Insurance

ACA out-of-pocket limits delayed for multiple-provider scenarios

01/06/2014

The Department of Labor has announced an exception to the general yearly out-of-pocket expense limits under the ACA.

ACA: Employers, nondiscrimination rules and the Cadillac tax

01/03/2014

For most employers, the substantive provisions of the ACA have been implemented. But employers subject to the ACA’s employer mandate, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2015, have some complicated issues to sort out: How yet-to-be-settled nondiscrimination rules and the looming “Cadillac tax” will affect their benefits plans.

High-deductible plans curb health care cost growth

12/27/2013

In the past four years, the cost of health care in the United States grew at about half the annual rate it did from 1990 to 2007. What accounts for the cost slowdown? Economists attributed much of the bending cost curve to the rise of high-deductible health insurance plans.

Sad but true: Sick employee may not get unemployment

12/24/2013

When an employee who would otherwise qualify for unemployment benefits can’t work because she’s too ill, she loses her eligibility.

Where do we get health insurance?

12/13/2013

More than half of Americans are insured through an employer-provided health plan, according to a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll.

ACA SHOPs postponed one year, HHS urges using brokers instead

12/02/2013

Small business owners won’t be able go online to buy health insurance for their employees until November 2014. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services suggests doing it the old-fashioned way—through a broker.

Penalties rival incentives as work health tactic

11/27/2013

Employers will use both carrots and sticks to keep workers healthier and stem the tide of higher health care costs, according to the 2013/2014 Towers Watson Staying@Work Survey.

IRS OKs dropping health FSA ‘use-it-or-lose-it’

11/26/2013

The IRS has announced that employers sponsoring health flexible spending arrangements can drop long-standing “use-it-or-lose-it” rules that require employees to forfeit FSA funds if they don’t claim reimbursements by the end of a plan year.

Bypass Healthcare.gov: Small employers can buy health insurance through brokers

11/19/2013

The Healthcare.gov website may be broken, but that doesn’t mean small business owners who want to buy health insurance for their employees have to wait. They can learn about coverage options, costs and available tax credits by working with an insurance broker who has registered with CMS to facilitate SHOP policy sales.

Regs continue to outline affordability under the ACA

11/18/2013

Under the Affordable Care Act, employees who don’t have access to affordable group health insurance that provides minimum value may obtain individual insurance through the exchanges. As part of their core responsibilities, exchanges determine whether employees qualify for advance premium tax credits and other cost-sharing reductions. Two sets of regulations relate to the concept of affordable health insurance.