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Webinar Guidance on Effective Open Enrollment Communications
Open Enrollment, the fourth-quarter period when employees enroll in employer-sponsored group benefit programs, is “crunch time” for human resource managers and their staff. At a time when HR professionals’ plates are full of end-of-...
Legal Alert: IRS Issues Affordability Percentage Adjustment for 2024
This alert is of interest to all applicable large employers (ALEs) – generally, those with at least 50 full-time equivalent employees. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Rev. Proc. 2023-29, which contains the inflation adj...
Legal Alert: IRS Adjusts Health Flexible Spending Account and Other Benefit Limits for 2024
On November 9, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2023-34, which increases the health flexible spending account (FSA) salary reduction contribution limit to $3,200 for plan years beginning in 2024, an i...
Legal Alert: PCORI Fees Due By July 31, 2023
Employers that sponsor self-insured group health plans, including health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) should keep in mind the upcoming July 31, 2023 deadline for paying fees that fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) via&...
Legal Alert: HIPAA Privacy Rules Amended to Require Protection of Reproductive Healthcare Information
On April 26, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a Final Rule amending the HIPAA Privacy Rule to protect the ability of individuals to receive reproductive h...
Legal Alert: IRS Releases PCORI Fee For Plan Years Ending Before October 1, 2024
This alert is of interest to all employers that sponsor self-insured group health plans, including Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Note that the PCORI fee does not apply to most health FSAs. The IRS has released Notice 2023-70, whic...
The importance of women’s health concerns in employee benefits design
Women’s Health Month 2024 coincides with jarring controversy and growing concern over challenges and inequities regarding women’s health in general and one area in particular: maternal health. Maternal health will be among...
Legal Alert: Agencies Provide Updated County Data for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services and Guidance
On November 28, 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Health and Human Services (HHS), collectively known as the Tri-Agencies, issued Part 63 of their FAQ series regarding implementation of the Affordable C...
A Cautionary Tale: Self-Funded Plan Administrators Must Meaningfully and Effectively Communicate With Plan Participants and Their Providers on Appeal
Sponsors of self-funded ERISA plans have fiduciary obligations to plan participants, which includes the obligation to provide a full and fair review of claims and effectively and meaningfully communicate or engage with plan participants regarding cla...
Employers, Employees and Job-Flexibility Tradeoffs
Faced with one of contemporary business’s most prominent dilemmas – allow work from home or insist on return to work? – employers and employees alike must come to terms with an axiom: Life is a series of tradeoffs. With this not...
Three Key Considerations for Large Employers
Early in the year is the time for employers who are approaching or over 50 employees to document and update the “key components” of being a larger employer, to ensure that no compliance obligation is missed. The world of human resources i...
Legal Alert: CMS Redesigns the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program Beginning in 2025
CMS Redesigns the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program Beginning in 2025 As a result of the changes to Medicare Part D under §11201 of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, on April 1, 2024, CMS released Final Redesign Program Instru...
Webinar: Weight-Loss Drugs and Group Health Plans | Alera Group
Is your organization funding GLP-1 drugs and other specialty medications as part of your group health insurance plan? Are you personally paying for a GLP-1 used as weight-loss medication? If your answer to either or both of these questions is yes, yo...
Show Why Your Voluntary Benefit Offerings Make You an Employer of Choice
Many employers supplement their core employee benefits with voluntary benefit offerings, but do they do a good enough job of communicating those benefits’ availability and value? If you’re a business owner or benefits manager asking that...
Legal Alert: RxDC Reporting Due June 1
Reminder: RxDC Reporting Due June 1 With the 2023 reference year RxDC reporting deadline approaching soon, plan sponsors should familiarize themselves with recent updates to the RxDC Reporting Instructions. As a reminder, the...
Legal Alert: Agencies Release Final Regulations on Fixed Indemnity Insurance, Refrain from Addressing Level-Funded Plans
Agencies Release Final Regulations on Fixed Indemnity Insurance, Refrain from Addressing Level-Funded Plans On March 29, 2024, the IRS, DOL and HHS (collectively, “the Agencies”) released final regulations implementing new no...
Q1 Considerations: Affordability for Applicable Large Employers
Under the ACA, Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) are required to offer “affordable” medical coverage to full-time employees or be subject to a fine. In September 2023, the IRS announced that the 2024 affordability percentage would reduce...
5 Tips and Templates for Open Enrollment
Once a year, your employees are asked to make a complicated decision—one that could significantly affect their health and finances. And employees are looking to HR for guidance as they make their health plan choices. So, today, I don’t...
6 Things to Look for in a Benefits Advisor
Helping employees navigate health plans, insurance claims, and various benefit options is a full-time task that requires the expertise of benefit industry professionals. HR professionals and People leaders already have a lot on their plate without ge...
Dependent Care FSA Increase and 100% COBRA Subsidies Passed by Congress
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The ARPA brings two big benefits changes. 100% COBRA subsidies: from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021 for individuals and family member...
6 Ways to Improve Open Enrollment
We may be in the 20th year of the “new” millennium, but employee benefits has been left behind in the 20th century. Despite HR tech innovations, the quality of customer service remains lower than almost every other industry. This year, co...
How to Leverage Claims Analytics
At around 250 employees, your company should be getting your medical claims from your broker or carrier. This claims visibility is a good start to understanding your healthcare costs, but this is just the first step. The real key to managing cos...
If you've got great employee benefits, flaunt ‘em
In MetLife’s 2019 Employee Benefit Trends Study, 6 in 10 employees said benefits were an important reason why they joined their company. Benefits rank second to salary. So, whether you’re focused on hiring or retaining talent (or both!),...
A Fintech Approach to Better Employee Benefits
My background in fintech combined with an awful experience navigating health insurance for a chronically ill loved one is where the Lumity story starts. As a co-founder of Motif Investing, making employee benefits decisions fell on my shoulders. A...
6 Ways Employers Can Cut Costs, Not Benefits
Today, most employers make health plan and benefits decisions blindly. Employees know how much they're spending on health care, but they have little say in deciding which plans a company will offer them. Yet you share a common goal: lowering...
Human + Machine: Creating A Modern Benefits Experience
When it comes to benefits, it’s vital that your solution provider is 100% laser-focused on delivering a delightful employee experience. The Rub Until now, employers have typically gone one of two ways: All-in-One: while all-in-...
Workplace Wellness: 5 Companies Getting it Right
Happy and healthy employees are found in happy and healthy workplaces. Employees are more productive and gain the confidence to be more innovative—ultimately adding value to not only your bottom line but your internal culture. If...
PEO or Traditional Broker? Get the Best of Both
It’s death by 1,000 cuts If you go with an all-in-one HR solution or a traditional broker for your company’s health benefits, it’s nearly impossible to get a clear picture of your ROI. Here’s why: With all-in-one solutio...
How to Free Yourself from PEOs
The handcuffs are off. Previously, companies faced FICA/FUTA tax penalties if they wanted to leave their PEO “off-cycle”, or mid-way through a plan year. But, this is no longer the case. So what does it take to get off a PEO and regain...
What a modern (data-driven) employee enrollment looks like
Lumity’s mission to deliver a superior benefits experience by clarifying benefits for employers and employees started out with our founder’s frustration with purchasing and using employee benefits, both at a corporate level and at an indi...
Do You Know How to Count FMLA Eligibility Hours?
One of the most problematic areas for you when it comes to determining an employee’s FMLA leave eligibility are hours of service. It's important to note that the burden of proving that an employee has not met the hours of service lies...
How to Fail at FMLA
Keeping lines of communication open and your supervisors educated is critical when employees request any leave- especially since they don’t need to specifically request FMLA leave in order to be entitled to it. Whether an employee req...
Are you an FMLA Covered Employer?
A good starting point when it comes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is determining whether or not you are a “covered” employer. A covered employer is typically a business with more than 50 staff members. This a...
Lumity Spotlight Series: Family & Medical Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) should demand your serious consideration as an eligible employer. With lawsuits on the rise and requirements as stringent as ever it is an area of employment law you should know inside out. Whether...
Benefits Modeling: How to Speed-Date Plan Design
Providing a quality benefits plan is of critical for attracting and retaining talent. If you've begin thinking that your current plan isn't isn’t quite all you need it to be and you’re looking for a change, it's important...
Save Money By Increasing Company Health Plan Participation
As the saying goes, there's strength in numbers. Getting employees to enroll in your company health plan has never been more important. Many insurers require a large percentage of eligible employees participate in your company-sponsored health pl...
Bringing Open Enrollment into the 21st century
One thing that is sure to have employers and employees singing the same tune is a mutual disdain for the open enrollment period. It's a confusing process for workers and a laborious task for even the most efficient companies. If you're o...
Consumer Driven Health Plans: Know your Options
Health care costs are at an all time high. As premiums and employee medical claims continue to rise you may be considering an alternative to traditional health insurance plans. Many employers are turning to consumer driven health plans to softe...
Open Enrollment Education: Be Proactive
Every year that short window of time opens up when employees are allowed to revisit their benefits. Open enrollment can be an extremely stressful and overwhelming time for everyone involved since it's typically the only time during the year ...
Better Benefits: Brokers and the Rabbit Hole of Fees
Budgeting for benefits. Every year during FP&A, finance professionals gather around spreadsheets trying to read the tea leaves on expected company benefit costs for the coming quarter or year. CFOs need to budget cash reserves (for self fundin...
Random FMLA Audits Loom: Prepare Yourself
If you are an employer with 50 or more workers, you’re probably aware of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). You might be fairly confident that your practices and procedures comply with current federal laws and regulations; or perhaps...
The Legal Side of Employee Health Savings Accounts
Health Savings Accounts (HSA) can help offset the costs of your employees’ medical care when they are enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). Many employers find that the premium savings with HDHPs can be used to encourage their...
