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So far pcohen has created 100 blog entries.

Employers Must Avoid These Dangerous I-9 and E-Verify Mistakes

Immigration compliance with employment eligibility has become a very critical function for HR departments since the government is conducting more and more work site compliance audits and put in place more restrictive E-Verify laws.  Employers in the United States are under closer scrutiny to ensure they are keeping a legal workforce. When employers complete the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form for every worker they hire, they are able to show that they are working to meet the requirements for verifying identification and eligibility to work in the United States.

Researchers have conducted studies that showed a typical business will usually have errors on about 50 percent of their I-9 forms. This is a serious issue, because each mistake can result in harsh penalties. In addition to this, employers can lose their business licenses. Federal contractors can be debarred, and claim applicants may be able to show discrimination proof or proof of other claims. Experts said that they have seen an increase of 600 percent in both random and targeted audits for I-9 data. One expert pointed out five of the most critical and risky mistakes that employers face with E-Verify and I-9 forms. E-Verify is the electronic employment verification service provided by the government. The following outlines the five biggest mistakes on this topic:

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By |August 7th, 2014|Compliance|Comments Off on Employers Must Avoid These Dangerous I-9 and E-Verify Mistakes
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Contraceptive Mandate in the Affordable Care Act Rejected by the Supreme Court for Some Companies

Two related cases challenging the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive coverage mandate have have been ruled on by The U.S. Supreme Court. In these cases, three closely held for-profit corporations—Hobby Lobby Stores, Mardel and Conestoga Wood Specialties—argued that they should not be required to comply with the contraceptive mandate because covering certain types of contraceptives under their health plans violates their sincere religious beliefs.

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By |July 1st, 2014|Compliance, Employee Benefits, Health Care Reform, Medical|Comments Off on Contraceptive Mandate in the Affordable Care Act Rejected by the Supreme Court for Some Companies
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IRS Crushes Pre-Tax Payments to Employees to Buy Health Insurance

Some employers have been contemplating circumventing the requirement of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate by boosting workers’ pay with tax-free dollars and sending them off to buy insurance on their own, via the federal or state-run exchanges or the private markets. The employer is essentially taking the dollars they spend now on health care, provide it on a tax-free basis to their employees and have them take charge of their own health coverage.  Under IRS Notice 2013-54, these arrangements are referred to as ’employer payment plans.’

‘No dice,’ says the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS quietly updated a frequently-asked question section on its website last month and clarified that such an arrangement would not satisfy the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act. What’s more, these plans could stick employers with an excise tax liability of $100 per day per covered employee – a total potential per-head liability of up o $36,500 peer year, (per Section 4). …

By |June 19th, 2014|Uncategorized|Comments Off on IRS Crushes Pre-Tax Payments to Employees to Buy Health Insurance
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Thinking About Applying for Individual Life Insurance? Here’s what to Expect…

Let’s use some common sense here.  Insurance carriers can’t just give life insurance away to just anybody who applies. In order to qualify for a good rate, the applicant has got to meet certain criteria.

In the individual life insurance market, you must be in at least decent (not perfect) health in order to buy significant quantities of life insurance. Yes, we said decent health. Life insurance is designed to exclude the very, very sick, but it is also designed to be sold, not denied. Life insurance companies want to issue you a policy – but only at a premium that makes sense.  Chances are very good that you can get a good, solid life insurance policy at a reasonable, affordable premium even if you have a few black marks in your medical history.

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By |June 5th, 2014|Employee Benefits, Life Insurance|Comments Off on Thinking About Applying for Individual Life Insurance? Here’s what to Expect…
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Health Savings Account (HSA) Maximums for 2015

For tax year 2015,  the Internal Revenue Service has announced the limitations on contributions and deductibles for health savings accounts (HSA) and high-deductible health plans.

Health savings accounts are special accounts to which taxpayers can contribute money on a pre-tax basis to fund expected or possible future health care expenses. Any money distributed from health savings accounts to pay for qualified health expenses is tax-free. The catch: You can only contribute to a health savings account if you also are enrolled in a qualified high-deductible health plan.

For 2015, health savings accounts owners can contribute up to $3,350 for an individual and up to $6,550 for a family – increases of $50 and $100 over tax year 2014, respectively.  Those HSA holders who are age 55 and older can save an additional $1,000 per month, which is unchanged from 2014. The combined catch-up contributions and regular limits equate to a total of $4,350 for an individual and $7,650 for a family plan in 2015. …

By |May 23rd, 2014|Compliance, Employee Benefits, Medical|Comments Off on Health Savings Account (HSA) Maximums for 2015
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It’s 2014 and Tobacco Use Surcharges are Here

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) now allows health insurance issuers in the individual and small group markets to impose a tobacco use surcharge, within a ratio of 1.5 to 1. Beginning in 2014 health insurance issuers in the individual and small group markets may vary insurance premiums based on a policyholder (or dependent’s) tobacco use, up to 1.5 times the regular premium. In addition, issuers of qualified health plans (QHPs) offered through an Exchange may also impose up to a 1.5:1 tobacco use surcharge.

The tobacco use surcharge is part of the ACA’s premium rating restrictions that apply for health insurance issuers in the individual and small group markets. The ACA’s rating restrictions do not apply to grandfathered plans, large group plans or self-funded plans.

On Feb. 22, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule to implement the ACA’s rating restrictions for health insurance premiums. The guidance in the final rule is effective for 2014 plan (or policy) years.

Overview of the Tobacco Use Surcharge

A tobacco use surcharge allows in insurance carrier to vary insurance premiums based on a policyholder’s (or dependent’s) tobacco use. Under the ACA, the premium rate charged by an issuer for non-grandfathered health insurance coverage offered in the individual or small group market may vary for tobacco use. However, the ACA limits this variation by not allowing insurance companies to charge those who use tobacco products more than 1.5 times the non-tobacco user’s rate.

States have the option of reducing or eliminating the tobacco surcharge altogether. However, states that wished to establish tobacco rating bands more protective than the federal requirements were required to report this decision to HHS by March 29, 2013.
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By |May 9th, 2014|Employee Benefits, Health Care Reform, Medical, Wellness|Comments Off on It’s 2014 and Tobacco Use Surcharges are Here
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Employee Benefits Broker vs. Payroll Provider – Who Do You Want to Call When Your Business is On the Line?

Employee Benefits Brokers have worked side-by-side with payroll service providers, cooperating and combining their separate skill sets for the benefit of their business clients.

In recent years, as competition has tightened across the board and technology platforms (payroll, HRIS and employee benefits) merged, we have seen an increasing movement on the part of payroll service providers to offer services and products that have traditionally fallen under the purview of employee benefit brokers.  Some payroll vendors have even started employee benefit divisions.

Payroll service providers in many cases bring the advantages of economies of scale and a seamless integration with payroll software currently in place. After all, it’s their program!

And so we are seeing payroll providers’ call on business owners to offer things like P&C coverage (workers compensation, business and umbrella coverage, and other basic programs) and employee benefit programs and insurance.

Insurance is much more than a matter of providing a quote. Insurance and benefits require a consultative approach, not a transactional “here’s your spreadsheet of quotes” approach.  The most suitable plan for a business owner is rarely the cheapest. Insurance and benefits planning is a matter of using multiple insurance products and solutions in combination to protect the unique risk profile of the client – whether that client is a business, the business owner, or an employee and his or her family.

It’s a matter of core competencies. Payroll service providers are experts at efficiently moving dollars between accounts via sophisticated computer programs. The’re transactional and deal in very high volumes.  But very few payroll providers are embedded within your organization, understand your particular culture and needs or understand your people like an experienced employee benefits broker. …

By |May 8th, 2014|Employee Benefits|Comments Off on Employee Benefits Broker vs. Payroll Provider – Who Do You Want to Call When Your Business is On the Line?
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Step #1 in Designing a Cost-Reduction Strategy for Your Employee Benefits

Controlling rising employee benefits costs requires an understanding of the drivers within your employee benefit programs that are controllable and then taking corrective action.  If you are an employer with over one hundred benefit eligible employees then one of the drivers which plays a part is the way your employee benefits broker is compensated- Commissions vs. Fees.

As employee benefit advisors we know the first item to look at to assist in lowering the trajectory of future cost increases is to examine how the broker or advisor is being compensated.  No, we are not talking about a race to the bottom to see which brokerage firm can provide the cheapest annual cost.  We’re talking about how employers compensate an employee benefits broker.     The typical arrangement is on commission.  The brokerage firm receives a percentage of the medical premiums as compensation for their services.  The employer pays their premium to the insurance carrier or Third Party Administrator (TPA) and the carrier or TPA passes the commission on to the broker.  While the commission may be a fixed percentage from year to year, left unchecked the actual dollar amount your brokerage firm is receiving each year is increasing, mirroring your medical premium increases.  This compensation is disclosed on a Schedule A and then in your annual 5500 filing. …

By |March 23rd, 2014|Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits Adviser, Medical|Comments Off on Step #1 in Designing a Cost-Reduction Strategy for Your Employee Benefits
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Transition Policy for Canceled Health Plans is Extended by White House

The Obama Administration announced on March 5, 2014 a two-year extension to the transition policy for individual and small group health plans that do not comply with the ACA’s market reforms.

Background:

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes key reforms that create new coverage standards for health insurance policies, beginning in 2014. For example, effective for 2014 plan years, the ACA imposes modified community rating standards and requires individual and small group policies to cover a comprehensive set of benefits.

Millions of Americans received notices in late 2013 informing them that their health insurance plans were being canceled because they did not comply with the ACA’s reforms. President Obama was criticized that these cancellations went against his assurances that if consumers had a plan that they liked, they could keep it. …

By |March 10th, 2014|Compliance, Employee Benefits, Health Care Reform, Legislation, Medical|Comments Off on Transition Policy for Canceled Health Plans is Extended by White House
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Law Firms- Do you really Know What’s in Your Group Long Term Disability Contract?

Group Long Term Disability insurance (LTD) is intended to protect the income of the firms partners or directors, of counsel, attorneys and staff in the event they suffer an injury or illness.  It’s a very inexpensive benefit to purchase yet arguably one of the most important.  Group LTD can ultimately cover millions of dollars of potential loss in the event of a permanent disability.  Many law firms fail to realize that subtle features and provisions within their group policy can dramatically increase or decrease the payout for a claim until a claim unfortunately occurs.

Through our years of experience working with the legal profession we’ve developed a systematic approach to providing specialized coverage for law firms.  As part of the Broad Reach Benefits process, our team provides you with a group LTD plan audit.  By providing us with a copy of your current LTD summary plan description and answering a few questions we can produce a detailed assessment of any potential areas of weakness in your current LTD contract.  Since each insurance carrier can provide varying levels of contracts it is critical to understand what and how your contract provides protection. Most benefit brokers provide a simple spreadsheet comparison that takes an executive summary view of the benefits and compares prices.  This approach will not show the “under the hood” provisions and clauses that will have a dramatic impact on benefit payouts in the event of a claim.

Below are a few questions to consider when thinking about your current group LTD policy: …

By |March 3rd, 2014|Disability, Employee Benefits, Law Firms, Long Term Disability|Comments Off on Law Firms- Do you really Know What’s in Your Group Long Term Disability Contract?
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