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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter September 24, 2018 |
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Jobs
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This Newsletter:
BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter:
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Client Service Center Associate|
[Official Guidance]
Text of IRS Notice 2018-71: Employer Credit for Paid Family and Medical Leave (PDF) 27 pages. "This notice provides guidance on the employer credit for paid family and medical leave under section 45S of the Internal Revenue Code. This notice also announces that the Department of the Treasury and the [IRS] intend to publish proposed regulations under section 45S.... This notice includes sections on the following topics: A. Eligible Employer; B. Family and Medical Leave; C. Minimum Paid Leave Requirements; D. Calculating and Claiming the Credit; E. Effective Date."
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[Guidance Overview]
Cafeteria Plan Election Rules: Flexible Spending Accounts "IRS regulations ... do not permit an employee to select any option available when a particular election change event occurs, but instead limit options according to the type of event that has occurred.... [This article focuses] on IRS rules governing changes for two types of FSAs -- health FSAs and Dependent Care Assistance Plans (DCAPs)."
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When Do Workplace Wellness Programs Become Coercive? "The central question is how truly voluntary something is when a large financial incentive is attached. As a result of the court decision, ... workers may find their employers starting to offer smaller incentives for these programs. Also, the programs might include more options for qualifying for those incentives -- a choice, for instance, between undergoing a medical exam or completing online health education training."
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Telehealth Reimbursement Uncertainty Creating Inequities in Healthcare "More providers are offering some sort of telemedicine or remote monitoring service. While some payers have begun partnering with telehealth vendors, many plans have no reimbursement schedule at all for telehealth. Depending on their coverage, a patient may be effectively barred from these programs unless they are willing to pay out of pocket."
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"In some cases the hospitals had reviewed and assessed patient privacy issues concerning the filming and adopted protections concerning patient privacy, for example, providing the film crews with the same HIPAA privacy training that workforce members received ... Despite these protections, however, HHS concluded in its investigations that the hospitals: [1] Impermissibly disclosed patients' protected health information (PHI) to the television crews by permitting filming without first receiving patient authorizations. [2] Failed to adequately safeguard patient PHI from disclosure."
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"Before full implementation of the [ACA's] insurance reforms, ... insurers generally were permitted to consider health factors in determining the offer of insurance, its price, and covered health services. Although references to individuals with preexisting conditions commonly focus on the possibility of denial of insurance, they also pertain to the offer of insurance that is more expensive on the basis of health factors and to insurance that excludes health services to treat preexisting conditions."
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Would Reinsurance Drive Premiums Down in Montana? "[Montana] Governor Steve Bullock announced the creation of a bipartisan work group that will design a bill ordering the state to submit a Section 1332 waiver that would form a public program.... Recent federal policies are expected to raise premiums in Montana by $1,300 on average ... Bullock vetoed a reinsurance bill in Montana in 2017 because it would have given the state insurance commissioner too much power[.]"
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"Plaintiff alleged that Unum wrongfully terminated her long term disability benefits under the Boy Scouts of America Long Term Disability Plan. Plaintiff filed a motion to compel responses to discovery requests aimed at ascertaining Unum's business practice of forecasting and targeting disability claims for potential 'recoveries' or terminations.... The court found Unum's boilerplate objections to be improper especially when Unum failed to submit any evidentiary declarations supporting the objections." [Gray v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of America, No. 17-1778 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 21, 2018; unpub.)]
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Benefits in General |
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[Official Guidance]
"This notice provides that the suspension of the exclusion from income provided by section 132(a)(6) under section 132(g)(2) does not apply to amounts received directly or indirectly by an individual in 2018 from an employer for expenses incurred in connection with a move occurring prior to January 1, 2018, that would have been deductible as moving expenses under section 217 of the Code if they had been paid directly by the individual prior to January 1, 2018[.]"
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Keys to Modernizing Employee Benefits "[1] Offer a purpose-driven portfolio of benefits.... [2] Optimize the financing of benefits programs.... [3] Use technology to engage employees and help them make informed choices.... [4] Gain efficiencies through operating model and administration technologies.... [5] Use data-driven insights for informed decision making."
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Press Releases |
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Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue |
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A Closer Look at Health Savings Accounts: An Overlooked Retirement Savings Vehicle
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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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