Benefits Think

On Monday, yet another federal judge ruled that the individual mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. However, unlike his Virginia counterpart, Henry E. Hudson, who only struck down PPACA’s requirement that all Americans purchase health insurance, Florida District Court Judge Robert Vinson ruled that PPACA on the whole is illegal.

It sounds like all you have to do to escape complying with the reform provision that bars annual limits on health coverage is: A. Offer a mini-med plan and B. Apply for a waiver freeing your plan from coverage limits.

As you know, for tax year 2011, PPACA requires employers to report the aggregate cost of health coverage on employees’ W-2s. When the IRS released instructions for reporting the information the agency left out one teensy little detail: how employers are supposed to calculate the amount spent! Duh.

I came across a recent post from former EBN contributor Richard Quinn, who posited an interesting question on his blog: Are 401(k) plans unfair? Or, more specifically the tax laws surrounding them. Personally, I say taxes schmaxes.

Naturally, most of the watercooler talk today swirls around Tuesday night’s State of the Union address: Did you watch? What did you think? Where were the specifics? Did you like Michelle Obama’s dress/John Boehner’s tie? What did you think of the bipartisan seating? How come he barely talked about health care/tax reform/etc.? …

In terms of a pre-show, I wanted to share what I thought was an interesting video about the background on the writing of the SOTU. And as President Obama puts the final touches on tonight's address to discuss the state of our union and his vision for the future, I wanted to ask what you most want him to discuss.

Sad news today out of Los Angeles that fitness guru Jack LaLanne died Sunday at the age of 96. Of course we mourn LaLanne, while at the same time applauding his longevity and commitment to a life of health and wellness.

To date, employers haven't shown much interest in cash balance or other types of hybrid pension plans.

News from the National Business Group on Health reveals that its latest research shows U.S. employers received an unexpected, but welcome fallout from the economic recession — fewer short and long-term disability claims and lower short-term disability costs per claim.

Cyndy Nayer, president of the Center for Health Value Innovation, was able to find words to connect the tragedy in Tucson with today’s debate over health care benefits and posted them in her own blog on the CHVI website.