Since the IRS and Treasury published Notice 2013-54 in September 2013, pre-tax employer reimbursement of an employee’s individual health insurance premiums has been a hot topic of conversation. Historically, many employers have provided this type of benefit in lieu of offering a group health plan – a strategy that now needs to be reevaluated as […]
On May 2, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed a new special enrollment period designed to allow current COBRA participants to terminate COBRA coverage and purchase a plan through the Marketplace between May 2, 2014 and July 1, 2014. In a bulletin published May 2, HHS cited concerns about whether […]
On April 24, 2014, CMS flexed its regulatory muscle by issuing a notice allowing participants in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Program (PCIP) until June 30, 2014 to enroll in a qualified health plan offered through the Exchange, also known as the Health Insurance Marketplace. Introduced as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act […]
For some, it is a question as old as, well, a few months at least since the IRS sanctioned carryovers in health FSAs. On Friday March 28th, the IRS provided some answers. In the form of a Memo from the Office of the Chief Counsel dated February 24, 2014, the IRS provided some guidance on […]
It is no secret that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires many employers to provide health insurance coverage to full-time employees, or pay a tax penalty. Employers subject to “Play or Pay” let out a collective sigh of relief when the final regulations, issued in February 2014, provided some additional transition relief in […]
Many news outlets are reporting on the break the administration plans to give to insurers. (See the Kaiser report here.) The break is expected to come in the form of an adjustment to the MLR calculations. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurance carriers to maintain a certain medical loss ratio (MLR). The MLR requires carriers […]
On March 5, 2014, after several days of speculation, the Obama Administration announced a two year extension of a policy designed to allow individuals and small employers to extend plans slated to be canceled due to noncompliance with certain Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requirements. A one year reprieve for canceled plans was […]
Did you miss the live webinar we held on the delay of the Employer Mandate? Listen in on this recorded presentation where we talk about the new Final Regulations given on February 10, 2014. Here we discuss the new Transition Relief for employers of certain sizes and those with non calendar year plans, show the special […]
Last week, the IRS and Treasury published the final regulations on the employer shared responsibility provision, also known as the employer mandate or Play or Pay, of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Since publication, Katharine Marshall and I have spent a significant amount of time combing through the regulations to understand what has […]
After more than a year of anticipation, on Monday, February 10, 2014, the US Treasury Department issued final regulations and announced yet another delay of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Employer Shared Responsibility provision, which requires employers with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance coverage to full-time workers or pay a […]
