Although the end of the year is a busy time, employers should continue to prioritize compliance requirements for their employee benefit plans. There are several benefits-related tasks that employers should make sure are completed by the end of 2023, such as:
- Submitting a gag clause attestation for their health plans (or confirming that an issuer or third-party administrator (TPA) submits the attestation);
- Amending plan documents for discretionary changes made for 2023;
- Confirming annual notices have been provided, such as the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) notice; and Performing any necessary nondiscrimination testing.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) made a number of reforms to group health plan coverage when it was enacted in 2010. Since then, changes have been made to various ACA requirements that employers should be aware of. These changes include annual cost-of-living increases to certain ACA dollar limits, extensions to ACA reporting deadlines and updates to preventive care coverage guidelines.
The traditional concept of a vacation often involves escaping the daily grind and relaxing in a faraway destination. However, the landscape of work and leisure has recently been transformed, with remote and hybrid work becoming more prevalent. This shift has led to workcations, where remote employees take vacations while still working, and “hush trips,” which are workcations not disclosed to the company.
If you are getting close to your 65th birthday, you are likely preparing to enroll in Medicare. Enrolling in Medicare and figuring out how to decrease your out-of-pocket health care expenses can be daunting. A Medicare supplement plan for 2024 can save you money and provide peace of mind.
The IRS has released final 2023 forms and instructions for reporting under Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056:
A recent report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) predicted that the average growth in national health expenditures would outpace average gross domestic product (GDP) growth from 2022 to 2031, at 5.4% and 4.6%,respectively. Per person spending is also expected to increase to an annual rate of 4.8% from 2022 to 2031. This is above pre-COVID-19-pandemic growth rates for per person spending, which averaged 3.9% per capita between 2014 and 2019. CMS anticipated that the growth in national and per person health care spending would contribute to an increase in the health care spending share of the GDP.
Each year, Medicare Part D requires group health plan sponsors to disclose to individuals who are eligible for Medicare Part D and to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) whether the health plan’s prescription drug coverage is creditable.
A recent report by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) found the top 25 prescription drugs have tripled in price that Medicare Part D spends the most on. The 25 drugs analyzed in the report represent a significant portion of overall Medicare spending. In fact, the AARP report found that Medicare spent nearly $81 billion on these 25 prescription medications in 2021, more than 37% of total Medicare spending that year. These drugs are taken by more than 10 million Americans enrolled in a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. Furthermore, the AARP report found that the price increases for all but one of these medications greatly surpassed the annual rate of inflation.
This overview summarizes Key HSA Features – 2024 Compliance. Health savings accounts (HSAs) are a popular type of tax-advantaged medical savings account available to individuals enrolled in high deductible health plans (HDHPs). Individuals can use their HSAs to pay for expenses covered under an HDHP until their deductible has been met, or they can use their HSAs to pay for qualified medical expenses that are not covered under the HDHP, such as dental or vision expenses.