The short answer is yes. While I get this question a lot from clients, Health Care Reform did not change the COBRA requirements. The DOL must want to ensure we understand COBRA is still relevant because earlier this month it released a new model COBRA election notice. The new model notice includes significant changes from the ...
Under the Affordable Care Act, every employer must accurately identify its full-time employees to determine if it is subject to the employer mandate penalties and to calculate the amount of those penalties. Generally, a full-time employee is an individual that averages at least 30 hours of service per week. There are situations where ...
Lyndsey Barnett
Yesterday, the Treasury Department issued final regulations under the employer shared responsibility rule (or as we refer to it the pay or play mandate). The regulations delay the pay or play mandate for employers with between 50-99 full-time employees until 2016. The regulations also provide relief from the no coverage ...
HHS recently updated the Federal Poverty Limit (FPL) for 2014. Before the Affordable Care Act, when HHS would announce the annual update to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), most employers could emulate Alfred E. Neuman with a “What, me worry?” kind of attitude. That is no longer the case. Employers need to follow the FPL ...
As you may have read in the news this week, another larger employer, Target Corp., announced that it will stop providing health insurance coverage to its part-time employees beginning in April. Similarly to Home Depot and Trader Joe’s, who both previously announced they would stop offering health insurance coverage ...
This week the Adult & Pediatric Dermatology, P.C. practice agreed to settle a HIPAA violation with HHS. The settlement included the small dermatology practice paying $150,000 payment to HHS, agreeing to perform a comprehensive risk analysis and agreeing to put a risk management plan in place to address and mitigate ...
The IRS issued Notice 2014-1 this past Monday to basically confirm what most practitioners assumed would be the favorable tax treatment for same-sex spouses under cafeteria plans, flex spending account plans and health savings accounts. The first-numbered Notice for our New Year is in easy-to-read Q&A format. It’s short ...
Prior to 2014, flexible spending accounts (FSAs) have been exempt from many group health plan rules, such as COBRA and HIPAA portability, by qualifying as an “excepted benefit” under applicable guidance. Because most FSAs qualify as an excepted benefit, the actual requirements for the exemption have received little ...
I have seen a lot of articles lately on employers having an increased interest in providing voluntary benefits. I have also had more questions from clients on strategies and implementation of providing voluntary benefits. A voluntary benefit is an insurance arrangement under which employees pay the full premium and the ...