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On November 5, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2018-85 to announce that the health plan Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee for plan years ending between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019 will be $2.45 per plan participant. This is an increase from the prior year’s fee of $2.39 due to […]
Posts Tagged ‘Group health plans’
Benefits of Health Insurance | California Benefits Advisors
Why should you consider getting health insurance? How does it help your family? What are the services it provides? Watch this video to find out!
IRS Changes Course (Again) and Restores 2018 HSA Family Limit to $6,900 | California Benefit Brokers
Friday, April 27, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that the 2018 annual contribution limit to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for persons with family coverage under a qualifying High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) is restored to $6,900. The single-coverage limit of $3,450 is not affected. This is the final word on what has been an […]
Benefits Easy: Intro to Self-Funding | California Employee Benefit Advisors
As we head into the second month of 2018, companies have already begun the arduous task of submitting budgets and finding ways to cut costs for the new year. One of the most effective ways to combat increasing health care costs for companies is to move to a Self-Funded insurance plan. By paying for claims out-of-pocket instead of paying […]
New Guidance from CMS on Accommodation Revocation Notices under the Contraception Mandate Exemption | California Benefit Advisors
Two tri-agency (Internal Revenue Service, Employee Benefits Security Administration, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) Interim Final Rules were released and became effective on October 6, 2017, and were published on October 13, 2017, allowing a greater number of employers to opt out of providing contraception to employees at no cost through their employer-sponsored […]
Top 7 Trends from 2017 UBA Health Plan Survey | California Benefit Advisors
We recently unveiled the latest findings from our 2017 Health Plan Survey. With data on 20,099 health plans sponsored by 11,221 employers, the UBA survey is nearly three times larger than the next two of the nation’s largest health plan benchmarking surveys combined. Here are the top trends at a glance. Cost-shifting, plan changes, and […]
DOL Issues Compliance Guidance for Employee Benefit Plans Impacted by Hurricane Harvey | California Benefit Advisors
The DOL issued guidance for employee benefit plans, plan sponsors, and employers located in a county identified for individual assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) due to Hurricane Harvey. Because plan participants and beneficiaries may have difficulty meeting deadlines for filing ERISA benefit claims and making COBRA elections, the DOL advised plan sponsors […]
The Best Ways to Minimize Your Risk When Selecting a Stop Loss Carrier – Part 1 | California Benefit Advisors
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. To understand the importance, let’s use the auto insurance industry as a comparable example. If you were purchasing […]
Keeping Pace with the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act | California Benefit Advisors
Last fall, President Barack Obama signed the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act (PACE), which preserved the historical definition of small employer to mean an employer that employs 1 to 50 employees. Prior to this newly signed legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was set to expand the definition of a small employer to include […]
Best and Worst States for Group Health Care Costs | California Benefit Advisors
Employer-sponsored health insurance is greatly affected by geographic region, industry, and employer size. While some cost trends have been fairly consistent since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was put in place, UBA finds several surprises in its latest Health Plan Survey. Based on responses from more than 11,000 employers, UBA recently announced […]
