A bill has been introduced in New Jersey in both the Senate and Assembly that, if passed, would prohibit insurance carriers or other insurers subject to the insurance laws of New Jersey or any other state from offering, issuing or renewing any stop loss insurance policy of any kind to small employers. Stop loss insurance provides reimbursement for catastrophic, excess or unexpected expenses and is used by small employers to self-insure part of the health insurance coverage they provide for employees. Under New Jersey law, in connection with a group health plan, a small employer means an employer with 2-50 eligible employees on business days during the preceding calendar year. If passed,… Read More
February 11th 2019: For the past several months, we have been negotiating the terms of our agreements with Trinity Health (Trinity), which includes the following entities, as well as their professional providers, subsidiaries, affiliates, and divisions: Mercy Health System of Southeastern Pennsylvania, including Mercy Fitzgerald, Mercy Philadelphia, and Nazareth hospitals St. Mary Medical Center, including St. Mary Rehabilitation Hospital, Saint Francis Healthcare, including Saint Francis Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware. We continue to engage in good‑faith negotiations, but we want to explain how customers and members could be affected if we are unable to reach a new agreement by March 31, 2019. How members would be affected If we are unable to reach a new agreement, Trinity will no longer be… Read More
How do I calculate the number of full time equivalent (FTE) employees?” Employers ask us all the time how the go about figuring how many FTE’s or Full Time Equivalents they have for ACA compliance purposes. Because the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Mandate (Employer Shared Responsibility Payments or the Play or Pay ) only applies to “applicable large employers,” defined as employing 50+ FTE employees. What if you don’t have 50 employees? So if you do not have 50 employees or anywhere close to it, you can rest assured, you don’t have to calculate. The employers who typically have the biggest challenges are the employers who have a large number of part… Read More
Total 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
October 25th: Independence Blue Cross Member Renewal Letter details Due to the subsidy disruption in some counties, Independence will be sending renewal notices in 2 waves. On October 25th 2018: • Members who do not receive a subsidy will receive their renewal notices for 2019. The notice will include benefit and premium updates for 2019 and provide a personalized URL for a website that enables them to renew plans as-is (EZ Button), or make a change to their current plan. • Members who have a subsidy will receive a letter advising that Independence is waiting for more information from the federal government regarding their subsidy dollars. Upon receipt of this information, the renewal notices will be sent.… Read More
Recently a number of clients have received notices and/or checks for their organizations’s Medical Loss Ratio, or MLR rebates. Below is some helpful information from SHRM for understanding how these rebates can be used or distributed. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Technical Release No. 2011-04, the employer’s responsibility for distributing the rebate to participants is dependent on who paid for the insurance coverage. If the employer paid the entire cost of the insurance coverage, then no part of the rebate would be attributable to participant contributions. However, if participants paid the entire cost of the insurance coverage, then the entire amount of the rebate would be attributable to participant… Read More
The New York Times (8/4 Pear) reports that on Wednesday, the Trump Administration unveiled “a final rule…that clears the way for the sale of many more health insurance policies that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act and do not have to cover prescription drugs, maternity care or people with pre-existing conditions.” These new options “will help people struggling to afford coverage under the 2010 law, said James Parker, a senior adviser to” HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar II. On its front page, the Washington Post (7/31, A1, Goldstein) reports that these policies, which are intended “to fill brief gaps in coverage, will be available for 12 months at… Read More
CMS is offering assistance to certain individuals enrolled in both Medicare Part A (and/or Part C) and the Exchange for individuals and families to drop their Exchange coverage and enroll in Part B without penalty. Further, CMS is offering assistance to certain individuals who dropped or lost their coverage from the Exchange and are paying a Part B late enrollment penalty from their subsequent enrollment into Part B. These eligible individuals can have their penalty reduced. Individuals can apply for the special enrollment and reduction in late enrollment penalties during a limited time – it is available now and ends September 30, 2018 Read Blog Post from MedicareRights.org CMS SHIP… Read More
May 22 and 24, 8:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time ThinkHR Webinar: How to Easily Build a Compliant Multistate Handbook Handbooks, not rule books: A new approach to an old requirement Register Now Join Dan Riordan, President and COO at ThinkHR and Shannon Flanagan, Director of People Operations at ThinkHR, as they discuss some of 2018’s hot topics when it comes to employee handbooks. Dan and Shannon will share their insights on how employers can update their marijuana/drug testing and social media policies to reflect today’s environment while staying compliant with changing laws and providing a safe and supportive workplace. Then, stick around to get a preview demo of… Read More
Thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the 2018 contribution limit for family coverage in a health savings account will be $6,850—not $6,900, as previously announced by the IRS. The Society for Human Resource Management reports that the IRS has recalculated the limit because the tax law applies the so-called chained consumer price index to increases in HSA contribution limits, as well as to a few other employee benefit contribution limits. Internal Revenue Bulletin No. 2018–10, released March 5, clarifies not just that change but others as well. While the annual tax-deductible HSA contribution limit for tax year 2018 will remain at $3,450 for HSA account holders with self-only coverage through a high-deductible… Read More
Aetna Funding Advantage (AFA) is a self-funded option that provides all of the financial and plan design flexibility of a traditional arrangement with special features designed to help companies with as few as 2 employees achieve even greater savings on their health insurance. Ask us today if self funding could be a good fit for your organization! Call your Total Benefit Solutions Inc. account manager at (215)355-2121 for more information! Learn more here: AFA-Customer-Flyer New! Minute Clinic Benefit! $0 Copay Minute Clinic Visits Flyer More Documents for downloading: Springboard Marketplace Your Online Administration and Enrollment Portal AFA AppleWatch Wellness Flyer AFA Sample Usage Reports Aetna & Teledoc for AFA AETNA… Read More
The 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
On December 20, 2017, the House and Senate sent President Trump the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for signature. The House of Representatives passed their version of the bill on November 16, 2017 while the Senate passed their version on December 2, 2017. Because the versions were not identical, a Tax-Bill Conference Committee was formed from members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to negotiate the text of the combined bill. After the finalized text was approved and released by the committee, the House and Senate each passed the combined bill (which happened on December 20th in the House and December 19th in the Senate) before… Read More
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