Human Capital Management Blog

Good news! The IRS received and applied some of the feedback they received on simplifying the 1095-C.

In the employer market, deductibles have increased 67% since 2010. As more employers steer plan participants toward High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs), Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can often sweeten the transition. HSAs are a benefit available only to members participating in a HDHP. Both employers and employees can make pre-tax contributions into the account, and store up pre-tax cash to pay down deductibles when they incur claims. To boot, employees can take their HSA with them once they leave the employer. Employee's contribute pre-tax, the accounts grow tax-free, and withdrawals for qualifying expenses are made tax-free. It has some great benefits. That being said, employers already offering a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to employees ought to keep a few potential pitfalls in mind as they transition.

It’d be nice to have another 2 month extension this year for ACA filing. It'd also be nice If I could see the Chicago Bears win the Superbowl again before I die. I’m not holding my breath. To comply with in-house resources, or outsource ACA compliance—that is the question! As we approach our second year of mandatory IRS filing (wow that was fast) Applicable Large Employers subject to the Employer Shared-Responsibility Mandate of the Affordable Care Act are faced yet again with the decision on how they will complete their annual filing requirements. For those conducting the cost-benefit analysis of in-house filing, here are ten costs to consider when looking to comply with in-house resources. Brace yourself, this might sting a little.

Who doesn’t want to reduce stress on their employees? Apparently, open enrollments aren't helping. A recent study conducted by Harris Pole of over 2100 employees revealed that roughly 50% of employees find the open enrollment process to be “Always Stressful” and over 40% described selecting health benefits as “Very Confusing.” Makes sense—you’ve got HMOs, PPOs, EPOs, HSAs, FSA, HRAs, HDHPs…and suddenly I’m thinking about Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam. When employees are looking at selecting a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) for the first time, here are a few things worth sharing.

Choosing between a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and a Health Savings Account (HSA) can be confusing and lead to frustration. Here is a quick list of differences to help you in your mission to pick which plan is best.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its Employer Shared Responsibility Mandate have placed a costly burden on employers who traditionally did not extend employer sponsored health coverage to variable hour employees. The ACA now requires employers to offer health coverage to those employees that work more than 30 hours per week (130 hours per month over a 12 month measurement period), or risk paying a penalty. In an effort to avoid the cost of penalties and additional health insurance expenses, a number of employers looked to ways of reducing their full-time employee population, or minimize the number of employees to whom they would be required to offer coverage or risk paying a penalty. Makes sense. Then came the lawsuit Marin v. Dave & Buster’s Inc.

As Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are growing in popularity, employers having increasing questions on the difference between Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs), FLEX Spending Accounts (FSAs) and HSAs. While there are overlapping regulations in each of these benefits, there are also important distinguishing factors. This blog will focus on the question: “For an HRA vs. HSA vs. FSA, must a qualified expense be incurred during the same plan year that the contribution is made?” Let’s focus on how each of these benefits responds.

We have some time between now and the effective date of NY Paid Family Leave Act (PFLA) in January of 2018. Indeed a lot can happen in 18 months that may impact our plans for administering NY Paid Family Leave, but probably not enough to justify postponing our preparation strategy for administering this new benefit. In this blog I'll be covering some key considerations when building your process for administering Paid Family Leave. Of note, PFLA shares some similarities with FMLA, but is by no means a carbon copy.