BenefitsBuzz

Benefits and HR tips brought to you by the insurance specialists at Benefit Logic.

DID YOU KNOW?

Check out some highlights from the 2010 MetLife Study of Employee Benefit Trends:

• Employers mostly maintained their benefits plans and employees tended to maintain participation as well
• Controlling costs is now the most common benefits objective for employers, followed by employee retention and employee productivity
• Employees are seeking (and employers are mostly providing) more education about retirement and investing wisely
• Employers and employees agree that wellness, financial and work-life balance programs improve productivity at work

Communicating Health Care Reform

The recently passed health care reform legislation is causing confusion as both employers and employees struggle to understand its many provisions and wait for additional legal guidance regarding how the provisions will go into effect.

Employers may be reluctant to communicate about health care reform with their employees until they have more clarity, but being proactive is the best way to relieve employee concern and prepare them for what is to come. Employers should consider the following communication strategies:

• Inform employees that management is working with benefits experts to understand the law and its impact on the company, but that many provisions do not go into effect now.
• Encourage employees to submit questions related to the legislation, and have management provide as many answers as possible.
• Educate employees now on the changes going into effect for plans starting on or after Sept. 23, 2010:
  • Requiring dependent coverage up to age 26
  • Prohibiting pre-existing condition exclusions for children
  • Banning lifetime dollar limits
  • Restricting annual dollar limits
  • Prohibiting coverage cancellation
• Keep employees informed as more changes take effect and more guidance is issued.
• Thoroughly communicate any changes in your benefits plans, and explain how your plans are affected (or not) by health care reform.

Dependent Children coverage Extension

The new health care reform law includes a provision that health plans that offer dependent coverage to children on their parents’ plans must make the coverage available until the adult child reaches the age of 26 (for all plans starting on or after Sept. 23, 2010). The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury have issued interim final rules relating to this requirement:

• Qualified dependents must be offered the same coverage available to similarly situated individuals and cannot be required to pay more.
• • This provision applies only to plans that offer dependent coverage in the first place. There is no legal requirement to offer dependent coverage, though most plans do.
  • The value of the employer-provided dependant health coverage is excludable from income (thus tax-free) through the end f the taxable year in which the child turns 26.

Although employers can choose to extend this coverage before Sept. 23, 78 percent of employers plan to wait until the effective date, according to a recent study by Towers Watson & Co.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Newsletters.