By Michael Humphrey, MLHR, Sr. Employee Benefits Advisor at The Wilson Agency A UBA Partner Firm In last week’s blog, we explained the different types of stop-loss insurance. This week we will go over another important aspect of stop-loss: contract periods. Stop-loss contract periods are perhaps the most complicated aspect of understanding how stop-loss insurance […]
www.thinkhr.com Question: Is an employee assistance program (EAP) a COBRA-eligible benefit? Answer: Employee assistance programs (EAPs) that offer medical benefits such as direct counseling and treatment, rather than just referrals for counseling and treatment, are regulated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and therefore subject to reporting and notice requirements under the act. […]
By Elizabeth Kay Compliance & Retention Analyst AEIS Advisors A UBA Partner Firm Self-funding is a very hot topic these days for a number of reasons. For small group employers offering a self-funded plan this means they can charge a composite premium rate based on the employee population versus the community rates that are based […]
By Jennifer Kupper In-house Counsel for iaCONSULTING, a UBA Partner Firm Health Insurance Providers Fee Section 9010 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) imposes a fee on each covered entity engaged in the business of providing health insurance for United States health risks. This is known as the Health Insurance Providers (HIP) […]
By Danielle Capilla, Chief Compliance Officer at United Benefit Advisors Federal agencies recently released a Proposed Rule to amend regulations and provide guidance on implementing Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it relates to employer wellness programs. Title I of the ADA applies to employers with 15 or more employees, prohibits […]
By Bill Olson Chief Marketing Officer at United Benefit Advisors We’ve already discussed Health Savings Account (HSA) activity at length, looking first at the correlation between generous HSA contributions and increased enrollment in consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs). Second, we looked at how HSAs have performed in recent years across different industries. Now, we’ll look closer […]
April 2015 is Stroke Awareness month. About 795,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. That means, on average, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds. Stroke kills more than 137,000 people a year. That’s about 1 of every 18 deaths. It’s the No. 4 cause of death. On average, every 4 minutes someone […]
By Danielle Capilla Chief Compliance Officer at United Benefit Advisors Under federal regulations, Medicare is a secondary payer for many individuals who have an employer group health plan available to them, either as an employee or the dependent spouse or child of the employee. Generally the Medicare Secondary Payer rules prohibit employers with more than […]