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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter July 6, 2018 |
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Jobs
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Webcasts, Conferences Telemedicine - The New Standard of Care
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Discussions |
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This Newsletter:
BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter:
Message Boards Digest:
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On-Site Retirement Educator|
[Guidance Overview]
New Association Health Plans: Coverage of Individual Working Owners "The 'working owner' must work at least 20 hours per week (80 hours per month) in the business, or earn enough to pay for coverage of the owner and any covered beneficiaries.... The final rule dropped a proposed requirement that the individual have no other subsidized group coverage available, including through a spouse.... The AHP must have procedures to verify that the working owner meets these criteria at the time first covered, and to periodically monitor compliance."
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[Advert.]
Employee Health, Benefits, & Well-Being Congress | July 30-31
Who is moving the needle on employee health care? This event convenes HR, benefits, and wellness executives, TPAs, Brokers, Payers, and Providers to learn and discuss strategies to enhance employee health and improve outcomes while reducing costs. |
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[Guidance Overview]
DOL Finalizes Expansive Association Health Plan Rule "ERISA compliance structures would need to be established to ensure that plan documents, summary plan descriptions, and other mandatory notices are timely provided, and that the annual Form 5500 reporting and other mandated reporting can be timely completed. COBRA, HIPAA, and the ACA will also apply to the plan, as will ERISA's fiduciary requirements. As a MEWA, the federal Form M-1 filing may be required, and compliance with state laws regulating MEWAs is also necessary. In most cases, the plan will need to be funded through a trust that meets state law requirements."
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[Guidance Overview]
IRS Releases ACA Affordability Rates for 2019 "For 2019, the required contribution percentage has increased to 9.86% (up from 9.56% in 2018). This means that if an employee's share of the premium for employer-provided coverage in 2019 is more than 9.86% of his or her household income, the coverage is not considered affordable for that employee and the ALE may be liable for a penalty if that employee obtains a premium tax credit through a Marketplace."
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PCORI Fee Deadline Fast Approaching "The fee and the related IRS Form 720 are due no later than July 31st. If your plan year ended on or before September 30, 2017, the fee is $2.26 per covered life. If your plan year ended between October 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017, the fee is $2.39 per covered life."
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Court Allows Provider to Proceed With Claim That Plan Violated Cost-Sharing Limit "The hospital asserted that the plan essentially established a reference price when it reimbursed all of the hospital's services at 140% of Medicare's allowed charge. Because the plan's network did not include any hospitals or otherwise ensure access to hospitals that would accept the reference price, the hospital contended that the plan was required to count out-of-pocket expenses for charges over the reference price toward the maximum annual cost-sharing limit[.]" [Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare Sys. v. Monterey Peninsula Horticulture, Inc., No. 17-7076 (N.D. Cal. May 31, 2018)]
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[Advert.]
Develop a Strong Parental Leave Policy
July 25 webinar will address the changes taking place in parental leave policies and how to develop a policy which is legally compliant, and which is best suited to help employers recruit and retain employees. Discount for BenefitsLink readers. |
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Does Your Organization Offer 'Green' Benefits? "[S]ome examples you could implement: [1] Help employees to have a greener commute.... [2] Help employees have a smaller environmental footprint outside of work.... [3] Have ways for employees to make a positive impact on the environment."
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[Opinion]
When Amazon Sneezes, the Health Insurance Industry Catches a Cold "Once again, a move by Amazon has cut billions of the health insurance industry stock market value. When Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan announced a partnership to control healthcare costs, health insurers were devalued. This time, with the announced purchase of PillPack, the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) shed a fast approximately $11 billion."
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Selected Discussions |
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We have a management company that runs a Nonqualified Deferred Compensation plan. The management company is wholly owned by A, and A also wholly owns B. B also participates in the NQDC plan. The management company is going to be removed and replace with a different management company. Under the NQDC plan this does not trigger a change of control payment. But we have employees at B that are participants in the NQDC Plan. We have two options. First is to just start a new plan for the B employees. They will still have their account under the old plan, but now they will have another account at a new plan. Second, and what we'd like to do, is move the accounts for B employees to a new plan, sponsored by either B or A. Is that possible?
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BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
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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.
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