Insurance

Sad but true: Sick employee may not get unemployment

12/24/2013

When an employee who would otherwise qualify for unemployment benefits can’t work because she’s too ill, she loses her eligibility.

Where do we get health insurance?

12/13/2013

More than half of Americans are insured through an employer-provided health plan, according to a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll.

ACA SHOPs postponed one year, HHS urges using brokers instead

12/02/2013

Small business owners won’t be able go online to buy health insurance for their employees until November 2014. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services suggests doing it the old-fashioned way—through a broker.

Penalties rival incentives as work health tactic

11/27/2013

Employers will use both carrots and sticks to keep workers healthier and stem the tide of higher health care costs, according to the 2013/2014 Towers Watson Staying@Work Survey.

IRS OKs dropping health FSA ‘use-it-or-lose-it’

11/26/2013

The IRS has announced that employers sponsoring health flexible spending arrangements can drop long-standing “use-it-or-lose-it” rules that require employees to forfeit FSA funds if they don’t claim reimbursements by the end of a plan year.

Bypass Healthcare.gov: Small employers can buy health insurance through brokers

11/19/2013

The Healthcare.gov website may be broken, but that doesn’t mean small business owners who want to buy health insurance for their employees have to wait. They can learn about coverage options, costs and available tax credits by working with an insurance broker who has registered with CMS to facilitate SHOP policy sales.

Regs continue to outline affordability under the ACA

11/18/2013

Under the Affordable Care Act, employees who don’t have access to affordable group health insurance that provides minimum value may obtain individual insurance through the exchanges. As part of their core responsibilities, exchanges determine whether employees qualify for advance premium tax credits and other cost-sharing reductions. Two sets of regulations relate to the concept of affordable health insurance.

Consumer-directed health plans rein in costs

11/11/2013

Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) are now the second-most prevalent kind of employer-provided health insurance, according to new research by the Aon Hewitt HR consulting firm. CDHPs could surpass PPOs in the next five years, the researchers predict. What’s driving the CDHP surge?

No unemployment after rejecting lower-paying job

10/31/2013

Consider this scenario: A former employee is collecting unemployment. You have an opening that matches his skills and abilities, but which pays less than the previous position. If you make an offer and the former employee rejects it, he may lose his unemployment compensation benefits.

Must we offer benefits to same-sex partners?

10/29/2013

Q. One of our employees claims she has a marriage certificate for herself and her female partner and now wants to put that partner on her insurance plan. Do we have to do that?