Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Government audits, participant lawsuits and the dreaded play-or-pay rule could heap liability and risk on employer plans, all as a result of the reform law that was just affirmed by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. Employers must take into account new liabilities when they move workers to part-time status or divert retirees into […]
With the Supreme Court’s June 28 ruling affirming health reform, its legal requirements on employer health plans are a green light. Plans therefore continue to face important requirements this calendar year. Fortunately, they’re the same ones employers have known about for some time. But if an employer has been holding off from comprehensive implementation, a […]
Expressing strong concerns about health reform’s negative impact on health costs and people’s ability to choose health care options, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., set a July 11 date for the House of Representatives to vote on legislation that would repeal the health care reform law. He said health reform is precluding people from […]
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on June 28 to uphold nearly all provisions of President Obama’s health-reform law removes any excuse for employers to drag their feet implementing reform-driven changes to their health plans. Uncertainty on whether the law still would be binding on plans was hindering implementation, many sources say, but with the […]
After two years of implementing health reform’s “insurance mandates,” American businesses are now thinking about unraveling the arrangements they put in place to respond to it, in the waning days before the U.S. Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Health reform is going to pose compliance challenges for American businesses whether […]
As you must know by now, regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the federal health care reform, a couple of very large insurers announced they would continue several of health reform’s insurance mandates. The impact of this announcement directly applies to companies that buy full insurance. But self-insured plans and employers big enough […]
Regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the federal health care reform, Humana and UnitedHealth Group on June 11 announced that they would continue several of health reform’s insurance mandates. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether the “individual mandate” (for everyone to get health insurance or pay a penalty) is unconstitutional, but […]
Summer’s here, and coincidentally, it’s a hot time for legal and regulatory developments affecting human resources and benefits professionals! Many companies trying to make ends meet also should expect new laws and regulations in these five areas. The perils of not heeding leave and disability law. Employers struggle with determining what a “reasonable accommodation” is under […]
While ERISA self-insured plans themselves are not subject to state regulation, states are clamping down on stop-loss coverage as a way to discourage self-funding, say attorney Ron Peck and legal administrator Chris Aguiar at the Phia Group, Braintree, Mass. The Texas Supreme Court ruling in TDI v American National Ins. Co. and the passage by […]
Employers and plan administrators that find the over-the-counter drug rules put in place by the health care reform law to be onerous may have relief, if the Ways and Means Committee has its way. The committee on May 31 in a 24-9 vote ordered H.R. 5842, the Restoring Access to Medication Act, reported to the […]