It’s no secret that a competitive benefits package-particularly in today’s job market-is one of the best tools to attract the right talent, enhance employee engagement and retain your most valuable employees. But without the right internal marketing and communication strategies in place, plan participation can falter and employees can miss out on the valuable offerings Learn More

Group health plan sponsors must provide Medicare Part D “creditable coverage” notices prior to October 15th, the start date of the Medicare annual enrollment period for Part D, Prescription Drug coverage.  The October 15th deadline applies for all group health plan sponsors who provide prescription drug coverage, regardless of plan year, plan size, employer size, employer type Learn More

In spite of major changes in the healthcare landscape, small-business owners looking to recruit and retain top employees still need to pay close attention to their benefits offerings. According to the 2015 Aflac WorkForces Report for Small Businesses, a majority of workers employed in small businesses are willing to consider a job with slightly lower pay Learn More

The biggest story last month in health benefits comes down to one word: consolidation. Whether it’s the Aetna-Humana merger, CVS buying Target’s pharmacies, or Willis and Towers Watson combining forces – mass consolidation has benefits leaders and consumers alike wondering if this latest wave of consolidation will add up to.  Read our August newsletter here.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (“the Departments”) released their final rules on cost sharing parameters and cost sharing reductions. Read full article and more here.

Many health insurers have asked insurance regulators for sizable premium increases next year, but final rates are likely to be much lower than the ones requested. Most of the increase is expected to hit the individual market, however, small groups could feel it as well. On June 1, 2015, HealthCare.gov, the federal website for enrollment Learn More

Effective as of 2015, the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) has placed requirements on employers and insurance providers for filing new informational forms with the IRS and health plan participants. The new filing requirements will be an add-on to the year-end burden of issuing informational returns. The new informational forms include Forms 1095-B and 1095-C (with Learn More

The Caddy tax remains one of the more controversial elements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It requires employers that offer “rich” health plans to some or all employees to pay a tax on the “overage” as defined by the law. In an article for Politico, author Brian Faler reports growing concerns among employers about Learn More

March , 2015: HHS Issues final rule on Minimum value health plans… The Department of Health and Human Services says once and for all it will not qualify employer-sponsored health plans that fail to cover inpatient hospitalization. Changes to FMLA Now Cover Same Sex Spouses… Under this new rule, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Learn More