Proposed regulations for revising and greatly expanding the Department of Labor (DOL) Form 5500 reporting are set to take effect in 2019. Currently, the non-retirement plan reporting is limited to those employers that have more than 100 employees enrolled on their benefit plans, or those in a self-funded trust. The filings must be completed on the DOL EFAST2 system within 210 days following the end of the plan year.
Topics: small group employers, Form 5500, Carol Taylor, small business, group benefit plans, health plan reporting
In the early 2000s, prescription costs were around 20 percent of total medical claim spend. This number stayed relatively unchanged for a number of years. Recently, this number has been increasing at an alarming rate.
Topics: Carol Taylor, UBA Health Plan Survey, prescription drug cost, specialty pharmacy drug prices, medical claim spend, medical claims costs, UBA Special Report
Small employers are feeling the squeeze from increasing costs of medical care and increasing premiums for the medical insurance they offer their employees. Recently released findings from the 2015 UBA Health Plan Survey show that 54 percent of small employers are currently offering gold or platinum plans to their employees. However, with the pressure from rising medical care costs, the introduction of community rating in setting insurance rates, and the end of grandmothering, it is highly unlikely that this trend will continue.
Topics: health care costs, ACA, health care reform, Carol Taylor, community rating, UBA Health Plan Survey, Affordable Care Act, metal level benefits
On November 6, 2014, the collective Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor (DOL) and the Treasury released three Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) directed at employer payment plans for the purchase of individual insurance. While the departments had previously released several other pieces of guidance about these arrangements, this latest round exclaimed an emphatic no!
Topics: HHS, DOL, employers, employees, premiums, individual plans, Carol Taylor, FAQ