United Benefit Advisors Insight and Analysis Blog

UBA Chicago Fifteen years ago, visionary UBA co-founders David LoCascio and Chris John gathered with a small group of employee benefits professionals in Rosemont, Illinois. United, they founded UBA Partners, an organization that would significantly enhance everyone’s respective practices by allowing them to retain their local entrepreneurial values, all while receiving the benefits of a larger corporate connection. Today, UBA has grown exclusive partnerships with more than 125 of the nation’s premier independent employee benefit advisory firms.

Topics: health plan benchmarking, independent employee benefits advisors, group benefit plans

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) released advance informational copies of the 2017 Form 5500 annual return/report and related instructions.

Topics: benefit plan reporting, group benefit plans, IRS Form 5500, tax reporting

When most experts think of group healthcare plans, Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans largely come to mind—though higher cost, they dominate the market in terms of plan distribution and employee enrollment. But Consumer-Directed Health Plans (CDHPs) have made surprising gains. Despite slight cost increases, CDHP costs are still below average and prevalence and enrollment in these plans continues to grow in most regions—a main reason why it was one of the top 7 survey trends recently announced.

Topics: health plan benchmarking, CDHPs, UBA Health Plan Survey, group benefit plans, consumer-directed health plan

Employers who are designing a health and welfare benefit plan for their employees often wonder about the rules relating to setting premiums for employees. Employers generally have significant flexibility in this part of their plan's design.

Topics: health insurance premiums, group benefit plans, employee benefit plan design, nondiscrimination

A health flexible spending account (FSA) is a pre-tax account used to pay for out-of-pocket health care costs for a participant as well as a participant's spouse and eligible dependents. Health FSAs are employer-established benefit plans and may be offered with other employer-provided benefits as part of a cafeteria plan. Self-employed individuals are not eligible for FSAs.

Topics: FSA, group benefit plans, health flexible spending account

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was signed in 1974. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is the agency responsible for administering and enforcing this law. For many years, most of ERISA's requirements applied to pension plans. However, in recent years that has changed, and group plans (called "welfare benefit plans" by ERISA and the DOL) now must meet a number of requirements. Government and church plans do not need to comply with ERISA.

Topics: ERISA, group benefit plans, church plan

In my last post, I discussed using employee engagement as a measurement of benefits communication success. We know employees have concerns about their financial well-being, and look to their employers for education about new and existing benefit options. This, of course, can present challenges at open enrollment, as well as year-round communication efforts.

Topics: Open Enrollment, Sun Life Financial, group benefit plans, employee benefits advisors, benefits communication, Kevin D. Seeker, employee demographics

The age-old adage, "you get what you pay for," certainly holds true in the stop loss industry. I cannot stress enough how important it is to look at more than just the premium rates on a spreadsheet.

Topics: employee benefits, independent employee benefits advisors, group benefit plans, UMR, stop loss coverage, coverage gaps, Steven Goethel

Many employee benefit limits are automatically adjusted each year for inflation (this is often referred to as an "indexed" limit). UBA offers a quick reference chart showing the 2017 cost of living adjustments for health and Section 125 plans, qualified plans, Social Security/Medicare withholding, compensation amounts and more. This at-a-glance resource is a valuable desk tool for employers and HR practitioners.

Topics: health care costs, employee benefits, employee benefit limits, out-of-pocket limits, Danielle Capilla, group benefit plans

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