Health Care Reform: How should employers disburse medical loss ratio (MLR) rebates from insurance carriers?

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

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DOL Penalties Increase for 2018

In 2015, Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015 (the “Inflation Adjustment Act”) to direct federal agencies to adjust the civil monetary penalties for inflation every year. Civil penalties ensure compliance with federal regulation by incentivizing employers not to violate federal regulation and providing federal agencies the power to ensure compliance. However, when penalties are too low, or have failed to be increased for inflation, compliance with federal regulation remains stagnant. The Department of Labor (DOL) recently published the annual adjustments for 2018 that increase certain penalties applicable to employee benefit plans Click here to download the full bulletin   As always please contact your Total Benefit… Read More

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IBC: Distribution of 1095 Tax Forms

Information about distribution of 1095 tax forms Beginning February 8, Independence Blue Cross will begin mailing IRS 1095-B tax forms on a rolling basis to subscribers who purchased plans individually off-exchange and to subscribers of fully insured group employers. The purpose of these forms is for individuals to verify that they had minimum essential health care coverage during the previous calendar year, as required by the Affordable Care Act. We are issuing 1095-B forms to subscribers only, unless we receive a request from a subscriber to issue a duplicate form to an enrolled spouse and/or dependent. What you need to know about 1095 forms It’s important to know that who… Read More

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Employer Reporting Guide for Large Employers 6055 and 6056 Reporting for Large Employers

  Beginning with calendar year (CY) 2015, an applicable large employer (ALE or “large employer,” as referenced in this summary) must use Forms 1094-C and 1095-C to report the information required under Internal Revenue Code (Code) sections 6055 and 6056 about offers of health coverage to full-time employees’ (FTEs) and individuals’ enrollment in health coverage.   This guide, brought to you by  our partners at Emerson Reid will help you  as an employer determine the following: Do I need to report? If so, report what? If so, report when? And on what forms? Please click the link below to download our employer reporting guide. As always, if you have any… Read More

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