The Affordable Care Act's reporting requirements
These new reporting obligations require employers and other entities to report information to assist the IRS with enforcing the individual mandate (i.e., the requirement for individuals to maintain minimum essential health care coverage) as well as the employer mandate (i.e., penalties that are imposed on certain employers if minimum health insurance coverage is not offered by the employer).
In order to monitor compliance with both the individual and employer mandates, the ACA requires reporting by employers and insurers. To understand these reporting obligations, one must understand the general manner in which both the individual mandate and the employer mandate operate.
If an individual does not have minimum essential coverage, the IRS will collect a tax penalty from him or her. The monthly tax penalty is equal to 1/12th of the greater of:
- For 2015: $325 per uninsured adult in the household (capped at $975 per household) or 2.0 percent of the amount by which the household income exceeds the filing threshold (e.g., single person making more than $10,150 in 2015 must file a tax return).
- For 2016: $695 per uninsured adult in the household (capped at $2,085 per household) or 2.5 percent of the amount by which the household income exceeds the filing threshold.
- 9.5% of an employee’s W-2 wages (such wages amount being net of any salary reductions under a 401(k) plan or cafeteria plan)
- 9.5% of an employee’s monthly wages (hourly rate x 130 hours per month)
- 9.5% of the Federal Poverty Level for a single individual
- Name of each individual who has minimum essential coverage (including covered spouse and dependents);
- Name and address of the “responsible person” through whom the individual has coverage (generally the primary participant, employee, or applicant);
- Taxpayer identification number (TIN, which is generally the Social Security Number) for each covered individual, including covered spouse and dependents; and
- Calendar months for which each individual was covered during the calendar year.
- Name, address and employer identification number (EIN) of the ALE;
- Name and telephone number of a contact person;
- Calendar reporting year;
- Certification as to whether the ALE offered its full-time employees and their dependent children the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential coverage by calendar month;
- Number of full-time employees for each month in the calendar year;
- For each full-time employee, the months for which minimum essential coverage was made available;
- For each full-time employee, the employee’s share of the lowest-cost monthly premium for “employee-only” coverage providing minimum value, by calendar month; and
- Name, address and TIN for each full-time employee, and the months, if any, for which the full-time employee was covered under an employer-sponsored plan. (This information would be the same as data provided for Section 6055 reporting.)
- Information Technology – to ensure that all the required data is accessible;
- Finance – to budget and allocate compliance resources needed;
- Legal – to interpret and apply the regulations;
- Human Resources – to make decisions regarding employee scheduling and monitoring hours over 30 hours per week;
- Payroll – to track hours (to identify full-time employees) and calculate affordability; and
- Benefits – to develop plan design, eligibility, and communications to employee
Overcoming small business retirement plan hurdles
Original post Stephen Miller, shrm.org
Just one-third of U.S. companies with fewer than 20 employees offer retirement benefits, compared to nearly 98 percent of companies with 5,000 or more workers, according to Retirement Savings Trends, a research report by ADP, a payroll and benefits services firm.
Those findings dovetail with those in a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, Who’s In, Who’s Out, which revealed that only 22 percent of workers at organizations with fewer than 10 employers have access to a workplace savings plan, compared with 74 percent at organizations with 500 or more workers.
Earlier this week, the Obama administration announced its commitment to a series of proposals—some old, and some new—to help small businesses to provide their employees with access to retirement savings plans. But one of the largest roadblocks preventing smaller employers from offering retirement benefits is their own mistaken belief about the feasibility of doing so.
Small Business Misconceptions
“Part of the hurdle for small businesses is the myth that they have to be a large company to offer a retirement plan,” said Joe DeSilva, senior vice president and general manager of ADP retirement services in Florham Park, N.J. But “the benefits offered through a retirement plan, whether it’s a SIMPLE IRA or a 401(k) plan, can be realized regardless of company size,” he noted.
For small organizations, “their No. 1 concern is cash flow,” DeSilva said. “The thought of a 401(k) or similar plan brings on what I call a misperceived burden—that it’s going to cost them a lot of money. They worry about the incremental costs of maintaining the plan, and whether the compliance components will put them at risk.”
Often overlooked, “because it’s somewhat qualitative and not quantitative, is an employer’s ability to attract and retain talent by making available a benefit that competitors in the same market space may not offer.”
As they become better informed, small business owners may begin to see the advantage of providing retirement benefits with pre-tax dollars, and that the administrative burden is less than they might have thought.
DeSilva noted that ADP found the number of small businesses (in this instance, defined as those with under 50 employees) offering a retirement plan option rose 14 percent last year, with much of that growth occurring with SIMPLE IRAs, which is an option aimed at small employers.
Reaching Younger Workers
Both the Pew Charitable Trusts and the ADP reports revealed that younger workers—the Millennials—often aren’t taking advantage of workplace retirement plans when they are available.
Participation in 401(k) or other defined contribution plans was at 41.1 percent for employees ages 20 to 24, but rose to 65.6 percent for employees ages 55 and older, ADP reported. “The gap between access and participation proved largest among the youngest workers, many of whom face savings challenges even when they have access to retirement plans,” Pew found.
Millennials in their 20s are grappling with student loans and debt, and they’re holding off on saving. “For them, retirement is far away,” DeSilva said. “At the end of the day, you [should] combat that with overall education, driving awareness that saving early on and harnessing the power of compound interest in those low-income years when they’re entering the workforce is critical. Employers need to be telling that story.”
Automatic enrollment helps bring younger workers into a savings plan, but even when they do become participants, the level of their contributions is low. Automatic escalation—increasing the rate of salary deferral each year and requiring participants to affirmatively opt out of that increase if they so choose—can help. But while there is a high level of awareness around auto enrollment among plan sponsors, awareness of the value of auto escalation is much lower.
“Data suggests when you do auto-escalate, employees end up at retirement with larger nest eggs,” DeSilva noted.
IRS clarifies FSA carryover and HRA coverage issues
Original post by Stephen Miller, shrm.org
Confusion about carrying over unused funds from year to year in health care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) has received some clarification under IRS Notice 2015-87, issued in December. The guidance also limits the use of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), including by an employee’s family members who are not enrolled in the employer’s group health plan.
RELATED: IRS releases final rule on premium tax credits, notice addressing employer coverage
Flexibility for Flex Plans
Since 2013, there have been two options for health FSA extensions that employers can adopt:
- If a health FSA plan has a carryover feature, participants can roll over up to $500 of unused FSA dollars to the next year but will forfeit any excess over $500 at year-end.
- Alternatively, an optional grace period can give employees an additional two-and-a-half months to incur new expenses using prior-year FSA funds. At the end of the grace period, all unspent funds must be forfeited to the employer.
Plans can offer either the carryover or a grace period, but not both, or they can offer neither. These options apply to FSAs for general purpose health care including prescription drug expenses, and to limited-scope FSAs for dental and vision care. Dependent care FSAs may offer a grace period but not a carryover option.
“One of the key reasons the IRS issued new FSA guidance was to clarify that employers can place some restrictions on the carryover feature,” said Mary V. Bauman, a member of law firm Miller Johnson in Grand Rapids, Mich., and co-author of an analysis of Notice 2015-87.
“Employers were concerned that if they opted to provide the carryover, they might have to maintain small account balances over long periods of time, and that would raise their administrative fees,” added Bill Sweetnam, legislative and technical director at the Washington, D.C.-based Employers Council on Flexible Compensation, which represents employers that sponsor tax-advantaged benefit programs.
Notice 2015-87 gives employers two tools to address concerns over keeping an employee on the FSA plan books when that employee isn’t otherwise an active FSA participant, Bauman explained:
- Employers can limit the carryover feature to only those employees who elect to make their own contributions for the following plan year.
- The employer can limit the carryover to only one plan year. “For example, consider an employee with a carryover of $300 for plan year one who doesn’t elect to contribute for plan year two,” said Bauman. “At the end of plan year two, if the entire $300 isn’t used, the employer’s plan can provide that the balance will be forfeited.”
COBRA and Carryovers
The notice provides that a health FSA that allows employees to carry over amounts from one plan year to the next must also allow those who elect COBRA under the FSA to carry over amounts to the next year. Amounts carried over cannot be used by employers in determining the amount of the FSA plan premium charged to former employees who elect COBRA.
“What to charge former employers for the COBRA premium [on their FSA plan] had been questionable,” Sweetnam said. “The guidance makes clear that you can’t base the premium charge on the amount of funds carried over.”
HSAs and FSAs Can’t Overlap
The notice affirms prior guidance stating that employees are not allowed to contribute to a health savings account (HSA) if they contributed during the same year to a general-purpose health FSA, although they may contribute to both an HSA and a limited-scope FSA covering dental and vision care expenses.
“An employee enrolled in a high-deductible health plan who has a carryover at the beginning of that plan year will be HSA-ineligible for the entire year, even if he or she spends down the balance right away,” said Bauman.
“If you have an HSA, you cannot contribute new funds to a general-purpose health FSA in the same year,” and carrying over funds from the prior year is seen as a contribution, said Sweetnam.
HRA Coverage Restricted
Notice 2015-87 also affirms prior guidance holding that an HRA cannot reimburse active employees for the cost of premiums for nongroup health insurance they might purchase on their own, unless those purchased policies cover only “excepted benefits” (such as dental or vision insurance policies).
“Some third-party administrators were making tortured interpretations of the prior guidance and promoting arrangements that the IRS didn’t think were allowable,” Sweetnam noted. “The IRS here is addressing that and putting a stop to it.”
The guidance reiterates that retiree-only HRAs can still reimburse retirees for the cost of premiums for nongroup health insurance policies, whether bought through the private market or on an Affordable Care Act exchange.
“But there was one new issue [in the notice] that is key,” said Bauman. “If an employer provides an HRA with its group health plan, it can only reimburse the uninsured expenses of an employee’s spouse and children if they also are enrolled in the employer’s group health plan.”
Employers with HRAs in place as of Dec. 16, 2015, when Notice 2015-87 was issued, have until the first day of their 2017 plan year to amend the HRA to address this requirement, Bauman noted.
“Since family members not on the group health plan can’t be covered by the HRA, it will require employers to update their systems,” said Sweetnam. Beginning in 2017, “If a charge is made to the HRA for a prescription, for instance, you have to look to see who the prescription is for. If it’s for the employee’s spouse and the employee has self-only coverage, that’s no longer permitted under these rules. It adds a little bit of administrative complexity.”
The new guidance creates some complexity, while in other areas it gets rid of some complexity, Sweetnam said.
7 questions employees may ask about ACA 1095s
The 1095 forms are ready for employee distribution. While you may feel you've covered every base, youre employees will more than likely still have a few questions.
The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans offers a helping hand with 7 questions you're more than likely to hear, and a sample answer for each.
RELATED: IRS extends due dates for ACA information reporting
What is this form I’m receiving?
A 1095 form is a little bit like a W-2 form. Your employer or insurer sends one copy to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and one copy to you. A W-2 form reports your annual earnings. A 1095 form reports your health care coverage throughout the year.
Who is sending it to me, when, and how?
Your employer or health insurance company should send one to you either by mail or in person. They may send the form to you electronically if you gave them permission to do so. You should receive it by March 31, 2016. (Starting in 2017, you should receive it each year by January 31, just like your W-2.)
Why are you sending it to me?
The 1095 forms will show that you and your family members either did or did not have health coverage during each month of the past year. Because of the Affordable Care Act, every person must obtain health insurance or pay a penalty to the IRS.
What am I supposed to do with this form?
Keep it for your tax records. You don’t actually need this form in order to file your taxes, but when you do file, you’ll have to tell the IRS whether or not you had health insurance for each month of 2015. The Form 1095-B or 1095-C shows if you had health insurance through your employer. Since you don’t actually need this form to file your taxes, you don’t have to wait to receive it if you already know what months you did or didn’t have health insurance in 2015. When you do get the form, keep it with your other 2015 tax information in case you should need it in the future to help prove you had health insurance.
What if I get more than one 1095 form?
Someone who had health insurance through more than one employer during the year may receive a 1095-B or 1095-C from each employer. Some employees may receive a Form 1095-A and/or 1095-B reporting specific health coverage details. Just keep these—you do not need to send them in with your 2015 taxes.
What if I did not get a Form 1095-B or a 1095-C?
If you believe you should have received one but did not, contact the Benefits Department by phone or e-mail at this number or address.
I have more questions—who do I contact?
Please contact _____ at ____. You can also go to our website and find more detailed questions and answers. An IRS website called Questions and Answers about Health Care Information Forms for Individuals (Forms 1095-A, 1095-B, and 1095-C) covers most of what you need to know.
5 reasons you could be tired all the time
Waking up after a solid night of sleep may have you feeling you can take on the world. That is until your energy drops and all you want to do is sleep at your desk.
Health.com suggests these 5 things could be zapping your energy levels.
1. Skipping Workouts
It may seem like the best thing to do is sleep instead of workout when you feel sluggish, but skipping your workout will work against you. A brisk 20 minute walk could help perk your energy level.
2. Dehydration
Next time you're feeling tired, grab a glass of water. The slightest bit of dehydration can send your energy levels dropping.
3. Skipping Breakfast
Breakfast may feel like a waste of time, but skipping breakfast is a bad idea. Food is fuel and your body burns fuel as you sleep. So, when you wake up, you need to fill your tank back up.
4. Drinking before Bed
A nightcap may help you fall asleep, but it could also wake you up during the night. 0
5. Checking Email in Bed
Wrapping your day may mean a last minute check of emails. However, you may want to do so before you get into bed. The bright light from your smartphone or tablet can interfere with your bodies natural sleep/wake cycle.
Employers advised to prepare for questions on ACA reporting forms
Original post by Andrea Davis, ebn.benefitnews.com
As employers prepare to distribute Forms 1095 to employees by the newly extended IRS deadline of March 31, they should brace for increased questions from employees about the new forms.
In Notice 2016-4, issued by the IRS on Dec. 28, the agency extended the deadlines for both providing individuals with the reporting forms required as part of the Affordable Care Act and for filing them with the IRS, although it also said “employers and other coverage providers are encouraged to furnish statements and file the information returns as soon as they are ready.”
In the year-end notice, “the IRS indicated to employers that there’s going to be no more extensions,” says Laura Kerekes, chief knowledge officer with ThinkHR Corporation. “This is already more generous than what the initial filing extension was. The feeling is that you better get these done and into the government.”
The IRS notice also provides guidance to those who might not receive a 1095-C by the time they file their 2015 tax returns, saying people can rely on information they’ve already received from their employer outlining whether they’re enrolled in employer-sponsored coverage or not.
“That’s pretty important for employers to just make note of and maybe get ahead of with communication to their employees to say the filing deadlines have been extended so the company will not have your 1095-C done,” says Kerekes, adding employers can let employees know “this is the information we've already provided you, you can rely on it when you're working on your taxes and filing by your April 15 deadline.”
And while employers with more than 50 full-time employees need to compile data for the new forms to demonstrate employee healthcare coverage offerings under the ACA, two-in-five employers say they are unfamiliar with these forms altogether, finds a recent study from ADP.
“The good news is that 60% were highly or very familiar with the 1094-C and were working on it,” says Vic Saliterman, senior vice president and general manager of ADP’s healthcare reform business. “The fact that, given the nature of the way the law is written and the penalty, 40% were not familiar [with the forms] was certainly concerning.”
More than half (52%) of midsized businesses and 45% of large employers are unsure if they’re at risk of violating ACA compliance requirements this year and nearly one-in-five employers think they are at risk of not complying with Form 1095-C requirements, according to the ADP report.
401(k) plan participants saving more, taking out less
Original post by Paula Aven Gladych, ebn.benefitnews.com
The educational efforts of plan sponsors appear to be paying off. Participation rates in workplace retirement plans have stayed fairly constant since 2008 “due to concerted education efforts of plan sponsors and providers that set up to educate investors to stay the course through the market fluctuations,” says Hattie Greenan, director of research and communication for the Plan Sponsor Council of America.
In its 58th Annual Survey of Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plans, PSCA found that plan sponsor efforts in this arena really did keep people saving in their retirement plans.
“They may have decreased their savings rate due to economic conditions but we have seen a rebound to higher levels as people understand how plans work and realize they need to save more in their plans if they can,” she says.
In 2015, lower-paid plan participants contributed an average of 5.8 percent of their salary into their 401(k) plan, while higher-paid participants contributed an average of 6.9 percent of their salary to their workplace retirement plan.
Plan sponsors are also re-examining their 401(k) plan deferral rates. Three percent has been the standard deferral rate for years but many companies are now choosing a higher deferral percentage, in the range of 5 percent to 6 percent.
Many companies are actually pushing 10 percent to 15 percent, Greenan says. “We are shifting higher, which is good news. We may see it hit 6 percent or higher in the next couple of years.”
The survey also found that there has been a decreased usage of plan loans over the past year. A very low percentage, 0.7 percent of all assets, has been withdrawn from workplace plans and the bulk of those loans are being repaid, Greenan says.
“We’ve always been a proponent of plan loans as an incentive to participate in the plan. They know the money is available to them if they need it. It is their money and there in an emergency situation if they need it,” she says.
And while plan participants did take loans from their retirement plans during the downturn, that rate is going back down.
“The loans are functioning as intended: a safety net in emergency situations, and they are repaying those loans. They are not taking money out and abusing the system,” she says.
Another highlight of the survey was the increase in use by plan sponsors of mobile technology to communicate with a younger demographic of employees. Twenty-one percent of all plans and one-third of plans with more than 5,000 participants are using mobile technology to do everything from handle enrollments to making investment changes.
“I think it took a while for the industry to figure out how best to use the technology everyone is using,” says Greenan. “Now there are platforms for doing so, so we will see a pretty steep uptake in technology to reach plan participants in the next couple of years.”
As far as 401(k) plan design goes, more companies are offering Roth options and automatic features, such as auto enrollment and auto escalation. The increase in 2015 wasn’t quite as dramatic as in previous years, but those numbers are still increasing.
Paula Aven Gladych is a freelance writer based in Denver.
Don't kick that resolution to the curb just yet
Just a few weeks into the new year and many of you may have or may be thinking of abandoning those grand New Year's Resolutions you set at the beginning of the year. But don't quit just yet!
In 2012, Time magazine listed the top 10 most broken resolutions. In no particular order, they are:
- Lose Weight and Get Fit
- Quit Smoking
- Learn Something New
- Eat Healthier and Diet
- Get Out of Debt and Save Money
- Spend More Time with Family
- Travel to New Places
- Be Less Stressed
- Volunteer
- Drink Less
The majority of the resolutions are health related. According to the Forbes.com article, "Making New Year's Resolutions That You Can Actually Keep", broken resolutions often have the same traits.
Are too vague, too general and not specific enough: For instance, when you say “get fit,” do you mean fit like international football star Cristiano Ronaldo? Or just being able to walk up the stairs without vomiting? If it is Cristiano Ronaldo fit, well, good luck, because it could be that such resolutions…
Are too grand to be achievable: Chances are you are not going from couch potato to six-pack in one year. (Although you may go from your couch to get a six-pack of beer.) Be realistic and take smaller steps.
Focus on changing the result and not the causes: If you work in a doughnut factory, live above a doughnut shop, socialize with doughnuts and have friends who binge on doughnuts, then perhaps…just perhaps…your circumstances are contributing to your eating doughnuts.
Do not enlist the necessary social support: Ringo Starr once sang that you “get by with a little help from your friends.” (He also sang that you “get high with a little help from your friends.”) Those around you affect what you do. Without wing-men and wing-women to help, it may be tougher to cut down on buffalo wings.
Do not include enough immediate incentives: As Neidermeyer, in the movie Animal House, once said, “You’re all worthless and weak!” It is much easier to give into immediate urges than to maintain long-term goals. So if following resolutions does not bring at least some immediate positive effects, you are less likely to follow them.
So, how can you create resolutiosn you can keep. Here's the tips from that Forbes.com article:
- Read food labels and know what is in your food and beverages. Seeing the actual ingredients alone may help you make changes. For example, have you seen how much salt is hidden in food? And when I say labels, I mean the official nutrition labels.
Sever an unhealthy relationship (e.g., someone who is unsupportive, abusive, or a bad influence). - Establish a new relationship or strengthen an existing one with someone who helps you be healthier and happier.
- Join a sports class or league.
- Start walking, cycling or taking public transportation to work.
- Choose a specific volunteering event that is convenient and helps you do something that you enjoy.
- Replace one unhealthy food or beverage that you eat regularly with a healthy alternative (e.g., nuts instead of candy, water instead of soda).
- With your friends, identify one regular social event that is unhealthy and determine how to change the event (e.g., change where you regularly go out to eat).
- Tell your significant other, friends, co-workers or doctor about an unhealthy habit that you’d like to eliminate.
- Choose with your family or friends a single resolution that you can achieve together.
- Finally, making too many resolutions can initially seem attractive but decreases the chances of each sticking. Don’t make your resolutions like some marriages. (Mickey Rooney, who got married eight times once said, “Always get married early in the morning. That way, if it doesn’t work out, you haven’t wasted a whole day.”)
In life, small successes can have a way of cascading to subsequent larger ones. If you can keep at least one or two resolutions that you make, then 2016 could be a memorable and healthy year.
Signs your body is burning out and tips to relax
It's often easy to determine your stressed out. But too much stress can lead to burnout. The Health.com article, "7 Subtle Signs You're Burned Out," pinpoints what you may be overlooking as burn-out and not just another health issue.
"Our bodies try to tell us to slow down, and we just don't listen," says Alice Domar, PhD, founder of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health in Waltham, Mass. "If you ignore the distress signals for too long, they can turn into health problems."
You keep drawing blanks
When you're under stress, your adrenal gland pumps out cortisol, and research has shown that this fight-or-flight hormone can hinder your powers of recall, making it tougher to access stored facts (including so-and-so's name and where you left your phone).
Add late nights or insomnia to the mix and your recollection may get even slipperier. "During sleep, your brain replays whatever you learned that day and moves it into long-term storage," explains Sandra Ackermann, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in biopsychology at the University of Zurich. If you don't get enough shut-eye or you go to bed with your cortisol levels still spiking, that process of encoding details is disturbed.
Your cuts take forever to heal
Whether you graze your knuckle with a vegetable peeler or develop a nasty blister on a long-distance run, expect to wear a Band-Aid for a while if you're overtaxed.
"When you get an injury, your immune system engages right away, sending signals to produce collagen, form a blood clot and recruit cells to protect against germs," explains William Huang, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. "But when you're stressed, your body has higher levels of chemicals called glucocorticoids, which suppress your immune system and make healing slower."
Researchers from Ohio State University studied this effect in the caregivers of dementia patients: They found that people shouldering such responsibility healed 24 percent more slowly than those in a control group.
Your cramps are lethal
You already know that stress can make your period late. That's because when the hypothalamus, the regulatory center of the brain, senses that your body is running on empty, it can delay the release of an egg, shifting your whole cycle offtrack.
But for some women, feeling frazzled may make PMS worse as well. In a National Institutes of Health study, researchers followed 259 women for more than a month and quizzed them on how often they felt, for example, nervous or not in control of their lives. Those who reported more stress early in their cycle were more likely than relaxed women to have moderate to severe symptoms before and during their period. (Because killer cramps are just what you need right now.)
Your GI tract protests like whoa
Christa Reed, from Park Ridge, Ill., had always had a stomach of steel. But about nine months into a TV news gig that required her to be on-site by 3 a.m., she was diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Her doctor prescribed a modified diet and more sleep. Six months later, the pain was worse.
"Instead of carrying lip gloss and gum in my purse, I had Tums and Pepto Bismol," says Christa, who was then 27. "My doctor told me that if I didn't get more rest, I'd end up with esophageal cancer." So she decided to quit her job, and within two weeks, the reflux was gone. Christa's story is far from unusual.
"Stress can alter gut secretions and slow or speed up digestion, causing problems like reflux, nausea, constipation or diarrhea," says Michael Gershon, MD, professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia University and author of The Second Brain.
There may be farther-reaching consequences as well: "When anxiety disrupts digestive processes, the gut's microbiome may begin to change," explains Dr. Gershon. "The presence or absence of different bacteria can influence the strength of your entire immune system, your weight, even your mood." The good news: A little R & R can help restore the balance of bugs in your belly.
You can't stop scratching
In response to any sort of trauma or pathogen, the skin's nerve endings release chemical signals called neuropeptides that communicate "Houston, we have a problem" to the brain. Weirdly, a looming deadline or crammed social calendar can activate the same messengers—resulting in inflammation that makes you feel itchy.
"The skin is a dynamic organ, and skin and stress have a complicated interplay," says Dr. Huang.
Your dreams are downright wacky
If your sleep scenes play out like Dancing with the Stars-meets-The Walking Dead fan fiction, you may need a lot more shut-eye. People who are sleep-deprived tend to have more intense dreams, though experts aren't entirely sure why.
One possible explanation: When you're not getting enough rest, your brain prioritizes REM sleep—the most restorative stage, which also happens to be when dreams occur.
"Typically, REM sleep doesn't begin until about 90 minutes after you fall asleep," says Joyce Walsleben, PhD, associate professor at the Sleep Disorders Center at NYU School of Medicine. "But if you're exhausted, the brain can get there in as few as 10 minutes."
Throughout the night, it will cycle quickly through the other two stages of sleep to make up for the deficit in REM, which means more time for creative nocturnal imaginings to unfold.
Plus, if you're stressed-out and sleeping fitfully, you're more likely to wake up middream, or just after one, and remember the details vividly—especially if it involved, say, flamenco-dancing zombies.
Your head pounds on Saturdays
After a brutal week at the office, the weekend feels like a gift from the gods. You sleep in, enjoy a leisurely brunch and then...develop throbbing pressure in your skull?
"We're not exactly sure why, but migraines are sometimes triggered by the letdown after a period of stress rather than the stress itself," explains Peter Goadsby, PhD, a neurologist who specializes in headache disorders at Kings College London.
The effect might be the result of a sharp drop in cortisol. Who knew?
POSES FOR PEACE
Your brain and body are screaming for z's—but stress is keeping you up at night. Help! This simple yoga series from celebrity instructor Mandy Ingber can help relax your mind for better rest.
1. Easy seated pose with alternate-nostril breathing
Sit on the floor, legs crossed. Use your right thumb to close your right nostril. Inhale through your left nostril. At the top of the inhale, close your left nostril with your right ring finger and release right nostril. Exhale and inhale through your right nostril. Close right nostril again and exhale through left nostril. Repeat the sequence 16 times.
2. Reclining Pigeon Pose
Lie on your back, knees bent and soles of feet on the floor. Cross right ankle over left knee. Clasp your hands behind left hamstring and draw thigh toward your torso. Hold for up to two minutes, breathing deeply. Switch sides.
3. Legs-up-the-wall pose
Sit by a wall with right hip and shoulder touching it, knees bent. Roll onto your back and extend legs up the wall. Stay here for 5 to 10 minutes. "This mellow inversion reverses blood flow, encourages lymphatic drainage and brings renewed blood to your heart," says Ingber.
TENSION-BUSTING TIPS THE PROS USE
"I've created little cues to remind myself to take breaks. Now, whenever I'm stopped at a red light, or whenever I glance at the clock at work, I practice diaphragmatic breathing." —Alice Domar, PhD
"Some whole foods can actually help you handle stress better. Berries, red bell peppers and kale are all good sources of vitamin C, which helps regulate cortisol. And avocados contain loads of potassium, which helps keep your blood pressure healthy."—Wendy Bazilian, RD
"For the best sleep, you have to find a way to separate the day from the night. That might mean taking a quick shower before bed or starting a new bedtime routine, like writing in a journal or doing some yoga."—Joyce Walsleben, PhD
Many employees unaware of hypertension
Original post ebn.benefitnews.com
Some of the biggest annual price tags for employers include stroke and coronary artery disease, and many employees may be unaware they are at risk.
New research published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and released by Health Advocate shows that more than two-thirds of employees (68%) whose hypertension was discovered during workplace health screenings didn’t previously know they had the condition.
The study analyzed more than 31,000 members of self-insured employer group plans. In addition to the high percentage who had undiagnosed hypertension, the study said prescriptions for hypertension medications spiked following the screenings, indicating that plan members were quick to respond to the bad news.
“It’s a reminder that we’ve known for a long time that the most cost effective screenings you can do is for blood pressure,” says LuAnn Heinen, vice president, workforce well-being, productivity, and human capital at the National Business Group on Health. “They’re easy to do and can be done by onsite clinics and kiosks, or it can be part of a broader biometric screening.”
The study also looked at other factors and characteristics that may increase the risk of an employee having undiagnosed hypertension. Specifically, the study noted that obese patients have a 155% greater risk of having undiagnosed hypertension.
“Hypertension becomes particularly concerning, especially when combined with sedentariness, smoking, diabetes, obesity and a poor diet,” Heinen adds.
Some of the common steps employers are taking to combat hypertension, and enhance overall well-being, include providing fitness facilities, learning programs and tobacco cessation programs.
“Our analysis shows the value and necessity of these onsite health screenings for both organizations and their employees,” says Antonio Legorreta, president of engage2Health, Health Advocate’s health informatics division. “By identifying issues like hypertension sooner, employees can access appropriate treatment earlier, leading to improved health outcomes and reduced costs.”