Employee benefits

The court agreed with the plaintiff’s contention that while a church-affiliated entity may “maintain” an ERISA-exempt church plan, only plans established directly by a church or convention of churches qualify as church plans.

From emergency rooms to pharmacies to company human-resources departments, changes will unfold within the U.S. health-care system on Jan. 1 as the nation guarantees insurance coverage to all Americans for the first time, a goal that has eluded presidents and lawmakers since the end of World War Two.

Finding a new job is a top priority for many workers with 83% of Americans saying they plan on switching careers in 2014. Considering the upswing, Allison & Taylor, an employment verification firm, offers 10 employment trends that potential job candidates should consider while searching – ideas that reflect many of the changes and the new normal in the HR world.

Right now is a good opportunity to look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the benefits world in 2013, and to see what we might be able to look forward to in the coming year.

The deadline to enroll in health plans that begin Jan. 1 was extended to midnight today from yesterday for most of the U.S., the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. The extension was announced as healthcare.gov yesterday experienced a single-day record number of visits and consumers were moved into a queuing system deployed when the website approaches 50,000 simultaneous users.

As 2013 comes to a close, we’re taking a look at some of the most popular stories on our website this year. Here are the top five blog items of 2013.

2013 is not over yet. Employers and HR and benefits professionals must address these 14 compliance issues before the New Year begins. Timothy F. Kennedy is a partner in Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice, concisely outlines retirement and health care issues that plan sponsors must consider in the following days.

Many organizations aren't taking advantage of the most effective tool to distribute and reinforce messages—benefits administration technology. Technology is extremely useful in automating many of the tactical components of benefits administration while it also enhances your education and communication strategy.

The success of the health care overhaul relies on a diverse pool of customers where younger, healthier participants balance the costs of covering older, sicker people. Insurers say they can’t make more concessions without putting themselves at risk that patients will wait and sign up only when they need care.

President Barack Obama said the thousands of people now signing up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act overshadow the hit he’s been taking in the polls for the defect-riddled roll-out of the Affordable Care Act.

When it comes to their health benefits, most employees say they’re happy with their current offerings and lack interest in altering their balance of benefits and wages, according to a new survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

As most global employers plan to send more employees on short- and long-term jobs around the world in the next two years, they should be aware of what it takes to manage costs and run international programs. In light of the challenges employers face managing the global work force, Mercer offers 10 tips on handling this growing mobile population.

While employers expect to continue implementing cost-sharing measures in their health care plans in 2014, most plan on keeping group coverage for the next year. And just 5% of employers anticipate moving employees to a private exchange, according to the 2013/2014 Verisight and McGladrey Compensation, Retirement and Benefits Trends Survey.

The most recent LIMRA survey reveals that approximately 60% of Americans who have used health exchanges so far to try to shop for health coverage say they sought out assistance when actually buying their health insurance plan.

Much concern had been voiced about the ability for consumers and insurers alike to execute billing and payment between Dec. 23 and Dec. 31 for coverage effective Jan. 1. AHIP offered to extend that deadline to Jan. 10 on Wednesday.

Why small employers haven’t bought into private exchanges — yet

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance on the application of rules in the Tax Code relating to health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts to same-sex couples in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision earlier this year striking down the Defense of Marriage Act.

In what can be viewed as a victory for plan sponsors, the Supreme Court ruled that statute of limitation periods written into plan documents are valid, as long as those periods are “reasonable.”

What does next year look like for retirement plan sponsors and participants? Here’s an early call on what many experts expect to see.

While carolers may chant joyfully about the holidays being “the most wonderful time of the year,” many workers find themselves singing the blues during the winter months. One in 10 people will experience depression at some time in their lives, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This not only inflicts suffering on individuals and families, it costs employers $44 billion annually in lost productivity.