On May 8, 2013, the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Technical Release No. 2013-02 (“Release”) providing important guidance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (“Affordable Care Act”), with regard to the requirement that employers provide notices to their employees of the existence of the Health Insurance Marketplace (“Marketplace”), previously referred to as the “Exchange.”
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate provision has been delayed until 2015. This news was announced July 2, 2013 by the US Department of the Treasury on behalf of the Administration.
On May 8, 2013, the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Technical Release No. 2013-02 (“Release”) providing important guidance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (“Affordable Care Act”), with regard to the requirement that employers provide notices to their employees of the existence of the Health Insurance Marketplace (“Marketplace”), previously referred to as the “Exchange.”
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes many requirements applicable to employer group health plans. Some of these requirements are already effective but some of the most significant requirements will become effective in 2014. Employers should now be considering what they need to do to comply with ACA requirements that will become effective in 2014.
On April 30, 2013, the Internal Revenue (IRS) released proposed regulations which provide guidance on health care reform’s premium tax credit for the health insurance exchanges.
contributed by: Dan Perrin, Executive Director of the HSA Coalition
Despite getting clobbered in the fiscal cliff negotiations, Republicans have something to celebrate this year - the survival of health savings accounts, or HSAs. They had feared
What premium tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies are available to individuals in 2014 and who is eligible for them?
To assist individuals and families who do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid and are not offered affordable health coverage by their employers, a refundable tax credit (the “premium tax credit”) and a cost sharing subsidy will be available beginning in 2014 to help pay for insurance purchased through an Exchange.
The IRS has released Notice 2012-40 which provides guidance on the effective date of the $2,500 contribution limit to health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) under IRS Code Section 125(i) and on the deadline for amending plans to comply with the limit. The notice also provides relief for contributions that mistakenly exceed the $2,500 limit provided they are corrected in a timely manner.
The HHS has just issued their draft bulletin on defining the “actuarial value” methodology that will be used to calculate AV for health plans, and it is good news for HSAs and HRAs! The rules DO include the employer contributions to accounts in the calculations, which is tremendously beneficial to the attractiveness of the plans.
The HSA minimum deductible, a benchmark for comparing HSAs with traditional PPO plans, will rise to $2,500 family and $1,250 individual in 2013, the first increase in the past 3 years, according to former Treasury official Roy Ramthun who makes the annual estimate using near-final government data.
Do you think you’re saving money by administering your health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)? In our experience, many employers that self-administer an HRA often overlook important compliance obligations that put them at financial risk. Failure to comply with the following requirements is common and can be costly.
It wasn't all about the Summary of Coverage documents last Thursday. The Departments of Labor, HHS and Treasury also issued new guidance on frequently asked questions by employers and health plans concerning the auto-enrollment, employer requirements and
The Obama administration released the final rules for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) on February 9. The requirements have been the subject of much contention between insurers, employers and consumer groups over the past two years, and the final rules have been much anticipated by the benefits community.One of the most contentious parts of the debate about the new requirements was their effective date.
By year-end 2011, health savings accounts surpassed $12.4 billion in nearly 6.8 million accounts, according to market research from broker/dealer firm Devenir.
