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Insurance

Beware promising that benefits are permanent

03/27/2014
Here’s something to think about when you revise your handbook or send out an announcement outlining your benefit plan: Be sure to tell workers that benefits can change at any time and that this year’s offering isn’t a promise that the benefits described will continue indefinitely.

Era of low health care cost growth continues

03/26/2014
The cost of providing employer-sponsored health care benefits is expected to increase 4.4% this year, a slight uptick from 2013, when cost increases fell to a 15-year low, according to an annual survey by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health, an association of large employers.

Sheetz makes ‘Best Companies to Work For’ list

03/06/2014
Fortune magazine has listed its 100 best companies to work for in 2014 and Altoona-based Sheetz convenience stores is the sole Pennsylvania-based company on the list.

New rules proposed for excepted benefits

03/03/2014
Excepted benefits aren’t subject to the Affordable Care Act health care reform law. Proposed regulations would modify limited-scope dental and vision excepted benefits, create new wraparound coverage to group plans that would be considered excepted benefits and clarify Employee Assistance Plans.

ACA: Health benefit waiting periods capped at 90 days

02/28/2014
Employer-sponsored group health plans cannot impose waiting periods that exceed 90 days after an employee is otherwise eligible for insurance coverage under a final Affordable Care Act rule issued Feb. 20 by the Obama administration.

Researchers: ACA will improve incomes of poor

02/28/2014
The ACA will raise household incomes for the poorest fifth of Americans, while higher income groups will experience small losses, according to a new Brookings Institution study.

Final rule delays ACA employer mandate

02/18/2014
The ACA’s employer mandate has been delayed until Jan. 1, 2016, for mid-sized employers, while compliance thresholds for large employers have been scaled back.

Survey: Employees like current health benefits, are open to ACA exchanges

02/12/2014
Most workers are satisfied with the health benefits they have now and aren’t interested in changing the current mix of benefits and wages offered by their employers, according to a new survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

ACA FAQ explains wellness issues

02/06/2014
The Obama administration has released its 18th round of frequently asked questions about implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Post-Windsor, what’s the tax status of benefits for same-sex married couples?

02/05/2014
Q. In the wake of United States v. Windsor, we have extended a number of our employee benefits to same-sex married couples. Can you provide any guidance on the proper treatment of flexible spending account (FSA) expenses and health savings account (HSA) and dependent care assistance program (DCAP) contribution limits for same-sex married couples?