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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
May 28, 2021
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► 5 New Job Opportunities
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U.S. Healthcare Costs During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond
"[H]ealthcare costs decreased between 2019 and 2020. Eliminated care more than offset the cost of COVID-19 testing and treatments in 2020. But in 2021, [Milliman projects] healthcare costs to grow again, with the cost of healthcare for a hypothetical family of four insured through an employer PPO standing at $28,256." MORE >>
Milliman
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Affordability of Mental Health Care Remains a Concern
"[O]nly 53 percent of respondents do not feel the need for mental-health support, 35 percent have taken steps to improve their mental health and 12 percent have not taken steps but would like to. Within the latter group, 28 percent report that affordability of care is the greatest barrier to mental-health improvement" MORE >>
LifeWorks
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It's Mental Health Awareness Month: How Your HSA Can Support Your Mental Health
"[1] Your therapy bills may be HSA-eligible ... [2] You can use HSA funds towards psychiatric care ... [3] You can pay for medication with your HSA ... [4] Your fitness program or health club dues may be HSA-eligible ... [5] You can build tax-free savings to ease financial worries." MORE >>
HealthEquity
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[Opinion]
Large Employers Offering Paid Leave Should Be Protected from Patchwork of Mandates
"[M]ultistate employers must maintain differently structured digital recordkeeping systems to ensure they are complying with all the different paid family and medical leave reporting requirements in every state where they have employees. Those recordkeeping systems must be maintained separately from one another, without data-sharing capabilities. These systems do not result in greater benefits for employees but increase costs and compliance burdens for employers." MORE >>
The ERISA Industry Committee [ERIC]
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[Opinion]
Improving Access to Paid Family Leave to Achieve Health Equity
"This issue brief provides background on federal and state paid family leave (PFL) policies, highlights domestic and international research that shows PFL provides a range of benefits, and lays out principles for a universal paid family leave program." MORE >>
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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[Opinion]
It's Not the Insurance That's Expensive, It's the Cost of Healthcare
"This 'killer app' of the genomics world, called MCED (Multi-Cancer Early Detection), is a powerful screening test, newly available in 2021 ... If the screen meets its promise, the cost of future cancers would be reduced but the increase in current costs may well be a bank breaker.... If approval is granted, employers will need to consider cost-containment measures such as rationing towards older or at-risk members." MORE >>
EPIC
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Benefits in General |
[Official Guidance]
IRS Disaster Relief Notice WV-2021-01, for Victims of Severe Storms and Flooding in West Virginia
"Victims of severe storms and flooding that began February 27, 2021 now have until June 30, 2021, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments ... Individuals and households ... that reside or have a business in Boone, Cabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo, and Wayne counties qualify for tax relief." MORE >>
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
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GAO Report: EBSA Enforcement Efforts to Protect Participants' Rights in Employer-Sponsored Retirement and Health Benefit Plans
"This report examines [1] how EBSA manages its enforcement process, [2] EBSA's strategies to improve investigative processes and ensure enforcement quality, and [3] the immediate and long-term challenges of COVID-19 for EBSA and private sector retirement and health plans." [GAO-21-376, May 27, 2021; full report (56 pages) and highlights (1 page)] MORE >>
U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO]
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Employee Benefits Jobs |
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Press Releases |
Aharon J. Friedman Joins Federal Policy Group
Federal Policy Group
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Webcasts and Conferences (Health & Welfare Plans) |
Employee Benefit Plan Audit Readiness
RECORDED
Clear Law Institute
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Washington State Long-Term Care Act: What Employers Need to Know
June 7, 2021 WEBCAST
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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Answers to (Some of) Your COBRA Subsidy Questions
June 8, 2021 WEBCAST
Segal
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Last Issue's Most Popular Items |
IRS Finally Releases Guidance Implementing COBRA Subsidies But Leaves Important Questions Unanswered
The Wagner Law Group
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IRS Issues Guidance on Federally Funded COBRA Premium Subsidy: What You Need to Know
Troutman Sanders
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DOL Issues Long-Awaited Cybersecurity Guidance for Benefit Plans
Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP
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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.
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