"[T]he IRS is proposing an IRC section 4980H(b) penalty for full-time employees who received a premium tax credit for employers who the IRS deems to have failed to meet the Form W-2 affordability safe harbor. The IRS is taking this position without reviewing an individual's household income which can be much higher than an individual's box 1 W-2 wages from a single employer!"  MORE >>

"The notice includes important proposed rules and parameters for the operation of the individual and small group health insurance markets in 2023 and beyond. This paper summarizes key provisions of the proposed notice, actuarial value calculator, and maximum out of pocket information recently released by HHS."  MORE >>

"Covered topics include revised preventive services guidelines for women and children, additional resources for navigators, medical loss ratio (MLR) rebates, Section 1332 developments, interoperability, the latest insurer compliance review, and more. This article summarizes these announcements and other new guidance issued in recent weeks."  MORE >>

"The chart [in this article] provides basic information on vaccination mandates issued at the federal and statewide levels. It covers directives that affect public or private entities as employers. This chart also includes information about state responses to the [OSHA] vaccine-or-test emergency temporary standard (ETS) ... This post does not address local guidance, orders that relate to customer or patron vaccination status (e.g., 'vaccine passports'), narrower mandates specific only to schools or educational institutions, or recommendations that do not impose obligations. " [Rev. Jan. 18, 2022]  MORE >>

" 'Vaccine sweepstakes,' by which employers offer cash or other prizes (often substantial) to winning employees who are randomly selected from a pool of vaccinated entrants, are gaining popularity across all industries.... To date, no official guidance has been issued on sweepstakes as a vaccine incentive tool. However, by observing the existing guidance on traditional vaccine incentives and certain other best practices, employers can run fair (and fun!) vaccine sweepstakes programs aimed at increasing workforce vaccination and boosting company morale."  MORE >>

"Of participants enrolled in a traditional plan with a choice of plans, one-third did not know if an HDHP was even offered. Education is often the biggest challenge when introducing and encouraging migration to new plan offerings, particularly HDHPs and CDHPs which remain unfamiliar to many employees.... While satisfaction with HDHPs was initially lower than traditional plans, likely a bit of sticker shock as they pay out of pocket for prescriptions and office visits, it improved with experience."  MORE >>

"To pretend that we are going to fix the problem of access to primary care by allowing a number of companies to try to come in and profit from it is just absurd. The many and massive failures of our health care system were already evident before the COVID-19 crises and the crisis has underscored that we can't continue with such a broken system. No country has built a successful health care system on the foundation of generating profit and revenue for the wealthy and massive corporations."  MORE >>