What’s employers’ No. 1 concern in 2017?
Does the new year have you worried? Check out this great article from Employee Benefits Advisor about employers concerns in 2017 by Phil Albinus
In the aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump’s surprise victory last month, the top employee benefit concern among employers remains their role on the Affordable Care Act. According to a survey of 800 employers conducted by brokerage solution provider Aon, nearly half — 48% — responded that the employer mandate is their biggest concern for the new administration.
According to J.D. Piro, head of the Aon’s law group, the concern stems from whether or not Trump will repeal and replace Obamacare and what plans the 115th Congress has for Medicare.
“It’s all of those [issues] and the employer mandate which has the reporting obligations, the disclosure obligations, 1094 and 1095 forms and the service tracking ... all of that goes into the ACA. The concern is, is it going to be dropped, expanded or modified in some way?” Piro tells EBN.
“Employers have all sorts of questions about that,” he adds.
The employer mandate was by far the top employer concern, according to the Aon survey, which was administered after the election. “Prescription drug costs” received 17% of responses and the “excise tax” received 15% of respondents’ attention. “Tax exclusion limitations on employer-sponsored healthcare” garnered 10% of votes while “paid leave laws” and “employee wellness programs” trailed at 8% and 2%, respectively.
The results didn’t surprise Piro. The employer mandate “is something employers had to get up to speed on and learn how to administer in a very short period of time. It was so complex that it was delayed for a year. It’s not yet part of the framework, and people are still addressing how to comply with it,” he says.
Looking ahead
While Piro declined to make any predictions about what the new administration will accomplish in terms of healthcare, he does think Congress will act quickly, if at least symbolically.
“I think something will happen in 2017. The most likely scenario is Republicans will pass some sort of repeal bill in the first 100 days of the new administration, but they will put off the effective date of the repeal until 2018 or 2019,” he says. “It will be somewhere down the road so they can decide when and what the replacement is going to be.”
The sheer complexity of ACA and Medicare will not make its repeal an easy matter for either the new Trump administration or Congress.
“This is an interconnected web of laws and rulings and the ACA affects every sector of healthcare. It’s thousands of pages of regulations,” Piro says. “Repealing it is not as easy as turning off a light switch or unplugging a computer and plugging it back in again.”
“A lot of people are affected by ACA and you have to consider what the impact is going to be.”
See the original article Here.
Source:
Albinus P. (2017 January 04). What's employers' no. 1 concern in 2017 [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/whats-employers-no-1-concern-in-2017?utm_campaign=eba%20daily-jan%204%202017&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&eid=909e5836add2a914a8604144bea27b68
New Law Allows Small Employers to Pay Premiums for Individual Policies
Check out this interesting article from ThinkHR, by Laura Kerekes
This week, the U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century Cures Act which includes a provision allowing small businesses to offer a new type of health reimbursement arrangement for their employees’ health care expenses, including individual insurance premiums. The act was previously passed by the House and President Obama is expected to sign it shortly. The provision for Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (QSEHRAs), a new type of tax-free benefit, takes effect January 1, 2017. Further, the act retroactively relieves small employers from the threat of excise taxes under prior rules for plan years beginning before 2017.
Background
Employers of all sizes currently are prohibited from making or offering any form of payment to employees for individual health insurance, whether through premium reimbursement or direct payment. Employers also are prohibited from providing cash or compensation to employees if the money is conditioned on the purchase of individual health insurance. (Some exceptions apply; e.g., retiree-only plans, dental/vision insurance.) Violations can result in excise taxes of $100 per day per affected employee.
The prohibition, implemented under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was intended to discourage employers from canceling their group plans and pushing workers into the individual insurance market. The rules have been particularly disruptive for small businesses, however, since previously it had been common practice for many small employers to subsidize the cost of individual policies instead of offering group coverage. The new law, passed this week with broad bipartisan support, responds to the concerns of small businesses.
New Qualified Small Employer HRAs
The new law does not repeal the ACA’s general prohibition against employer payment of individual insurance premiums. Rather, it provides an exception for a new type of arrangement — a Qualified Small Employer HRA or QSEHRA — provided that specific conditions are met.
First, the employer must meet two conditions:
- Employs on average no more than 50 full-time and full-time-equivalent employees. In other words, the employer cannot be an applicable large employer as defined under the ACA; and
- Does not offer a group health plan to any of its employees.
Next, the QSEHRA must meet all of the following conditions:
- It is funded solely by the employer; employee contributions are not permitted;
- It is offered to all full-time employees, although the employer may choose to include seasonal or part-time employees and/or may exclude employees with less than 90 days of service;
- For tax-free QSEHRA benefits, the employee must have minimum essential coverage (e.g., medical insurance under an individual policy);
- It pays or reimburses healthcare expenses (e.g., § 213(d) expenses) and premiums for individual policies;
- It does not pay or reimburse contributions for any employer-sponsored group coverage;
- The same benefits and terms apply to all eligible employees, except the benefit amount may vary by:
- Single versus family coverage;
- Prorated amounts for partial-year coverage (e.g., new hires); and
- For premium reimbursements, variations consistent with the age- and family-size rating structure of a representative individual policy; and
- Benefits do not exceed $4,950 if single coverage (or $10,000 if family coverage) per 12-month plan year. Amounts are prorated if covered for less than 12 months. Limits will be indexed for inflation.
Coordination with Exchange Subsidies
Coverage under a QSEHRA will affect the employee’s eligibility for a subsidized individual policy from an insurance Exchange (Marketplace). Any subsidy for which the employee would otherwise qualify will be reduced dollar-for-dollar by the QSEHRA.
Benefit Laws
Group health plans are subject to numerous federal laws, including SPD and other notice requirements under ERISA, coverage continuation requirements under COBRA, and benefit mandates under the ACA. The new law specifies that QSEHRAs are not group health plans, so COBRA and other requirements will not apply.
QSEHRA Notices
Small employers offering QSEHRAs will be required to provide a notice to each eligible employee that:
- Informs the employee of the QSEHRA benefit amount;
- Instructs the employee that he or she must give the QSEHRA information to the Exchange if applying for a subsidy for individual insurance; and
- Explains the tax consequences of failing to maintain minimum essential coverage.
QSEHRA notices should be provided at least 90 days before the start of the plan year.
Employers also will be required to report the QSEHRA coverage on Form W-2, Box 12. The reporting is informational only and has no tax consequences. Although small employers usually are exempt from this type of W-2 informational reporting, apparently it will be required for QSEHRAs starting with the 2017 tax year.
More Information
To learn more about QSEHRAs starting in 2017, or for details about the relief from excise taxes for small employers before 2017, see the 21st Century Cures Act. The relevant provisions are found in Section 18001 beginning on page 306.
Employers that are considering QSEHRAs are encouraged to work with legal counsel and tax advisors that offer expertise in this area. Starting in 2017, employer-funded QSEHRAs can offer valuable tax-free benefits to employees as long as they are designed and administered to meet all legal requirements.
See the original article Here.
Source:
Kerekes L. (2016 December 9). New law allows small employers to pay premiums for individual policies[Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.thinkhr.com/blog/hr/new-law-allows-small-employers-to-pay-premiums-for-individual-policies/
The big trends that will reshape retirement in 2017
Great article from Employee Benefits Advisor, by Bruce Shutan
Seven isn’t just a lucky number for rolling the dice in Vegas; it’s also a solid measure of key trends in retirement planning to watch in the coming year. Here’s what a handful of industry observers believe should be on the proverbial radar for HR and benefit professionals.
Between compliance with fee-disclosure requirements and a growing number of class-action lawsuits on 401(k) plan fees, many plan sponsors have sought more fiduciary partners to help them implement defined contribution plans. The observation comes from Josh Cohen, managing director, defined contribution at Russell Investments. In light of this litigation, he warns that choosing the lowest possible price may not necessarily be the best value or choice for helping improve retirement readiness.
Trisha Brambley, CEO of Retirement Playbook, says it’s critical to vet the team of prospective advisers and the intellectual capital they offer. Her firm offers employers a trademarked service that’s akin to a request for information that simplifies and speeds the competitive bidding process.
While the incoming Trump administration could delay, materially modify or altogether repeal the Department of Labor’s final fiduciary rule, it cannot reverse a “new awareness around the harm that’s created by conflicted advisers and brokers,” cautions David Ramirez, a co-founder of ForUsAll who heads the startup’s investment management. He expects plan sponsors who are managing at least $2 million in their 401(k) to continue asking sophisticated questions about the fiduciary roles his firm and other service providers assume and how they’re compensated. Ramirez points to a marketplace that’s demanding greater transparency, accountability and alignment of goals and incentives irrespective of what the DOL may require.
One way to improve the nation’s retirement readiness is by “fixing all of the broken 401(k) plans with between $2 million and $20 million in assets” that are paying too much in fees, doing too much administrative work or taking on too much liability, according to Ramirez. “In 2014, nearly three out of four companies failed their 401(k) audit and faced fines,” he notes, adding that last year the DOL flagged about four of 10 audits for having material deficiencies with the number being as high as two-thirds in some segments.
While litigation over high fees and the DOL’s fiduciary rule may not have a significant impact on small and mid-market plans, they’re spotlighting the need to make more careful decisions that are in the best interest of plan participants. That’s the sense of Fred Barstein, founder and executive director of the Retirement Adviser University, which is offered in collaboration with the UCLA Anderson School of Management Executive Education. He predicts there will be less revenue sharing in the institutional funds arena and better vetting of recordkeepers, money managers and plan advisers in terms of their fees and level of experience.
Default-driven plan design
Noting that it’s been 10 years since passage of the Pension Protection Act, Cohen says default-driven plan design continues to have a major impact on retirement planning. The trend is fueled by qualified default investment alternative options that encourage appropriate investment of employee assets in vehicles that will maximize long-term savings. He predicts “further customization” of off-the-shelf target date funds at the individual level based on each participant’s own unique situation and experiences. Moreover, he sees more use of a robo-adviser type framework built around managed accounts, while participants with a complex financial picture will seek a more tailored solution that fits their needs.
Financial wellness
Financial wellness cuts across virtually any demographic, Cohen notes. The point is to help balance household budgets with retirement-saving goals, “whether it involves millennials dealing with student debt or middle-aged parents dealing with college tuition, a mortgage or credit card debt,” he explains. He sees the use of more creative ideas, tools and support, such as encouraging young employees to pay off student loans by making a matching contribution to their 401(k).
For employers, a key to reaching millennials on financial wellness is through text messages over all other means of communication, suggests Ramirez, whose firm is able to get 18- to 24-year-olds saving 6.7% on average and 25 to 29-year-olds 7.3%. As part of that strategy, he says it’s important to set realistic goals, such as new entrants into the workforce deferring 6% of their salary before increasing that amount with rising earnings. The idea is to establish a culture that turns millennials into super savers.
“We’re seeing employers help their employees with just setting a basic budget,” says Rob Austin, director of retirement research for Aon Hewitt. “It can also move into things like saving for other life stages.”
Aon Hewitt recently released a report on financial wellness showing that 28% of all workers have student loans. While researchers noted that roughly half of millennials were saddled with this debt, the margin was cut in half for Gen Xers (about 25%) workers and halved again for baby boomers (about 12.5%). The employer response has been somewhat tepid, according to Austin. For example, just 3% of companies help employees pay for student loans, about 5% help consolidate those loans and 15% offer a 529 plan.
Financial wellness is being expanded and embedded into retirement programs to serve a growing need for more holistic information, observes Brambley. “A lot of people don’t even know how to manage a credit card, let alone figure out how to scrape up a few extra bucks to put in their 401(k) plan,” she says.
401(k) plan fees
Ted Benna, a thought leader in the retirement planning community commonly referred to as the “father of 401(k),” found earlier in the year “a very high level of indifference” among plan sponsors about the prices they pay for recordkeeping, investment management services and related costs. He says this was the case even at companies with “pretty outrageously high fees,” which proved to be a big shock for him.
The discovery coincided with the start of his latest advisory venture, which was designed to help shepherd sponsors through the 401(k) fee minefield with objective information to determine that the fees they were paying were reasonable and, thus, in the best interest of participants. But Benna didn’t see much demand for the service he envisioned, so he’s now in the throes of writing his fifth book, whose working title is “Escaping the Coming Retirement Crisis Revisited.”
Litigation over high fees has at least raised awareness among plan sponsors about the need for reasonable prices, along with sound investment offerings, as regulators step up their scrutiny of fiduciary duties, Austin says. While not necessarily related, he has noticed that nearly as many employers are now charging their administrative fees as a flat dollar amount vs. those that historically charge a percentage of one’s account balance. “If you have a $100,000 balance, and I have a $1,000 balance, you and I have access to the same tools and same funds,” he reasons. “So why would you pay 100 times what I’m paying just because your balance is higher?”
Greater automation
With increasing automation on the horizon, Ramirez notes that 401(k) plans are moving into cloud-based technology that will streamline core business processes and avoid careless errors.
For instance, that means no longer having to manually sync the 401(k) with payroll when employees change their deferral rate or download the payroll report to a 401(k) plan recordkeeper. “That’s 1990s technology,” he quips. “Signing up for the 401(k) can be as easy as posting a picture on Instagram or sending a tweet.”
Apart from vastly reducing the administrative burden, he says it also allows makes it easier for plan participants to enroll, increase deferrals, receive better advice based on algorithmic formulas and improve communications. The upshot is that when all these pieces of the puzzle are in place, ForUsAll has found that participants in the plans it manages save on average 8% of their pay across all industries and demographics.
Barstein believes there’s still going to be a lot of movement toward auto-enrollment and escalation, as well as the use of professionally managed investments like target-date funds, which he predicts will become more customized. “We’re starting to see where participants in one plan can choose a conservative, aggressive, or moderate version of a target date,” he says of efforts to improve an employee’s financial wellness.
Streamlined investments
Brambley sees a movement toward investment menu consolidation. She remembers how it was customary for employers to offer three to four distinctively different investment funds in the early years of 401(k) plans, which later gave way to about 20 such offerings on average. The push is now to weed out any duplication of so-called graveyard funds because she says “there’s some fiduciary risk to continue to offer them when they no longer meet the criteria on their investment policy statement.”
Cohen agrees that plan sponsors continue to see the benefit of streamlining the menu of options for a more manageable load. As part of that movement, he sees the adoption of “white labeling” of investment options that replaces opaque, retail-branded fund names with accurate generic descriptions. For example, they would reflect asset classes (i.e., the Bond Fund or the Stock Fund). The thinking is that this approach will generate more meaningful or practical value for participants whose knowledge of basic financial principles is limited.
Confining the selection of investments to a handful of funds in distinctly different asset classes will invariably make the process much easier for participants, Brambley suggests. This enables plan sponsors to wield “more negotiating power” on pricing because they have funds collecting under various asset-class headings, she explains.
Recordkeeper consolidation
Recordkeeper consolidation is going to continue, according to Barstein, who sees organizations that lack technology, scale and the support of their parent company will not survive marketplace change.
The most noteworthy activity will involve big-name mergers as opposed to scores of recordkeepers leaving or merging, he believes.
“If I was a plan sponsor, I’d be concerned because nobody really wants to go through a conversion,” Barstein says. “I’m sure JP Morgan forced a lot of their clients to either consider changing when they went through the acquisition by Empower.”
See the original article Here.
Source:
Shutan B.(2016 December 7). The big trends that will reshape retirement in 2017[Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/the-big-trends-that-will-reshape-retirement-in-2017
2017 HSA Limits Released
Original post benefitspro.com
Change is not the order of the day for health savings account (HSA) limits in 2017.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued its new guidelines for contributions and out-of-pocket expenses for HSAs that are tied to a high-deductible plan this week.
Maximum OOPs for individual and family accounts won’t budge next year, and contributions will remain intact for family plans. Individual contributions increased slightly.
Here’s the run-down of the details:
- Out-of-pocket maximums are unchanged at $6,550 for individuals and $13,100 for families;
- Maximum contributions for family plans remain the same at $6,750;
- Individual contributions can increase from $3,350 to $3,400.
High deductible plans in 2017 will be those that have an annual deductible of least $1,300 for self-only coverage and $2,600 for family coverage.
HSAs are open to all men and women enrolled in a high-deductible health insurance program (exceeding $1,300 for individuals and $2,600 for family) aside from those policyholders currently covered by Medicare or listed as a dependent.
For both 2015 and 2016, IRS regulations mandating the potential contributions on plans covering families (a minimum of two people) held successive increases of $100. Individual restrictions, meanwhile, were bumped up by $50 in 2015, but remained stable the following year.
The annual fluctuations of HSA contribution levels are based directly upon federal cost of living adjustments. They will be applied for the calendar year of 2017.
A full account of the new guidelines may be read under Revenue Procedure 2016-28.