The answer to this question depends, as it always does, on the needs of your employees’ families. Certainly, an employee may save money on a monthly premium basis by covering children only under the dental and vision coverage through the medical insurance plan. However, there can still be gaps in coverage and the children will…
DetailsSmall employers with group medical renewals later this 2014 year, mostly Q4, will have the option to keep their current plan for another 12 month period. Prior to the recent passage of SB 1446, the ‘grandmothering’ bill signed by Governor Jerry Brown, small employers renewing in 2014 were required to change to new ACA compliant…
DetailsThe American Medical Association (AMA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and multiple other involved entities are spending a great amount of time addressing our access to care issues as well as the cost of care. Telemedicine allows patients to connect with physicians over the phone, email and Skype to provide care faster, cheaper…
DetailsI have been saying since the initial rumblings of Health Care Reform that tax treatment of group medical insurance may be on its way to great change. As soon as it became mandatory to list the full premium of group medical insurance on W-2’s, even though it is noted that there are presently ‘no tax…
DetailsAlthough Health Care Reform has meant a lot of struggle, confusion and rising costs for employers, there are some positive cost implications of Obamacare that may be increasingly realized over time. For employers who don’t offer health insurance to employees, there is a higher frequency of reporting a work-related medical situation under Workers’ Compensation so…
DetailsThe IRS released final regulations governing information reporting under Sections 6055 and 6056 for health plan coverage. This information will be used to determine if an applicable large employer owes Employer Mandate penalties if a full-time employee receives subsidized coverage through an exchange. These reporting requirements apply for calendar years after December 31, 2014 and…
DetailsSenate Bill 1446 may be signed by Governor Jerry Brown in October of 2014. As it currently stands, the bill would allow a small group employer policy that was in effect on October 1, 2013, or early renewed in December of 2013, to be renewed until January 1, 2015 through the plan year ending December…
DetailsMany employers made changes to their group medical insurance waiting period to conform to Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requirements. The Federal requirement is that the group medical insurance waiting period not exceed 90 days with coverage to be effective on the 91st day. A ‘first of the month following 90 days’ strategy…
DetailsSome large and small employers have considered sending full-time employees to the exchanges for individual coverage rather than offering group medical insurance. Companies such as Zane Benefits and some brokers are telling companies that they may do this and still take advantage of pre-tax medical insurance premium treatment by reimbursing employees’ individual medical insurance premiums…
DetailsGiven that Health Care Reform has meant sweeping changes for employer-sponsored healthcare and numerous updates as result of clarifications by the IRS, DOL and HHS on portions of the law that were ambiguous or inconsistent, we have seen on-the-spot modifications as legislators attempt to address some of the unreasonable or impractical implications of the law…
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