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Insurance

How to keep health-plan grandfathered status

07/11/2011

Under interim final regulations for the Affordable Care Act that were issued last year, grandfathered group health plans—those in place on March 23, 2010, when the law was enacted—don’t have to comply with substantial portions of the health care reform law. But there’s a catch: Those plans are limited in the changes they can make.

Taxing and reporting retiree group-term life insurance?

06/21/2011
Question: My company provides group-term life insurance with a value of more than $50,000 to some retirees. I know I have to report the uncollected employee FICA taxes on their W-2s in Box 12 with Codes M and N. Do we have to pay the employer share of these taxes? If so, when are they due? Also, how are the amounts reported on Form 941?

The great 8: Smart tips from the ‘best places to work’

06/16/2011
Is your organization a “great place” to work? Every year, the employers that are bestowed that title seem to consistently include companies that provide creative HR practices in areas such as perks, benefits and worker management. Some of the leading ideas:

Survey: Health law won’t spark mass cancellations

06/15/2011
A full 87% of employers say they plan to continue offering employee health benefits as a result of President Obama’s year-old health care reform law, says a survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

8 tips for handling summer military-leave payroll issues

06/14/2011
Summer is usually when employees who belong to the National Guard and military Reserves give their two weeks of duty to Uncle Sam. Now is the time to prepare for their absence, by following these eight tips.

Employer health costs are predicted to rise 8.5% in 2012

06/08/2011

A new PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 1,700 employers says employer health costs are predicted to rise 8.5% in 2012. Employers say they’ll lessen that burden by pushing more costs onto employees.

Houston company faces class-action COBRA lawsuit

06/01/2011
A former employee of Brunel Energy Inc. is suing the company for failing to notify her of her right to maintain her health insurance coverage after she quit in 2010—and she has proposed making the case a class-action lawsuit that could involve hundreds of other former employees.

Which forms does nonprofit use to claim health care tax credit?

05/30/2011
Question: We’re a small nonprofit organization and we’re eligible to take the health care tax credit. How do we do this?

Children’s Hospital nurses return to work after strike

05/20/2011
After a five-day strike, registered nurses have started returning to their jobs at Children’s Hospital in Oak­land. The nurses, represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, walked out on May 5 over a dispute about health care benefits.

What will you decide: keep or drop employee health benefits?

05/20/2011
Most employers are not considering canceling health benefits as a result of the year-old health care reform law, according to two recent surveys. The Affordable Care Act may be politically unpopular, but employers assume that it will be a business fact of life for the foreseeable future.