles & Brady LLP

Airlines Association Challenges State of Washington Paid Sick Leave Requirements
"Airlines for America is challenging the application of Washington Paid Sick Leave Act to the airlines on the grounds that it violates the United States Constitution ... because the law also applies to employees outside the state of Washington and has a negative impact on interstate commerce. The lawsuit also challenges the sick leave law on the basis that it is preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act because it negatively impacts carriers' 'prices, routes, and services.' " [Air Transport Ass'n of America v.Wash. Dept. of Labor & Industries, No. 18-5092 (W.D. Wash. complaint filed Feb. 6, 2018)]
Polsinelli at Work

Sick Pay Is Not 'Wages' Under Massachusetts Law
"Under the Massachusetts Payment of Wages Law, employees who resign must be paid in full on the next regular pay day. However, employees that are discharged must be paid in full on the day of discharge.... [T]he Court noted that the mere fact that the statute does not specifically include sick pay as wages does not exclude sick pay from this law. Nevertheless, the Court ultimately concluded that the statute was not intended to include sick pay as wages." [Mui v. Mass. Port Authority, No. 12296 (Mass. Jan. 29, 2018)]
The Wagner Law Group

The Bipartisan Budget Act Boosts Medicare: Flexibility and Financing for Healthcare Plans and Providers
"[Changes made by the Act] include: [1] the addition of non-medical services ... and telehealth services to the range of MA-covered services that an MA plan can offer to its members; ... [2] disbanding the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a board comprised of presidential appointees whose sole authority and responsibility was to cut Medicare costs and expenses; and [3] an increase in the discounts that pharmaceutical companies must give seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D drug plans by making the so-called 'doughnut hole' disappear in 2019."
Sheppard Mullin

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Online Learning Course: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Learn how to avoid common administration mistakes, implement best practices and be aware of interactions with other laws.

IRS Updates Publication 974 (Premium Tax Credit) to Address QSEHRAs
"Although Publication 974 is intended for individuals, employers (particularly those that provide QSEHRAs or are subject to employer shared responsibility) may also find it helpful. The new information regarding QSEHRAs is based on [IRS Notice 2017-67]."
Thomson Reuters / EBIA

Prescription Drug Coupons: A One-Size-Fits-All Policy Approach Doesn't Fit the Evidence
"Drug manufacturer coupons used by consumers to reduce the size of their prescription copayments are increasingly under fire by federal and state policy makers, as well as by insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Medicare and Medicaid consider them kickbacks and completely ban their use. Massachusetts has considered a similar move, and California recently outlawed coupons for branded drugs where a generic equivalent exists. New Jersey is considering similar legislation to California's."
Health Affairs

Middle Market Companies Want More from Insurers
"Employee benefits represents enormous opportunity for forward-thinking insurers who want to partner on deals with benefits providers. Selected by 48 percent of respondents, it ranked No. 1 among a lengthy list of support services companies are interested in receiving from insurers."
InsuranceNewsNet.com

[Opinion]

A Few Suggestions to Simplify Healthcare
"The front door to healthcare delivery should be an easy-to-use smartphone application which is pre-populated with a healthcare calendar, set up with you and your doctor, to remind you of milestones including appropriate checkups for medical, dental and vision care.... Selecting your provider has to be easier.... [D]rug costs are too confusing.... Doctors' offices should be paperless."
Frenkel Benefits

[Opinion]

A Transformative Year for Health Care
"The time has come to think beyond using a carrier-administered narrow network or having a health system and its TPA partner market directly to the employers using the system's Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) platform. Rather than replicate old models with broad-based PPOs (and their primary focus on discounts), or imposing higher, HDHP-style employee cost sharing (believing the covered members will magically become better health care consumers) a new approach is necessary for these AHPs (or any employer-sponsored health plan for that matter) to succeed and be self-sustaining."
Findley Davies | BPS&M

[Guidance Overview]

Going Up But Never Down: 2018 ERISA Penalties
"The [DOL] announced increased penalties for employee benefit plans under ERISA. The increases generally apply to penalties that involve employee benefit reporting and disclosure failings if the penalty is assessed after January 2, 2018, and if the violation occurred after November 2, 2015. [A chart outlines] the ERISA penalty amounts assessed for violations on or before January 2, 2018, and those amounts assessed after January 2."
McDermott Will & Emery

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Employee benefits expert to help Lockton clients develop human capital strategies
Lockton

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