To The Point Podcast

On Jan. 22nd President Trump signed into law a continuing spending resolution to end the government shutdown and continue funding through Feb. 8, 2018. This particular resolution also impacted three taxes under the Affordable Care Act (ACA): the Cadillac Tax, the Health Insurance Providers fee and the Medical Device tax. Listen in to learn how these taxes were impacted and what employers should watch for in their health premiums.

Do you as an employer allow for pre-tax contributions through a Section 125 plan or cafeteria plan? Do you have an FSA or Dependent Care Account? Do you have a self-funded health plan? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you should be having nondiscrimination testing performed annually. Listen to learn more about what nondiscrimination testing is, why it is important, and what to do if your plan fails.

On Dec. 20, 2017, the Court chose to vacate key provisions of the EEOC’s final rules for employer-sponsored wellness plans effective Jan. 1, 2019. Unless the EEOC reconsiders and clarifies its position related to incentives for wellness programs with medical testing and medical questions involved, employers will need to make some changes to these type of wellness programs. Listen in to learn more about why this happened and what employers should do next.

The IRS recently updated its list of Frequently Asked Questions related to the ACA’s Employer Mandate where they indicated that penalty letters for calendar year 2015 would start to go out in late 2017. Tune in to learn about IRS Letter 226J and how to quickly respond.

The 2017 year has been full of ups and downs in the world of benefits compliance and the Affordable Care Act. There has been a lot of activity in Congress, though none that has changed the current landscape for employers so far. Listen in for a review of this year and a look forward to 2018.

On Oct. 13, 2017, the IRS reversed a recent policy change in how it monitors compliance with the ACA’s individual mandate. For the upcoming 2018 filing season (filing 2017 tax returns) the IRS will not accept electronically filed tax returns where the taxpayer does not certify whether the individual had health insurance for the year. Also, paper returns that do not certify compliance with the individual mandate may be suspended pending receipt of additional information, and any refunds due may be delayed. Tune in to learn how taxpayers should handle their 2017 returns.

On October 12, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the federal agencies in charge of implementing the ACA to propose new regulations or to revise existing guidance to expand access to association health plans, short term insurance plans, and HRAs. Separately, the President issued notice to stop the government’s reimbursement of cost-sharing reduction payments made by insurance carriers that participate in the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplaces. Is this the beginning of the end for the ACA? Tune in to learn why these things make a difference to the future of the ACA.

On October 6, 2017, The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Treasury, and Labor (the “Departments”) released interim final regulations allowing employers and insurance companies to decline to cover contraceptives under their health plans based on a religious or moral objection. The new rules are effective immediately and scale back Obama-era regulations under the ACA that require non-grandfathered group health plans to cover women’s contraceptives with no cost-sharing, with limited exceptions for non-profit religious organizations or closely-held for-profit entities. Tune in to learn which plans qualify and whether or not your plan could or should take advantage of this change.

Learn more: www.lpinsurance.com

Employer sponsored wellness programs put in place with the best of intentions can easily be found non-compliant if the program falls into any of these 4 main compliance pitfalls. Listen in to learn what they are and how to avoid them.

Learn more: www.lpinsurance.com

After voting to open up ACA repeal legislation for debate and amendments on July 25, 2017, the 20-hour debate ended on July 28, 2017 with a rejection of the “skinny” repeal bill. Is that the end for ACA repeal? Tune in to learn what happened and if we will see any further repeal attempts.

Learn more: www.lpinsurance.com