The Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure (HIRD) form is a new state reporting requirement in Massachusetts beginning in 2018. This form differs from the original HIRD form that was passed into law in 2006 and repealed in 2014. The 2018 form is administered by MassHealth and the Department of Revenue (DOR) through the MassTaxConnect (MTC) web [...]
In late June, the Department of Labor introduced final rules on Association Health Plans (AHP), which will allow bonafide associations to offer healthcare plans to member companies. While we had hoped for a different approach to regulating these plans, association health plans will be regulated by states as MEWAs. According to the final rules, an [...]
This article was published on September 27, 2018 on Employee Benefit News, written by Nelson Griswold. More than six years ago, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini proclaimed that “the end of insurance companies, the way we’ve run the business in the past, is here.” At the very least, it’s the beginning of the end for these [...]
This article was published on September 5, 2018 on BenefitsPro, written by Kevin Trokey. Now is the time to re-engineer your business to separate yourself from the carriers and to formally serve your clients. Source: BenefitsPro You don’t have to scroll very far in your social media feeds to see posts of outrage [...]
This article was published on September 10, 2018 on BenefitsPro, written by Darick Bradford. Why are more small businesses offering self-funded health benefit plans? I see three big reasons. Source: BenefitsPro “Wait, what’s a self-funded plan again? And why does it make sense for my clients?” These are questions I hear from brokers [...]
The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 implemented prescription drug coverage under Medicare (Medicare D), requiring all employers that offer prescription drug benefits to provide an annual notice of Medicare open enrollment. The notice must go to all Medicare eligible plan participants and qualified beneficiaries before October 15th each year. The notice [...]
The Internal Revenue Service is finally issuing penalty letters to employers who failed to provide health coverage in compliance with the employer shared responsibility provisions of the ACA for the 2015 tax year. Some letters may describe a no coverage excise tax while others may assess an excise tax for failure to provide “adequate or [...]
While plenty of folks talk about value based, or reference based, pricing as though it’s a fad that has come and gone, we’re finding more interest from employers all the time. This may be because many like to brand it as another form of disruption, but regardless of how you brand it, value based pricing [...]
This article was published on August 7, 2018 on Employee Benefit News, written by Corte Larossi. We all know that making changes to your health plan can have major consequences for your company. It can impact your medical costs and company bottom line, the health and welfare of your employees, employee satisfaction and performance, as [...]
This article was published on July 18, 2018 on Employee Benefit News, written by Cort Olsen. Photo Source: Employee Benefit News. The number of million-dollar medical claims has nearly doubled, with cancer care remaining the most costly health condition, according to a new Sun Life Financial report. Cancer made up $798.7 million in reimbursements to [...]
