By Danielle Capilla, Chief Compliance Officer at United Benefit Advisors The Supreme Court has granted the petition in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, a case centered on the issue of whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempts Vermont’s health care database law as it was applied to a third-party administrator […]
By Danielle Capilla, Chief Compliance Officer at United Benefit Advisors In Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2016 Final Rule issued in February 2015, federal agencies included a clarification that the annual cost-sharing limitations for self coverage apply to individuals, regardless of individual is covered by self-only plan or is covered by another kind of plan. […]
By Jennifer Kupper The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) specifically encourages and promotes the expansion of wellness programs in both the individual and group markets. In the individual market, the secretaries of the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Treasury, and Labor are directed to establish a pilot program to test the […]
By Bill Olson, Chief Marketing Officer at United Benefit Advisors Employer health savings account (HSA) funding strategies have changed in recent years in response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and its impact on employer-sponsored health insurance plans. Employers are contributing less, on average, to HSAs and the increase in popularity of […]
By Linda Rowings, Chief Compliance Officer at United Benefit Advisors Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services issued a Final Rule with standards for insurers and Marketplaces in 2016, covering topics such as transparency in health insurance rate increases, formulary drug lists, drug mail order opt […]
Posted by: Bill Olson United Benefit Advisors Health Plan Survey Finds Higher HSA Contributions Correlates to Increased Enrollment in High Deductible Health Plans In 2014, employees saw a 10 percent decrease in their average single Health Savings Account (HSA) employer contribution from the previous year, from $574 in 2013 to $515 in 2014, according […]
By Elizabeth Kay, Compliance & Retention Analyst, AEIS Advisors Employers that are growing up, and are in the awkward teenage years, are about to get a big surprise, and not the good kind. When a company first opens, they are excited when they first implement their benefit plans for their handful of employees. They offer […]
By Linda Rowings, Chief Compliance Officer at United Benefit Advisors Beginning in 2018, plans that provide coverage that exceeds a threshold will owe an excise tax that is frequently referred to as the “Cadillac tax.” The threshold generally will be $10,200 for single benefits and $27,500 for benefits provided to an employee, retiree, or member […]
By Bill Olson, Chief Marketing Officer at United Benefit Advisors Our recent blog reviewed the highlights of the new employer and insurer reporting requirements. UBA has created this quick reference chart to help you sort out who should use which form, and when: For comprehensive information on coverage requirements, due dates, special circumstances, controlled groups […]
By Linda Rowings Many employee benefit limits are automatically adjusted each year for inflation (this is often referred to as an “indexed” limit). The Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration have released a number of indexed figures for 2015. Limits of particular interest to employers include the following. For health and Section 125 […]