|
[Guidance Overview]
Employer Credit for Paid Family and Medical Leave Under 2017 Tax Reform
"[The IRS recently] issued FAQ guidance addressing the employer credit for paid family and medical leave added under tax reform (Section 45S of the Internal Revenue Code). In many respects, the FAQs track requirements for the tax credit established under the tax reform statute, though the FAQs also identify topics for which the IRS plans to issue additional guidance in the future."
Thomson Reuters Practical Law
|
|
Employers Embracing Cost-Shifting Alternatives
"Midsize employers considered best in class were more inclined to invest in employee wellness (63% vs. 54%) and disease management (45% vs. 31%) than others of comparable size.... They also were less likely to increase deductibles, copays or coinsurance overall (41% vs. 55%). The same was true in terms of raising employee contributions to health plan premiums (43% vs. 57%)."
Voya
|
New York State Settlement of Data Breach with Health Plan Includes HIPAA Compliance Undertones
"While the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act [HITECH] granted state attorneys general the authority to enforce HIPAA through civil actions brought on behalf of state residents, until now this authority has not been publicly invoked to any noteworthy degree. The EmblemHealth case is an important reminder that covered entities and business associates, in addition to complying with HIPAA, must also ensure that they abide by state privacy laws that prohibit the improper disclosure of certain personal information."
Akerman
|
California Paid Sick Leave Notice Requirements: Why Employers Should Still Be Nervous
"California's Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act [HWHFA] ... requires employers to provide paid sick leave to nearly all California employees.... [T]he defense bar interpret [the statutory] language as expressly precluding representative actions under California's Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (PAGA) ... The plaintiffs' bar, in contrast, interpret this language as expressly authorizing PAGA actions. With employers across the state being hit with standalone PAGA claims for purported violations ... some guidance is long overdue."
Bloomberg BNA
|
Appealing Massachusetts Employer Medical Assistance Contribution Supplement Determinations Based on ConnectorCare Coverage
"The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) has begun assessing Employer Medical Assistance Contribution (EMAC) supplemental payments for the first quarter. This [article] proposes a grounds for appealing DUA determinations that would serve employers well: employers that offer affordable, major medical coverage to their employees should not be assessed an EMAC supplement for any full-time employee who has coverage under ConnectorCare. The [ACA] makes these employees ineligible for subsidized coverage."
Mintz Levin
|
Proposals for Insurance Options That Don't Comply with ACA Rules: Trade-Offs in Cost and Regulation
"Each of these proposals follows a similar theme. Creating parallel insurance markets with different, lesser consumer protections, allows insurers to offer lower premiums and less coverage to people while they are healthy, leaving the ACA-regulated market with a sicker pool and higher premiums. Once repeal of the ACA individual mandate penalty takes effect in 2019, the net cost differential between regulated and less-regulated coverage will be even greater."
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
|
Selected Discussions on the BenefitsLink Message Boards
|
Fiduciary Liability for Signing Form 5500?
One of the newest marketing techniques I am running into is where an "independent expert" come in and says to the firm's controller that by signing Form 5500 for the firm you are exposing yourself to a personal liability, including making yourself a fiduciary. I note that the plan document does include language that fully indemnifies any individual acting as an agent for the plan sponsor. Anyone have any comments on this practice?
BenefitsLink Message Boards
|
|
|
|
|
|
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park, Florida 32789
(407) 644-4146
Lois Baker, J.D., President
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager
BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9595. Copyright 2018 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All materials contained in this newsletter are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of third party materials, the owner of those materials. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notices from copies of the content.
Links to web sites other than BenefitsLink.com and EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com are offered as a service to our readers; we were not involved in their production and are not responsible for their content.
Unsubscribe |
Privacy Policy
|