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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter July 31, 2018 |
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Jobs
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Webcasts, Conferences What You Need to Know About New U.S. Paid Leave Laws
ERISA Basics National Institute
Health Policy: How You Should Be Preparing for the Cadillac Tax
Executive Compensation: MeToo, Employment Agreements, and the Clawback of Executive Compensation
IRS and DOL Audit Issues for Retirement Plans
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Discussions |
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This Newsletter:
BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter:
Message Boards Digest:
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Senior Qualified Plan Administrator|
The House Takes Action on Health Reform "Following a flurry of bills addressing the opioid crisis this spring, from both House and Senate, the House now moves to other strategies to accomplish this task. The House is targeting two specific areas to begin addressing the choice and cost concerns -- certain [ACA] taxes and health savings accounts (HSAs)."
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House ACA Employer Health Penalty Bill Nears Floor "Members of the House may be getting closer to voting on a H.R. 4616, bill that could both suspend collection of [ACA] employer mandate penalties and further delay the start date of the ACA Cadillac plan tax.... [CBO and JCT] estimate the bill could cut enough revenue, and lead to enough extra spending, to increase the size of the federal budget deficit by $39.5 billion over the period from 2019 through 2028."
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Community-Oriented Workplace Wellness Programs "Best practices for successful workplace wellness programs: [1] Use multiple intervention sites ... [2] Have specific, obtainable target goals; [3] Give employees training and tools to create sustainable lifestyle changes; [4] Make the program a regular part of the work week; [5] Partner with community organizations and create convenience for workers; [6] Develop a program that has social and fun aspects."
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"Here are some ideas to think about: Flu vaccinations ... Chair massages ... Lunch and learns ... Biometric screenings ... Tobacco cessation programs."
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The Long Road to Value-Based Payment "The U.S. health care system continues to undergo a slow transition from a volume-based to value-based payment system.... The goal is to reward good longer-term patient outcomes, thereby providing value to the health care system. However, the incentives may not be fully aligned -- especially in situations in which hospitals are asked to pay more for better outcomes. Such problems are particularly acute in fields where technology is evolving rapidly."
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Insurers Petition Court to Rehear Risk-Corridor Case Involving $12B in ACA Payments "Last month, a panel of judges at the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that [HHS] isn't required to pay insurers $12 billion through the program, arguing that Congress included appropriations riders to ensure the risk-corridor program remained budget neutral. In separate court filings, Moda and Land of Lincoln petitioned the court to rehear the case before the entire bench of 18 judges. The insurers argued that the court's decision ... 'sows confusion' over how an appropriations law can override an existing statute."
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"[A]fter increasing substantially (by 64% to 17.4 million people in 2015) following implementation of the ACA, enrollment in the individual market remained relatively unchanged in 2016 (at 17.0 million) then declined by 12% to 15.2 million in 2017. Enrollment has continued to fall in early 2018: first quarter enrollment has declined by 12% in 2018 compared to the first quarter of 2017. Much of this decline in overall individual market enrollment was concentrated in the off-exchange market, where enrollees are not eligible for federal premium subsidies and therefore were not cushioned from the significant premium increases in 2017 and 2018."
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Executive Compensation |
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[Guidance Overview]
"While the rules and applicable guidance have remained largely unchanged over recent years, some of the rules are unclear on how FICA taxes should be applied with respect to deferred compensation payable under account balance plans, including restricted stock units (RSUs) and deferred dividend equivalent units (DEUs). Further, the special FICA tax rules applicable to deferred compensation are frequently overlooked or misunderstood by employers, resulting in erroneous payment of the applicable taxes."
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Ninth Circuit Overturns Altera and Revives Regulations on Cost Sharing of Stock-Based Compensation "The Regulations required related entities to share the costs of employee stock-based compensation in order for their cost-sharing arrangements to be classified as qualified cost-sharing arrangements under Section 4824 and the relevant Treasury Regulations.... [T]he Ninth Circuit first determined that Treasury had complied with the APA in promulgating the Regulations ... [and] then applied the two-part Chevron analysis to hold that the Regulations were a permissible interpretation of Section 482." [Altera Corp. v. Comm'r, Nos. 16-70496, 16-70497 (9th Cir. July 24, 2018)]
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Selected Discussions |
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Adding Retiree Life to Existing Medical VEBA: How Hard to Do? How difficult is it to add another benefit to an existing VEBA? We have an existing VEBA and management asked us to evaluate adding the existing retiree life plan. The company pays most of the retiree life premiums, but retirees contribute a portion. What are the key considerations? Upfront and ongoing legal and accounting costs? Our current annual retiree life premium is relatively small (about $600,000 per year including retiree contributions) so one of my concerns is that the initial cost to move the plan into the VEBA and the ongoing legal, accounting and investment expense could be significant in comparison.
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Press Releases |
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Rea & Associates, Inc. is Certified to Industry Best Practices
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Corporate Synergies Captures 2018 APEX Award for Excellence
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Wilshire Launches Two New Broad Market Target Income Indices
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Connect
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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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