Final Transparency Rule Adds to Health Plans’ Disclosure Requirements
A new final rule aimed at promoting transparency in health care will impose potentially burdensome new disclosure requirements on many group health plans.
Category: Benefits and Compensation
This topic provides guidance on how to handle compensation issues in a way that attracts and retains the best talent and advances the strategic goals of your business. You get news and tips on what’s going on nationally and in the states, and updates on changes in regulations, possible governmental action, and emerging compensation trends.
Businesses and Employees Need Flexible Pay Solutions as Expectations Shift
The drawbacks of legacy payroll and HR systems have grown more evident in recent months as businesses and their employees adapt to the challenges associated with COVID-19. With the workforce turning over quickly due to shifting work restrictions and budgets, current infrastructure falls short in affording companies much-needed flexibility.
Want to Require Medicare Enrollment? Size Matters
Q. Can we make it mandatory for employees to enroll in Medicare upon turning age 65 even if they don’t plan on retiring and continue using the group medical plan? If so, how must this be communicated to employees approaching Medicare eligibility?
What Happens When COBRA Deadlines Become Suggested Time Limits?
It seemed like a great idea this spring when the federal government issued guidance providing relief from certain benefits deadlines—including those related to COBRA continuation coverage—due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 national emergency. Then, it was assumed the emergency would end by June.
Using Benefits to Support Employees Who Are Caregivers
Employees who provide care for others often find these responsibilities present conflicts with work. After all, things like medical appointments often fall during the same hours as a standard workday—just one example of how caregiving responsibilities can impact employers, no matter how conscientious the employees are.
6 Questions to Create Employee-Centered Benefit Plans in 2021
Learn how to gain alignment on immediate and long-term goals.
IRS, SSA Adjust Benefits Thresholds for 2021
Employees will be able to contribute up to $2,750 to a health flexible spending account (FSA) in 2021, the same as in 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced in Revenue Procedure 2020-45. However, changes were made to certain other benefits thresholds and limits.
Crisis Strains Employers’ Plans for Furloughed Workers
Many struggling but optimistic employers have continued to offer medical, dental, and other benefits to employees on furlough during the COVID-19 pandemic. But with no immediate end in sight, they’re wondering what to do next.
5 Tips to Help Employees Make Sense of FSA/HSA Changes During Open Enrollment
Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) are important tools for the more than 70 million people who currently use these accounts to pay for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses or save for healthcare needs in retirement, all while reducing taxable income.
How to Put the Focus on Employees This Enrollment Season
For most of 2020, employers and employees alike have been focused on health, health care, and healthcare coverage. And while these topics will still be very much top of mind this enrollment season, employers have a unique opportunity to shift the focus to their employees themselves.