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There are many concerns employers have when it comes to employee use of social media. It is part of today’s culture and employees are going to be active users of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. But when an employer feels that an employee is not following the “rules” when it […]

Life Expectancy Isn’t Improving – Here’s Why The National Center for Health Statistics released statistics late last year indicating life expectancy has fallen two years in a row. For women, life expectancy has remained stable the past two years at 81.1 years. But for men life expectancy is 76.3 years, which is five years less than […]

Twenty-five years ago this month, then President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill that requires certain employers to provide unpaid medical leave to employees who qualify. It was an important step in granting American workers comfort that they did not have to worry about losing their job in order to take time off to […]

With the beginning of the new year, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are beginning to release 2017 data, along with forecasts for 2018. Express Scripts recently released their “2017 Drug Trend Report.” With this report, Express Scripts provides insight into the utilization trends and costs for 34.3 million members. Interestingly, despite the growth in cost and […]

After a brief government shutdown, President Trump signed the Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (ECAA). The Act includes provisions that suspend or delay three health care related taxes imposed by the Affordable Care Act. The taxes that are affected include: In addition to the tax implications, the Act extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for an additional […]

The IRS recently released the 2018 cost-of-living adjustments for certain plans. The table below compares the 2017 limits to the new 2018 limits for affected plans.

Many Applicable Large Employers (ALE’s) have already received Letter 226J from the IRS that indicates their proposed assessment of a penalty under the Employer Shared Responsibility provision of Section 4980H of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Letter 226J outlines several things for the ALE receiving it. The letter will tell the ALE […]

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed what is popularly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “Bill”), overhauling America’s tax code for both individuals and corporations and providing the most sweeping changes to the U.S. Tax Code since 1986. The House and Senate Conference Committee provided a Policy Highlights of the major provisions of […]

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to expand the opportunity to offer employment-based health insurance to small businesses through Small Business Health Plans, also known as Association Health Plans. Up to 11 million Americans working for small businesses/sole proprietors and their families lack employer-sponsored insurance. These 11 […]