Insurance

Worker can’t return from FMLA leave? Beware demanding repayment of health benefits

08/11/2011

It’s expensive to cover an absent employee’s health insurance premiums when he is on FMLA leave—especially if he has family coverage. However, the law requires employers to do so. What happens if the employee doesn’t return? In some cases, employers can demand reimbursement for the premiums it paid. That’s true except if the employee doesn’t come back because he or she is still sick or has to continue to care for a sick relative.

New HHS rules ban co-pays, deductibles for women’s health services

08/09/2011

Starting next year, employer-provided health insurance plans will have to offer a variety of women’s preventive services—such as well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screening, and contraception—without charging co-pays, co-insurance fees or deductibles. Find out what the new rules cover and when your health plan must comply.

3 ways to tell if your wellness program is paying off

07/21/2011

Congratulations! You’ve cleared the first wellness hurdle: Executives have finally agreed to implement a wellness program. But now they’re asking for hard evidence that the company’s financial investment in the program will pay off. If measuring your program’s ROI seems akin to scaling Mount Everest, take comfort in the fact that more and more employers are successfully making the climb.

How to keep health-plan grandfathered status

07/11/2011

Under interim final regulations for the Affordable Care Act that were issued last year, grandfathered group health plans—those in place on March 23, 2010, when the law was enacted—don’t have to comply with substantial portions of the health care reform law. But there’s a catch: Those plans are limited in the changes they can make.

Taxing and reporting retiree group-term life insurance?

06/21/2011

Question: My company provides group-term life insurance with a value of more than $50,000 to some retirees. I know I have to report the uncollected employee FICA taxes on their W-2s in Box 12 with Codes M and N. Do we have to pay the employer share of these taxes? If so, when are they due? Also, how are the amounts reported on Form 941?

The great 8: Smart tips from the ‘best places to work’

06/16/2011

Is your organization a “great place” to work? Every year, the employers that are bestowed that title seem to consistently include companies that provide creative HR practices in areas such as perks, benefits and worker management. Some of the leading ideas:

Survey: Health law won’t spark mass cancellations

06/15/2011

A full 87% of employers say they plan to continue offering employee health benefits as a result of President Obama’s year-old health care reform law, says a survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

8 tips for handling summer military-leave payroll issues

06/14/2011

Summer is usually when employees who belong to the National Guard and military Reserves give their two weeks of duty to Uncle Sam. Now is the time to prepare for their absence, by following these eight tips.

Employer health costs are predicted to rise 8.5% in 2012

06/08/2011

A new PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 1,700 employers says employer health costs are predicted to rise 8.5% in 2012. Employers say they’ll lessen that burden by pushing more costs onto employees.

Houston company faces class-action COBRA lawsuit

06/01/2011

A former employee of Brunel Energy Inc. is suing the company for failing to notify her of her right to maintain her health insurance coverage after she quit in 2010—and she has proposed making the case a class-action lawsuit that could involve hundreds of other former employees.