Benefits Buzz
Posted December 12th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
We haven’t even gotten through the 2018 open enrollment season yet, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has already proposed rules that would impact health insurance markets for 2019. Each year, CMS issues a Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters which explains various rules, inflation adjustments and other changes that will occur with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Health Savings Account (HSA) market has grown rapidly in the past decade. More than 21 million people currently have an HSA and there’s still plenty of opportunity for growth. In fact, a recent report projects 30 million HSAs by the end of 2019.
Here are the top employer benefits of an HSA:
Bipartisan efforts (yes, you read that right) are underway to repeal the Cadillac Tax imposed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A letter signed by 140 bipartisan members of the House of Representatives (House) urges a repeal this year. Efforts are being led by Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT-2) and Mike Kelly (R-PA-3).
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has updated its Questions and Answers website in regards to the Employer Mandate, and it appears they have started to send initial notices to employers who are subject to a penalty for the 2015 year (generally, this will be employers with 100 or more employees since transition relief was available in 2015 to employers with 50-99 employees).
Posted November 14th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
Congressional Republicans have shifted their focus from healthcare reform to tax reform. According to an overview which was released in late September, three key objectives of tax reform are to:
- Make the tax code simple, fair and easy to understand.
- Give American workers a pay raise by allowing them to keep more of their paychecks.
- Bring back trillions of dollars that are currently kept offshore to reinvest in the American economy.
