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4 key trends transforming employee assistance programs

06/29/2010

Employee assistance programs are on the rise as employers cope with higher health care costs—and employees cope with the stresses of an uncertain economy. An expert says four trends will drive EAP change in coming months, bringing cost savings for companies and better care for workers.

How quickly must we announce health plan changes?

06/29/2010
Q. When we make changes to our medical plan, how long do we have to get the new summary plan out to employees?

Tax credit helps small employers pay for health care

06/23/2010
The IRS has issued preliminary guidelines on the tax credit available to small employers that provide health insurance benefits to employees. Included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the credit is one of the first health care reform provisions to go into effect. The credit is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have.

Concern building over tax on ‘Cadillac’ health plans

06/18/2010

As a way to pay for the new health care reforms, a new excise tax on “high cost” health care plans is set to kick in Jan. 1, 2018. The tax will be 40% of a health plan’s annual costs that exceeds a certain threshold: $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.

The HR I.Q. Test: June ’10

06/16/2010
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

37 ways to lower your health care costs

06/15/2010
Average employer-paid health benefit costs have increased about 6% per year for the last five years. At least in the short term, the new health care reform law may make the problem even worse. All the more reason to act now to get your health care costs under control. Here are 37 strategies worth trying.

DOL clarifies age for continuing coverage for employees’ adult children

06/14/2010
The U.S. Department of Labor has answered a seemingly simple question that vexed many Washington insiders for months: Under the new health care reform law, what is the age limit for employees’ adult children to be eligible for coverage under a parent’s group health plan?

IRS releases first round of guidance on new health care law

06/11/2010
Don’t panic if you’re not fully conversant on all the details of health care reform. The IRS, Department of Labor and other federal agencies will be rolling out regulations to put meat on the bones of this often-confusing law. The IRS last month published the first round of this avalanche of regulations. Find links to all IRS rules on the new health care law at www.IRS.gov.

Reform result: Brace for higher health costs

06/08/2010
Employers are bracing for health care costs to go up—not down—now that health care reform has become law, according to separate surveys conducted by Towers Watson and Mercer, two of the nation’s largest comp and benefits consulting firms.

Federal 4th Circuit: Let arbitrators arbitrate

05/28/2010
If a recent decision is any indication, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers North Carolina employers, is willing to let arbitrators do their jobs.