01/24/2012
Federal rules that took effect Jan. 1 require group health insurers to spend 80% to 85% of every premium dollar on medical care and health-care quality improvement. Insurers that fall short must start paying rebates to insurance plan participants, starting Aug. 1. Now the DOL has clarified how those rebates should be disbursed.
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01/18/2012
Premium penalties tied to health problems are on the rise, according to a study by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health. In 2012, nearly 40% of larger employers plan to penalize employees who don’t participate in wellness programs, or for not meeting certain health goals.
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01/12/2012
Many employers (and the consultants who encourage them) aren’t doing a good job of managing the legal risk and cost associated with wellness programs that ignore the law. Federal, state and sometimes local laws can affect wellness programs. Employers need to understand them.
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12/30/2011
The City Colleges of Chicago has ended its practice of allowing employees to “cash out” sick days when they quit their jobs. The policy applies to administrators and nonunion employees hired after Jan. 1, 2012, and is a first change resulting from a comprehensive review of benefits ordered by the school’s chancellor last fall.
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12/28/2011
Premiums for health benefits rose faster than employee pay in all 50 states from 2003 to 2010. Total premiums for family coverage—what employers and employees pay—increased 50%, and employees’ annual share of premiums increased by 63%.
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12/14/2011
The Minnesota departments of Natural Resources, Commerce and Public Safety have settled EEOC age discrimination charges that resulted from early retirement packages offered to senior state employees.
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11/24/2011
Every employer seems to be jumping on the wellness bandwagon in an effort to curb health care costs. But it’s always been hard for HR to prove its wellness investment is worth it. Reason: the inability to nail down a return on investment (ROI) on wellness programs. Now, a host of new approaches and tools have come to the rescue.
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11/22/2011
The 2010 health reform law is about as popular with HR pros as it is with the public.
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11/15/2011
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the sweeping federal health-care reform law enacted in 2010, deciding the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s signature domestic policy achievement. No matter how the High Court rules, its decision could affect HR and employee benefits for years to come.
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11/15/2011
If dealing with year-end 2011 hasn’t caused enough anxiety, lurking just around the corner is W-2 reporting of employees’ health benefits. If you’ll be filing at least 250 W-2s for 2012 and don’t have a self-insured plan that’s not subject to COBRA, you’re on the hook for health care reporting, beginning next year.
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11/14/2011
Health insurance premiums paid by employers this year rose by 9% from 2010, much faster than workers’ wages (2.1%) and general inflation (3.2%), according to a Kaiser Family Foundation annual report.
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11/09/2011
Three state agencies—the Minnesota departments of Commerce, Public Safety and Natural Resources—face nearly identical EEOC lawsuits claiming they discriminated against workers based on their age.
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11/03/2011
Employers are asking employees to shoulder a far greater share of the burden as health insurance premiums continue to rise, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. After several years of relatively modest increases, annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage rose to $15,073 this year, up 9% from last year.
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11/01/2011
Beginning March 23, 2012, all group health plans—including grandfathered plans, self-insured plans and plans not covered by ERISA—must provide employees and beneficiaries with a simple explanation of their benefits and a uniform glossary covering basic health insurance and medical terms.
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10/30/2011
Under the Affordable Care Act health care reform law, employers will pay a penalty if just one employee enrolls in coverage through the individual exchange and receives a premium tax credit and his or her contribution isn’t affordable because it exceeds 9.5% of his or her household income. Problem: You usually don’t know employees’ household income. To remedy this, the IRS is proposing an employer affordability safe harbor.
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