Employers
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released new guidance on June 13, 2019 which permit a new type of Health Reimbursement Arrangement, referred to as an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA).
The Employer Mandate requires applicable large employers (ALEs), which are defined as employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees in the preceding year to offer health insurance to full-time employees. Generally, at least 95% of full-time employees must be offered health insurance.
For employees, achieving financial wellness is a journey…and the workplace can be the starting point
Each year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) makes inflation adjustments to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and qualified high deductible health plans (HDHPs). On May 24, 2019, the IRS released Rev. Proc. 2019-25 which included details on the inflation adjustments for 2020.
The table below sumarizes the the HDHP requirements for 2020.
New Jersey has become the first state to require certain employers to offer qualified transportation benefits (i.e. Commuter Plans) to employees. Some metropolitan areas including New York City, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. have passed similar laws that require certain employers to make Commuter Plans available to their employees, but no state has mandated this benefit until now.
Last December, a federal judge in Texas District Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was unconstitutional. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by 20 Republican state attorneys general. These attorneys general argued that the ACA was unconstitutional because there is no longer a penalty associated with the Individual Mandate, and the judge agreed.
Last year, the Trump administration issued new regulations relating to Association Health Plans (AHPs). The primary intent of the regulations was to allow small employers to more easily band together to purchase health insurance coverage. The regulations not only allowed for AHPs to be established by employers in the same industry, but the regulations also allowed AHPs to be established by employers in a similar geographic location (e.g. city, state, metropolitan area).
Each year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) adjusts the cost sharing limits for the standard Medicare Part D plan. Earlier this month, CMS announced the adjustments for 2020. Below is a summary of the adjustments for next year:
Happy employees are better employees. They're more engaged in their work, more loyal to their employers, and make more meaningful contributions toward company goals. That's not surprising.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is continuing to send Letter 226J to employers for which the agency believes an Employer Mandate penalty is due. Currently, these notices are being sent to employers for penalties that apply to the 2016 calendar year.
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