Wednesday, December 18, 2013

ACA Compliance Checkup (2014 Strategies Deployed)

As the 2014 open enrollment season comes to a close (bringing an overwhelming sense of relief and joy to HR professionals and Benefits Brokers/Consultants throughout the land!), I thought I’d review the major Affordable Care Act (ACA) related compliance issues addressed in preparation for the new (benefits) year.
1) Early plan renewal; 12/1/13: Since many of the ACA related changes affect plans & on their first plan anniversary date on or after January 1, 2014;, several health insurers offered (and many employers accepted) to change plan anniversary dates to 12/1/13.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

ACA’s Essential Health Benefits, Minimum Essential Coverage, & Minimum Value

Given the enormous complexity of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), its understandable that theres confusion about the terms used to describe 3 key provisions scheduled to take effect in 2014. They are: Essential Health Benefits (EHB), Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC), and Minimum Value (MV). Each of these provisions has an important impact on employers, employees, and individuals. This week's post defines these terms and describes their impact in 2014 and beyond.
Starting in 2014, all non-grandfathered, fully insured individual and small-group health plans (covering up to 50 people) offered

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Health Insurance and the Tax Code

For years, politicians, policy wonks, and various health insurance stakeholders have debated the merits of how the tax code encourages employer provided coverage, yet seemingly discourages the individual purchase of coverage outside of the workplace.
The primary example of this confounding situation is the fact that health insurance is tax deductible to an employer, yet not so to an individual who purchases coverage on their own, outside of the workplace. There are numerous tax incentives and benefits available to individuals who purchase health insurance, but virtually all of these incentives are attached to the purchase…