A recent ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia calls into question the recently expanded regulations allowing small employers to band together to establish Association Health Plans. This development should be monitored closely by employers and employer organizations currently sponsoring, or considering sponsoring, these plans. Background A group of unrelated … Continue Reading
Employers with established wellness programs that collect health information and/or require a medical exam can no longer rely on the EEOC regulations to justify that incentives provided under their wellness programs are voluntary. On December 20, the EEOC published a final rule (83 Fed. Reg. 65296) vacating the rules that allowed employers to offer those … Continue Reading
Many employers offer some type of “wellness program” to their employees as a way to improve employee health and reduce healthcare spending. Wellness programs can be called many different things, including “weight loss challenges” or “healthy employee programs”. Recently, there were new rules issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding the way … Continue Reading
On December 28, 2015, the IRS announced in Notice 2016-4 that the deadlines for complying with the new reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) will be temporarily extended for purposes of 2015 coverage. The original and updated deadlines are provided below: Deadline for Providing the Forms 1095-B and 1095-C to Individuals Original Deadline: … Continue Reading
With ACA reporting deadlines quickly approaching, many employers should be preparing to address the various reporting requirements in order to avoid the significant fines and penalties associated with non-compliance. As of January 2016, employers with 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees (Applicable Large Employers or ALEs) will be subject to several complex … Continue Reading
With the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Mandate (Pay-or-Play penalties) now officially in effect, employers with 50 or more full-time or full-time-equivalent employees should have already made all significant changes to their benefit programs necessary to ensure that they offer “minimum essential” and “affordable” coverage to their full-time employees to avoid penalties in 2015. However, there … Continue Reading
As 2014 winds down, plan sponsors are likely thinking ahead to some of the significant changes that will take effect in 2015, most notably, the employer “pay or play” mandate under the ACA. However, there are two deadlines that plan sponsors of self-insured group health plans should be aware of. November 5, 2014 – Health … Continue Reading
