Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangement, typically referred to as an HRA, can be utilized by employers to reduce their overall healthcare costs without placing additional financial burden on their employees. An HRA allows the employer to pay for eligible expenses with pre-tax dollars. The employer decides what expenses are eligible, within the IRS guidelines, leaving a lot of flexibility in plan design. Typically an HRA is coupled with a High Deductible Health Plan and the HRA pays for either the entire deductible or a portion of the deductible. With this type of a plan the premium savings often outweigh the potential claims that the employer would have to pay if every employee… Read More
Continue ReadingIf companies could give employees tax free money to buy health insurance on their own, how many would do so?
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Continue ReadingTotal Benefit Solutions: A Committed Team Focused On ‘Clients First’ For Health Insurance by Tianna Grosch Looking for affordable health insurance but not sure where to start? Seeking the correct health insurance with benefits fit to your needs can be a daunting task, one that you should leave in the hands of caring and compassionate professionals. Total Benefit Solutions, Inc. (TBS) is the right place to get the advice and assistance you need in order to make the best enrollment decision whether you’re a family, senior or company. Ed and Kathleen MacConnell began this agency inspired by their own difficulties in receiving insurance coverage for their daughter Katelin, who was… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Internal Revenue Service released the annual inflation adjustments that will apply to certain benefit plan tax provisions in 2018. Revenue Procedure 2017-58, which can be accessed by clicking here, identifies inflation-adjusted items for different provisions of the tax code. From an employee benefits standpoint, the following limits may be of interest to employers: The dollar limit on voluntary employee salary reduction contributions to health flexible spending accounts is increased to $2,650 for plan years beginning in 2018. The monthly exclusion amount for transportation and transit passes is increased to $260. The monthly limit for the qualified parking exclusion is increased to $260. The dollar amount used to determine the penalty… Read More
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Health Care Compliance and Reform Education Center A fundamental change in the way the United States handles health care has arrived. Benefit rules and coverage change faster today than they used to in ten years! Our Compliance and Health Reform Education Center is where we will keep a copy of our health care reform bulletins throughout the year, in an easy to view format where you can download a brief summary or watch a short informative video. Click here to visit totalbenefitscomply.com Please contact your Total Benefit Solutions account manager at (215)355-2121 if you have any further questions.
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Employers sponsoring a group health plan need to report information on the creditable status of the plan’s prescription drug coverage to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Watch a video overview Download a bulletin
Continue ReadingHuman Resources: Tours of Duty From our friends at DeNovo HR Consulting: In September of 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released updated employee tenure stats. I think we all predicted what they would reveal: the median number of years that the average employee stays with a company is 4.2, which is down from 4.6 years when last published in 2014. Employees in professional occupations and management roles have the highest median tenure of 5.1 years. On the other side of the coin, workers in service occupations have the lowest median tenure of 2.9 years, with those specifically in the food service industry coming in at only 1.9 years.… Read More
Continue ReadingHR360: HSA / FSA / HRA Comparison of Key Features for 2017 This guide brought to you by our partners at HR360. As us today how your organization can benefit from personalized HR services designed to fit your company’s legal compliance needs! Your Total Benefit Solutions Inc Account Manager is available at (215)355-2121. Click here to download the complimentary guide
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Stand-Alone HRAs for Small Employers are Back! The 21st Century Cures Act, signed by President Obama on December 13, 2016, gave small employers a means of providing employees help with their individual insurance premiums and other out-of-pocket qualified medical expenses without violating the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Small employers can now provide a specific kind of Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) to help employees with the costs of individual health coverage. According to the statutory language under “Title XVIII – Other Provisions” of the Act, qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements (QSEHRAs) are not considered “group health plans” and do not have to adhere to ACA market reforms,… Read More
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Employee Handbooks. Each employer group should have one. The question is, if so, how current is it? With ThinkHR’s 50-State Handbook Builder, building handbooks and keeping them updated becomes a simple process. Use the Handbook Builder to: Minimize your clients’ risk of employment liability with clear, regulatory-compliant policies. Help clients ease the burden of compliance with pre-developed content, step-by-step instructions, expert commentary and online support. Reinforce your value as a partner and provider of essential HR resources. Differentiate your agency and deliver cost savings to your clients with a robust handbook builder at no additional cost. Employee Handbook Builder Features: Compiled in collaboration with one of the country’s leading employment… Read More
Continue ReadingIn an effort to enhance our client experience even further, Total Benefit Solutions would like to announce that we have entered into a partnership agreement with Ease Central. Ask us today how your organization can benefit from Ease Central! Download an EaseCentral Employer Overview Click here to visit our Ease Central web portal. Employee Onboarding with Ease Central HRIS with Ease Central Benefits-Simple employee benefits quoting, enrollment and management in one place. “Bring your own carrier” HRIS-Powerful PTO tracking, performance reviews and goal setting for managers. Payroll-Robust payroll integrations to cut administrative work.” Bring your own payroll” Benefits-Easy employee insurance rate quoting, enrollment and management in one place.… Read More
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2016 Compliance Year In Review Digest A complete digest of all our compliance bulletins for the entire year of 2016 from our business partners at Emerson Reid. A handy guide to all of the year’s updates and changes all in one place. Download your copy now and keep it for future reference. Click to Download Compliance Digest 2016 Year in Review As always please contact your Total Benefit Solutions Account Manager at (215)355-2121 if you have any questions or concerns.
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On December 13, 2016, President Obama signed into law the “21st Century Cures Act” which allows small employers without group medical plans to reimburse individual premiums and other medical expenses of employees under health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”), effective with the 2017 plan year, and provides relief from penalties to all small employers reimbursing individual premiums of employees for earlier plan years. In addition, the Cures Act provides a medical innovation package that funds medical research, accelerates cutting-edge treatments for rare diseases, and makes significant reforms to the mental health system. The Issue An employer cannot offer employees cash to reimburse the purchase of an individual policy, without regard to whether… Read More
Continue ReadingDownload a digest of our fourth quarter compliance bulletins. This digest includes the following bulletins: Transitional Reinsurance Fee Form Now Available 10/14/2016 Final 2016 Forms 1094-C and 1095-C Available 10/25/2016 November 2017 Cost of Living Adjustments 11/01/2016 Relief Extended for Premium Reimbursement Programs for Student Employees 11/02/2016 Updates Regarding the NJ Small Employer Health Benefits Program 11/07/2016 Election Results and the ACA: Preliminary Thoughts 11/10/2016 16 Extension of Deadline for 2016 Forms 1095-C 11/21/2016 Adjusted PCOR Fee for Fifth Filing Year Released 11/22/2016 December Beware of Phishing Email Disguised as HIPAA Privacy Audit Letter 12/13/2016 Click here to download the 4th quarter compliance compilation
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New Law Exempts Certain Small Employer HRAs From ACA Market Reforms Gaddiel Gonzalez-Brown & Brown Consulting President Obama has signed into law the 21st Century Cures Act, which, among other things, allows small employers to offer new “qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements” to reimburse employees for qualified medical expenses, including individual health insurance premiums, for years after December 31, 2016. Small employers are defined as those with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees who do not offer a group health plan. Background Under prior agency guidance, stand-alone HRAs (except for retiree-only HRAs and HRAs consisting solely of excepted benefits) and HRAs used to purchase coverage on the individual… Read More
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On October 25 and 27, 2016, the IRS released cost of living adjustments for 2017 under various provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). Some of these adjustments may affect your employee benefit plans. These adjustments include but are not limited to the following: Cafeteria Plans Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits Requirement To Maintain Minimum Essential Coverage (Individual Penalty) Highly Compensated Non-Grandfathered Plan Cost-Sharing Limits H.S.A. Annual contribution limitation, catch up contribution and minimum deductibles Key Employee Click here to download the bulletin As always if you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact your dedicated Total Benefit Solutions, Inc. account manager at (215)355-2121.
Continue ReadingIRS Extends Due Date for Furnishing Form 1095-B/C. As applicable large employers and employers with self-funded health plans are working on their Affordable Care Act compliance preparations, the IRS announced an extension of a key ACA deadline. Notice 2016-70 extends the due date for furnishing Form 1095-B and Form 1095-C from January 31, 2017 to March 2, 2017. The Notice also extends transition relief from penalties if an employer makes a “good faith effort” to comply with reporting requirements. This relief is welcome news for employers who are still working on their compliance approach. A copy of the notice can be downloaded here.
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One of the most important documents participants must receive automatically when becoming covered under a health benefit plan that is subject to ERISA (the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act) is a summary of the plan, called the Summary Plan Description or SPD. The fact is, many employers are confused about this very important ERISA-required disclosure, which can put them at risk. Click this link to download the publication
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