Don't forget about employee ACA communication due Oct. 1
Originally posted by Keith R. McMurdy August 16, 2013 on https://eba.benefitnews.com
With the recent employer mandate delay, some businesses might be overlooking the requirement to provide a notice to employees about health insurance coverage that may be available through a public exchange.
Employers must provide a notice to each employee, regardless of plan enrollment status or part-time or full-time status, by Oct. 1. The notice must be provided automatically, free of charge, and written in language that the average employee can understand. It may be provided by first class mail or electronically, if the requirements of the U.S. Department of Labor’s electronic disclosures safe harbor are met. It must also be provided to new hires — for 2014, the DOL will consider a notice delivered timely to a new employee if it’s provided within 14 days of the start date.
The notice must inform each employee of three things:
- The existence of state or federal health insurance exchanges.
- If the employer plan’s share of the total allowed costs of benefits provided under the plan is less than 60%, then the employee may be eligible for a federal premium tax credit if the employee purchases a qualified health plan through an exchange.
- If the employee purchases a qualified health plan through an exchange, then the employee may lose the employer contribution to any health benefits plan offered by the employer; also, all or a portion of such contribution may be excludable from income for federal income tax purposes.
The good news is that employers don’t have to create the notices from scratch. The DOL published model notices, one for Employers Who Offer Health Plans, and one for Employers that Do Not Offer Health Plans. If employers have questions about how to complete the forms, this is an opportunity for an employee benefit adviser to step in and provide guidance. Above all, advisers should remind employers that they need to issue them. Just because employers have a year to wait on the coverage mandate does not mean they can ignore other compliance rules like this one.
Medicare Part D Notice Due Before October 15th
- You have flexibility in the form and manner of providing the Notice
- You may use the model notice form published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (although you are not required to do so).
- You are not required to send the Notice as a separate mailing. You can provide it with other participant information materials (although note that certain formatting requirements may apply)
- A separate disclosure must be provided if you know that the spouse or dependent resides at a different address than the participant.
- You may distribute the Notice electronically if you follow the same electronic disclosure requirements that apply to summary plan descriptions (SPDs), except you should inform the participant that he/she is responsible for providing a copy of the disclosure to his/her Medicare-eligible spouse and/or dependents eligible for coverage under the plan (otherwise, you will need to separately send them a hard copy notice) And you must post the Notice on your website (if you have one) with a link on your home page to the Notice.
- If you have not yet finished your 2013 offerings, the Notice should still be provided now based on your current 2012 offerings. If the status of those offerings changes from creditable to non-creditable (or vice versa), you will need to provide an additional Notice within a reasonable period of time (maximum 60 days) after the change occurs. You should indicate on your Notice that it will not be updated if coverage changes but it remains creditable or non-creditable (as applicable)
4 calls for medical help from employees
Originally posted on https://ebn.benefitnews.com
The Grand Rounds’ recent Employee Benefit Expectation survey, the results of which were announced Wednesday, emphasizes the high value employees place on medical plans that can extended to newer shapes of families – same-sex couples, aging parents and medical dependents much older than 21. "The modern employee," the survey reads, "is looking for employers that recognize the changing state of familial responsibilities."
Access to medical opinions and expert advice is very important to today’s employees – rated more desirable than free annual flu shots. Here are four things workers crave out of medical coverage and information, and how employers can benefit from meeting those needs.
More than one in four (28%) employees tell Grand Rounds they wouldn't know how to find a qualified medical specialist for a serious illness affecting them or a loved one, and 35% say they would pay $5,000 or more for the world’s leading specialist to review their own or a loved one’s case. “Today’s employee is hungry for better access,” Grand Rounds says.
Some 60% of respondents would be more likely to stay with their employer if free access to expert medical opinions was offered, versus only traditional health insurance. Additionally, when choosing between multiple employment offers, 68% say they would be more likely to select a position that includes free access to expert medical opinions that extends to their family.
"There is a real talent war going on in this country, especially here in Silicon Valley,” says Rick Foreman, CFO and VP of business operations for Wealthfront, a Grand Rounds client. “This means that recruiting and retaining top-notch talent no longer means providing weekly happy hours or a Ping-Pong table. It’s about adding real value to our employees' lives."
As part of the so-called Sandwich Generation, 47% of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent aged 65 or older and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child, according to the Pew Research Center. Increasingly, employees want help with their older family members: 60% of employees with living parents tell Grand Rounds that it's important health care benefits extend to them. “As employees widen their definition of family, they expect employers to do the same,” Ground Rounds says.
A whopping 89% of those surveyed say they would travel to receive a second opinion from a medical expert on a disease or condition. More than a third (35%) would go anywhere in the United States, and 22% say they would travel anywhere in the world – such is the extent of their desire for the best possible medical help.
6 solutions to the retirement crisis
Originally posted by Paula Aven Gladych on https://www.benefitspro.com
Chad Parks, president and CEO of The Online 401(k), wants to find a solution to the retirement crisis in America. He and some colleagues drove cross-country last year interviewing people from all walks of life about their retirement savings and their ability to retire. They put their findings into a film called, “The Looming Retirement Crisis in America.”
After doing his research, Parks believes there are six major obstacles to retirement in America, but the good news is that there are also solutions.
(By the way, if his solutions seem a bit obvious to you, it’s because you’re in the business and have been paying attention. And if that’s the case, Parks’ list could only help you make your case with prospects).
Coverage
According to Parks, people need to save at work but to do that, they need an employer that offers a retirement plan. More than 40 million workers cannot save at work because they don’t have access to any sort of plan.
The solution? Mandated retirement savings plans, like auto IRAs, USA Retirement Accounts, 401(k)s and others.
Participation
Getting people to actually save money can be difficult. Some individuals won’t save for retirement even if they have access to a work-based plan.
The solution? Automatic enrollment. Features like this, added to an existing 401(k), have been shown to improve participation rates because the number of people who opt out of plans after being automatically enrolled is very small.
Saving enough
Many people don’t save enough for retirement and, even if they do save, they never increase the amount they save over their lifetime. A lot of workers save 3 percent their entire working lives, which isn’t enough to provide lifetime income in retirement.
The solution? Automatic escalation. Plans that offer this feature have had great success in building employee account balances. Every year, automatically, these plans increase employees’ deferrals into their retirement savings plan by at least 1 percent. The goal is to have everyone save between 10 and 15 percent of their pay in retirement savings over time.
Investing appropriately
Workers need to invest their money appropriately for their age, their ability to take on risk and with current market conditions in mind, according to Parks.
The solution? Cost-effective professional advice. Studies have shown that workers who confer with a financial professional save and invest more appropriately for their own situation than those who don’t work with an advisor.
Accumulation/adjustment
Accumulation of money is not the only goal, according to Parks. It also is important to adjust a person’s savings as their life changes.
The solution? Regular annual checkups. Plan participants should revisit their accounts at least once a year to make sure they are in the right investments and not taking on more risk than they can handle.
Retirement/decumulation/lifetime income
Many investors continue to invest in riskier options well into the years when they should be scaling back on the risk and preserving their savings. They also don’t know how to prudently “decumulate” their money and haven’t explored lifetime income options.
The solution? According to industry experts, many retirement plans don’t advise individuals to annuitize even if it would be in their best interest to do so. Instead, they handle longevity risk by setting a higher age for the end of the planning period. Seeking advice about annuitization can help individuals decide whether purchasing an annuity for guaranteed lifetime income is a good option for them.
10 post-DOMA tips for benefits managers
Originally posted by Dan Cook on https://www.benefitspro.com
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Windsor that the federal government is required to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states that allow such marriages, benefits managers started dialing 911.
In an article posted on the Sutherland Asbill & Brennan website, attorneys Vanessa Scott, Carol Weiser, Joanna Myers and Mikka Gee Conway offer considerable guidance on how to amend a benefits plan to meet the implications of Windsor.
Their 10 tips should be read with the understanding that forward-looking plan managers will be anticipating that same-sex marriages will sooner or later be part of the domestic law landscape and will revise their plans accordingly. One major issue currently centers on the state in which a same-sex marriage was performed vs. the state where a same-sex couple resides. But again, assume that residence will eventually prevail for those couples married elsewhere.
Here are their 10 tips:
1. Generally, spousal provisions in an employer’s employee benefit plans, including qualified retirement plans, welfare plans and fringe benefit plans, should apply to same-sex spouses in the same manner as they are applied to opposite-sex spouses.
2. There may be an exception to the general rule above in the case of welfare plans and fringe benefits that define covered “spouses” by reference to the law of a state that does not recognize same-sex spouses or such plans that do not clearly define the term “spouse.” In these cases, plan administrators may still have the authority to interpret the term “spouse” to exclude same-sex spouses. However, it is unclear whether such interpretation might now be considered “arbitrary and capricious” if challenged in litigation following the Windsor decision.
3. Any plan or benefit policy amendment or interpretation that relates to spouses —including prospective verification of spousal status — should be applied to opposite-sex couples in the same manner as same-sex spouses.
4. Plans that do not currently offer spousal benefits at all will not be required to offer spousal benefits as a result of the Windsor decision.
5. For qualified retirement plans, there are implications for application of qualified joint and survivor annuity rules, Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 415 maximums, minimum required distributions, and qualified domestic relations orders. The implications for health plans include the need to offer COBRA to same-sex spouses.
6. Welfare plans that currently offer benefits to same-sex spouses of employees and impute income on the value of the benefit to the employee for federal tax purposes will no longer need to do so. This may require amendments to plan documents and communication materials.
7. Welfare plans that do not impute income on the value of benefits provided to same-sex spouses for state tax purposes in states that allow (or recognize) same-sex marriage will continue this practice. In states that do not allow (nor recognize) same-sex marriage, welfare plans will continue to impute income on the value of benefits provided to same-sex spouses for state tax purposes.
8. It is unclear whether the Windsor decision will have a retroactive impact. Guidance on this issue from federal agencies is anticipated in the coming days and weeks. However, a retroactive application by agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service (e.g., if the Service reads the Code as if Section 3 of DOMA was never enacted) could be costly, even for plans that currently provide same-sex spousal benefits.
9. Employers will no longer be required to pay FICA taxes on the value of welfare benefits provided to a same-sex spouse. Employers that currently offer same-sex benefits should consider whether they should seek a refund for FICA taxes paid on those benefits during the past three years.
10. The Windsor decision does not require employers to recognize rights granted under “marriage-like” relationships, such as domestic partnerships and civil unions.
Eating out may hurt work performance, study shows
Originally posted August 01, 2013 by Stephen Smith on https://www.cbsnews.com
Eating lunch outside the office will relax you - but it may also hinder your job performance, according to new research.
Scientists at Humboldt University in Berlin say that eating at a restaurant with a friend reduces "cognitive control and error monitoring." By contrast, workers who ate alone at their desk had no such adverse effects.
The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, tracked participants who ate alone at their desk and those who walked to a restaurant to lunch with a friend. Each group consumed the same exact meal but the desk lunchers ate their food under time restrictions.
A mood rating questionnaire showed "a relaxation effect of the restaurant as compared to the plain meal situation," the study said.
Researchers also found that after the meal, those who ate at a restaurant were calmer and sleepier compared to those who ate solo at their desks. The restaurant eaters also demonstrated "reduced cognitive control" compared to the desk eaters.
The study's authors said it was impossible to gauge the impact of each variable in the study, such as the social context (alone vs. with a friend), availability of time (limited vs. plenty) and environment (small office vs. spacious restaurant).
The researchers suggested that accountants and scientists who eat out may see their work performance decline - but artists may actually see benefits.
"Reduced cognitive control is a disadvantage when close self-monitoring of performance and detailed attention to errors is required, such as in laboratory and factory work or numerical processing," they wrote. "In other situations, an attenuation of cognitive control may be advantageous, such as when social harmony or creativity is desired."
Should exchanges be part of your company's plan?
Originally posted August 06, 2013 by Justyn Harkin on https://ebn.benefitnews.com
Although considering the new health care exchanges may have seemed radical a few weeks ago, now that everybody gets to drop ten and punton the employer mandate penalty in 2014, the idea may not be so strange.
Sure, migrating employees to the exchanges isn’t right for every organization. If the move would upset your workforce, then keeping your current group plan is probably best. But if employees would view exchange offerings as equal or better than what they current have, then there could be plenty of upsides.
If you think the exchanges would be better than what you have now for both your company and your employees, or even if you just want to get a leg up on communications (and believe me, that’s never a bad idea), then you and your employees have three options — public exchanges, private exchanges (fully insured), private exchanges (self-insured).
Which one might be best for your organization? Let's see.
Public exchanges
One of the most attractive ideas about moving to a public exchange has to be handing over the considerable financial and administrative burdens for running your company’s health benefits.
For some organizations, the move might be cheaper than what they are doing now. Even when you factor in the likely, eventual activation of the $2,000-per-employee fine for not providing insurance, you could still be paying less than what you would if you were covering premiums.
Of course, sending employees to public exchanges isn’t necessarily a slam-dunk move. Your workforce could straight-up riot if you tell them you’re cutting health benefits, and even if you raise salaries (oh, hello there, higher payroll taxes) to help them cover the costs of buying their own insurance, your recruiting efforts could take a hit if your competitors keep their health benefits.
Private exchanges with fully insured plans
Perhaps the biggest advantage of using a private exchange is the ability to shift some of the rising costs of health care to employees and give them the ability to control their spending.
In a private exchange, employees get an allowance from their employer that can be used to buy insurance. The idea is that giving employees control of the purchasing decision takes some of the heat off of your company. After all, if the cost of health care rises, that’s not your fault?
So what’s the downside to this type of exchange? Well, in the worse-case scenario it’s a less healthy, less productive workforce. Because employees will be making purchasing decisions, they may choose lower premiums over better coverage, and that can contribute to poorer health and higher rates of absenteeism.
Private exchanges with self-insured plans
The last of your exchange options are private exchanges with self-insured plans. Compared with the types of plans offered on public exchanges and private exchanges with fully insured plans, the plans available on private exchanges with self-insured plans can seem very attractive employees — generally lower premiums, more generous plan features, and more in-network doctors — but they will be more expensive.
The self-insured private exchange option might be slightly more expensive than what you could do with a fully insured private exchange, that’s true, but the available plans would be more oriented toward long-term health.
Still, using self-insured plans means you’ll have to assume all the risk and pay for all your employees’ claims. Also your employees will become customers of the private exchange insurance companies, and that means you won’t have the same influence (over the companies or choices) that you would otherwise have.
How will you spend the bonus year?
Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Mark J. Mazur’s July 3 announcement might have seemed like the best health care reform–related thing to happen to employers all year.
If you take the “transition year” at face value, meaning the mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements are being postponed, then you have the perfect chance to carefully consider your company’s next moves.
Maybe you’ll decide to take the plunge. Perhaps you’ll rule out the exchanges altogether. You might even decide to let other companies test the waters first so you can be prepared later on.
No matter what path you chose, though, the most important thing is taking the time to make the best decision for your company and your employees. And then communicate that decision in a clear and engaging way. Good luck!
House-passed bill would bar IRS enforcement of health care reform law
Originally posted August 2, 2013 by Jerry Geisel by https://www.businessinsurance.com
The House of Representatives approved legislation Friday that would bar the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service from enforcing the health care reform law.
The Republican-backed measure cleared the House on a 232-185 vote.
Under the bill, H.R. 2009, regulators would be unable to enforce key health care reform law provisions such as the requirement — delayed last month by the Treasury Department to 2015 — that employers with at least 50 full-time employees offer coverage or pay a fee and a 2014 requirement that individuals enroll in a health plan or pay a fine.
The bill — as has been the case with other measures approved by the House to repeal all or part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — is unlikely to be taken up by the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority.
Even if the Senate were to pass the House measure, President Barack Obama would veto it.
The legislation “would raise health insurance premiums and increase the number of uninsured Americans and represents another attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, with no plan to replace it or policy to improve it,” the administration said in a statement by the Office of Management and Budget earlier this week.
Instead of attempting to repeal the reform law, lawmakers should work with the administration on an agenda to provide greater economic security to the middle class, the administration said in the statement.
Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who introduced the latest House measure to repeal the law, said earlier that “we ought to take this common sense step to take the IRS out of health care.”
The Perfect Workspace According to Science
Originally posted by Christian Jarrett on https://99u.com
The spaces we occupy shape who we are and how we behave. This has serious consequences for our psychological well-being and creative performance. Given that many of us spend years working in the same room, or even at the same desk, it makes sense to organize and optimize that space in the most beneficial ways possible.
When it comes to building your workspace you can aim for the trendy look and flick through some interior design mags, or you can let science guide the way. Based on recent psychology and neuroscience findings, here are some simple and effective steps you can take once to improve your productivity for years:
Take ownership of your workspace
The simple act of making your own decisions about how to organize your workspace has an empowering effect and has been linked with improved productivity.
Craig Knight, Director of the Identity Realization workplace consultancy, showed this in a 2010 study with Alex Haslam involving 47 office workers in London. Those workers given the opportunity to arrange a small office with as many or few plants and pictures as they wanted were up to 32 percent more productive than others not given this control. They also identified more with their employer, a sign of increased commitment to the team effort and increased efficiency.
If you are an office manager this suggests you should give your staff as much input into the design of their office and immediate workspace as possible. Many companies even give their employees a small amount of money to furnish their space. Alternatively, if you’re a creative in an open-plan office, try to find ways to make your mark on your immediate environment. Even the simple use of a pin-board to post your own pictures and messages could help you feel that the space is yours with consequent benefits for your work.
Choose rounded furniture and arrange it wisely
If you have the luxury of designing your own workspace, consider choosing a layout and furniture that is curved and rounded rather than sharp and straight-edged. Creating this environment has been linked with positive emotions, which is known to be beneficial for creativity and productivity (added bonus: there’s also less chance of knocking an elbow or knee on a sharp corner).
In a 2011 study, hundreds of undergrads looked at computer-generated pictures of room interiors and rated those filled with curvilinear (rounded), as opposed to rectilinear, furniture as more pleasing and inviting. Another study out this year found that people rated curvy, rounded environments as more beautiful than straight-edged rectilinear environments and that the rounded spaces triggered more activity in brain regions associated with reward and aesthetic appreciation.
This contrast between straight edges and curves also extends to the way we arrange our furniture. Apparently, King Arthur was on to something: sitting in circles provokes a collective mindset, whereas sitting in straight lines triggers feelings of individuality – something worth thinking about at your next meeting if you want to encourage team cohesion.
Apparently, King Arthur was on to something: sitting in circles provokes a collective mindset.
Take advantage of color, light and space
Choosing the right color and lighting scheme for your office is one of the simplest ways your environment can enhance your performance. Different colors and light levels have different psychological effects, so the ideal situation is to install a lighting system that allows you to alter the hue and brightness of your room to suit the kind of work that you’re engaged in.
For instance, exposure to both blue and green has been shown to enhance performance on tasks that require generating new ideas. However, the color redhas been linked with superior performance on tasks involving attention to detail. Another study out this year showed that a dimmer environment fostered superior creativity in terms of idea generation, probably because it encourages a feeling of freedom. On the other hand, brighter light levels were more conducive to analytical and evaluative thinking.
Not as easy to modify, but ceiling height has also been shown to have psychological effects. A 2007 study found that a higher ceiling was associated with feelings of freedom, together with a more abstract and relational thinking style that helped participants see the commonalities between objects and concepts.
Make use of plants and windows
If you only do one thing to optimize your workspace, invest in a green plant or two.Research has repeatedly shown that the presence of office plants has a range of benefits including helping workers recover from demanding activities and lowering stress levels. As a bonus, there’s also evidence that plants can reduce office pollution levels.
Another feature of an optimized office is a window with a view, preferably of a natural landscape. This is because a glance at the hills or a lake recharges your mind. Obviously a view of nature isn’t possible for many people who work in cities, but even in an urban situation, a view of trees or intricate architecture have both been linked with restorative benefits. If you can’t negotiate a desk with a view, another plan is to choose an office in your building that’s the shortest stroll from an urban park. A visit here will revitalize your mind and compensate for your lack of a view.
If you only do one thing to optimize your workspace, invest in a green plant or two.
The benefits of a messy desk
There’s a lot of pressure these days to be organized. How are you supposed to get your work done if you can’t even find a clear space on your desk to roll a mouse or place a plant? But new research suggests Einstein may have been onto something when he opined: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
Kathleen Vohs and her colleagues at the University of Minnesota found that participants tested in a messy room at a desk covered with paper came up with more imaginative uses for a ping pong ball than participants tested in a tidy room. This matches the views of consultant Craig Knight who has argued against the modern trend for “lean” workspaces. “We don’t understand psychologically why putting someone in an impoverished space should work, when it doesn’t work for any other animal on the planet,” he said recently.
It also fits with the advice from Eric Abrahamson – co-author of A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder – who says people with highly ordered desks oftenstruggle to find things because their filing systems are so complicated. He also points out a key advantage to a mess – you can find things in it that you didn’t expect. Discovering that ground-breaking idea you scribbled on a piece of paper two years ago could be just the spark to get your next project off the ground.
***
It’s easy to neglect the importance of your workspace, especially if you’re under pressure of deadlines and not so into interior design. But hopefully this review has convinced you that the spaces we occupy really can affect us psychologically. It’s vital that you choose an office space that you feel happy and comfortable in. If your freedom is restricted, shape the space as much as you can to make it your own. Get your surroundings in order and the rest is sure to follow.
Why B Corps Matter
Original content published on https://www.bcorporation.net
Certified B Corporations are leading a global movement to redefine success in business.
By voluntarily meeting higher standards of transparency, accountability, and performance, Certified B Corps are distinguishing themselves in a cluttered marketplace by offering a positive vision of a better way to do business.
We hope that you are inspired, not just by our vision, but by the movement's ability to translate ideas into action.
B Corps create higher quality jobs and improve the quality of life in our communities. And, as the movement grows, it has become an increasingly powerful agent of change. We are passing laws. We are driving capital.
Government and the nonprofit sector are necessary but insufficient to address society's greatest challenges. Business, the most powerful man-made force on the planet, must create value for society, not just shareholders. Systemic challenges require systemic solutions and the B Corp movement offers a concrete, market-based and scalable solution.
Over 600 businesses have already joined our community, encouraging all companies to compete not just to be the best in the world, but to be the best for the world. As a result of our collective success, individuals and communities will enjoy greater economic opportunity, society will address its most challenging environmental problems, and more people will find fulfillment by bringing their whole selves to work.
Measure What Matters: Using the B Impact Assessment - A free tool to assess, compare and improve your company’s impact. Join us August 22 for our Next Saxon University and learn how to help redefine success for your business so that you can not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world.