Benefits Blog - American Benefits Group

Important Affordable Care Act Deadline: Employee Notices of the Health Insurance Marketplace (Exchange) Due by October 1, 2013 (copy)

September, 16 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: CDHC, COBRA, Compliance and Regulatory, DOL, Health Care Reform, IRS, PPACA, Taxes,

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.”

DoL Releases Guidance on HRAs, Health FSAs and Other Healthcare Arrangement Options (copy)

September, 16 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: CDHC,

Application of Market Reform and other Provisions of the Affordable Care Act to HRAs, Health FSAs, and Certain other Employer Healthcare Arrangements

DoL Releases Guidance on HRAs, Health FSAs and Other Healthcare Arrangement Options

September, 13 2013 (comments: 0)

Application of Market Reform and other Provisions of the Affordable Care Act to HRAs, Health FSAs, and Certain other Employer Healthcare Arrangements

Treasury and IRS: All Legal Same-sex Marriages Will be Recognized for Federal Tax Purposes

September, 10 2013 (comments: 0)

Under the ruling, a same-sex marriage will be treated as a marriage for all federal tax purposes where marriage is a factor.

What To Do Now? Re-forming What We Know About Health Care Reform

July, 23 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: CDHC, Compliance and Regulatory, DOL, Health Care Reform, PPACA,

By Justyn Harkin, Communications Specialist, The Jellyvision Lab

Wow, did someone get the license number from that truck? My head is spinning. I mean, one moment I was just minding my own business, peacefully thinking about clever ways to explain coverage options to employees, and the next—major changes to key provisions of the ACA!

ACA Employer Mandate is Delayed Until 2015

July, 8 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: CDHC, Compliance and Regulatory, DOL, ERISA, Health Care Reform, HHS, PPACA, Taxes,

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.

Important Affordable Care Act Deadline: Employee Notices of the Health Insurance Marketplace (Exchange) Due by October 1, 2013

May, 22 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: CDHC, COBRA, Compliance and Regulatory, DOL, Health Care Reform, IRS, PPACA, Taxes,

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.”

DOL Releases Model Notice and Guidance on PPACA’s Exchange Notice Requirement

May, 22 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: Compliance and Regulatory, DOL, Health Care Reform, PPACA,

On May 8, 2013, the DOL issued Technical Release No. 2013-02, which includes temporary guidance and a model notice relating to the notice to employees of coverage option (known as the “Exchange Notice”) requirement under PPACA. As background, PPACA requires employers subject to the FLSA to provide each employee with a written notice that describes information about the state health insurance exchanges (also referred to as “marketplaces”), including the availability of premium tax credits and the implications relating to purchasing coverage through the exchanges.

Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCOR)

May, 22 2013 (comments: 0)

Under health care reform, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), a new nonprofit corporation was established, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCOR). This corporation will be funded in part by PCOR/CER (Comparative Effectiveness Research) fees paid by certain health insurance issuers or plan sponsors of applicable self-insured health plans. Please note that Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) are categorized as self-insured health plans and are therefore subject to this fee unless, in rare occasions, it is determined to be an excepted benefit (i.e. for vision and dental expenses only).

The ACA – What you need to do NOW

May, 10 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: CDHC, Compliance and Regulatory, DOL, ERISA, Health Care Reform, IRS, PPACA, Taxes,

By Robert J. Lowe

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.

IRS Provides Guidance to Determine Minimum Value and Affordability Rules for HRAs, HSAs and Wellness Incentives

May, 6 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: CDHC, Compliance and Regulatory, Health Care Reform, Health Reimbursement, Health Savings, HRA, HSA, IRS, PPACA, Taxes,

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.

Clarification by Treasury and IRS Relaxes Election Change Rules

April, 4 2013 (comments: 0)
Category: Cafeteria Plans, CDHC, Compliance and Regulatory, Health Care Reform, HHS, IRS, PPACA, Section 125 Plans,

So employers and employees can take advantage of the health insurance Exchanges starting January 1, 2014, regulators issued some exceptions to the permitted election changes rule for cafeteria plans.

ObamaCare signals big role for Health Savings Accounts

February, 22 2013
Category: CDHC, Compliance and Regulatory, Health Care Reform, Health Savings, Health Savings, HSA, IRS, PPACA, Taxes,

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

Consumer Engagement Is The New Healthcare Reality

December, 24 2012
Category: Cafeteria Plans, CDHC, Flexible Spending, FSA, Health Care Reform, Health Reimbursement, Health Savings, HRA, HSA, PPACA, Section 125 Plans,

Every so often it seems another round of surveys is released demonstrating the strong, continual growth of the consumer-directed health care (CDHC) market and the accompanying behavioral shift in how Americans approach buying health care. This month has

New Benefits Coordinator’s Failure to Provide COBRA Election Notice Leads to Stiff Penalties for Employer

November, 12 2012
Category: COBRA, Compliance and Regulatory, DOL, ERISA,

From the November 08, 2012 EBIA Weekly
[Evans v. Books-A-Million, 2012 WL 5379351 (N.D. Ala. 2012)]

The terminated employee in this case sued her former employer for, among other things, not providing her a COBRA election notice for its group dental plan.