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A Colorado-based company that is not a religious organization got a temporary reprieve in complying with the Obama administration’s mandate that health plans cover contraceptives without patient cost sharing, under a new ruling from the U.S. District Court in Colorado. The reform requirement takes effect for non-grandfathered and non-religious employer health plans on Aug. 1. […]
How the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will identify benchmark plans that would set the standard for essential health benefits under health reform was described in a final rule issued July 23. This is important because policies sold on health insurance exchanges — for individuals and for small groups — must cover the […]
By Jane Meacham A plan sponsor’s immunity from financial losses that resulted from its shift of retirement plan participants’ investments into qualified default investment alternatives was upheld by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its decision in Bidwell v. University Medical Center Inc., Case No. 11-5493 (June 29, 2012). Facts of the Case […]
Health costs have been growing much faster than the rate of inflation, and most observers agree that while health reform addresses the issue of access to insurance, it inadequately addresses the underlying problem: the cost of care itself. Unanswered questions surround reversing the unsustainable cost of health services. For example, would replacing the fee-for-service system […]
With summer in full swing, employers may find more than a few empty desks around the office. That’s not too much of a burden when employees plan in advance and schedule time for their vacations, but sometimes the beach beckons on short notice and employees may extend a weekend with a sick day or two. […]
Employers and plan administrators have a new reporting requirement to fulfill now that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is confirmed to be the law of the land. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in National Federation of Independent Business, et.al. v. Sebelius, No. 11-393 (June 28, 2012) eliminates any doubt regarding whether employers need to comply with […]
Employers will not have any reason to adjust their qualified transportation fringe benefit plans — not as a result of a major highway funding bill that recently became law, anyway. That bill, known as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or MAP-21, once had a transit benefit parity provision in it, which […]
By Jane Meacham Many employers match a percentage of employees’ contributions to their retirement funds. But what impact does that match have? A new academic study found that participation and contributions in U.S. employer-sponsored retirement plans increase when a matching contribution is offered but that the match’s impact on savings is less significant than other […]
Government audits, participant lawsuits and the dreaded play-or-pay rule could heap liability and risk on employer plans, all as a result of the reform law that was just affirmed by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. Employers must take into account new liabilities when they move workers to part-time status or divert retirees into […]
Employers that own corporate jets and pay a management company to fly them were not pleased by a recent IRS memo on tax treatment of such arrangements, and two private aviation trade associations have been working with IRS on relief. Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum 20120026 , although not binding (see note at end of this […]