Insurance

Health benefits alternative: HSA balances growing

07/23/2015

Average health savings account balances increased from $1,408 to $1,933—up about 37%—in 2014, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

No excuse for tardiness? No unemployment, either

07/22/2015

Employers have the right to expect their employees will generally show up for and leave work as scheduled. Workers who, without a good reason, are frequently late or leave early aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation if they’re fired. Those absences, even if largely unintentional, are misconduct.

Wellness up as employers combat health costs

07/21/2015

With health care costs rising and Affordable Care Act compliance efforts in full swing, employers are turning toward wellness programs to counter some of the financial strain.

After Obergefell, employers must ask: What to do about domestic-partner benefits?

07/14/2015

Domestic-partner benefits sprouted up in the 1990s because same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in most states. But following the Supreme Court’s landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision last month, there are no more legal barriers to same-sex marriages nationwide …

Post-ACA, small business still shuns self insurance

07/03/2015

Small businesses are not following the lead of bigger firms by self-insuring their health benefits to avoid the costs of the Affordable Care Act, according to new research by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

ACA decision reaffirms employer mandate

06/29/2015

The Supreme Court’s June 25 decision in King v. Burwell did more than guarantee that Affordable Care Act subsidies are available to all qualified individuals, regardless of whether they buy health insurance through a state or federal exchange. It also reaffirmed that the ACA’s employer mandate is here to stay.

Temp can’t sue both the client and the agency

06/19/2015

Temporary workers who are injured on the job are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. But who is on the hook for the workers’ comp claim? The temp agency or its client? According to a recent court ruling, it can’t be both.

Email meant for wife goes to boss, costs unemployment

06/09/2015

Sometimes it’s the little things that sway court decisions. A former employee of the Montgomery County Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities was denied unemployment compensation benefits after department managers demonstrated that he had repeatedly used work computers for personal business.

Supreme Court: King v. Burwell & Obergefell v. Hodges

05/08/2015

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that premium tax credits are available to all qualified individuals, regardless of whether they buy health insurance through a state or federal exchange. The ruling leaves intact the employer free-rider penalties in the 34 states that have not established state exchanges. The case is King v. Burwell, No. 12-114.

House bill would scrap ACA’s ‘Cadillac tax’ on health benefits

05/05/2015

Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans scheduled to go into effect in 2018.