Health insurance

A new coalition representing the public and private sectors, as well as Republicans and Democrats, is seeking a full repeal of the ACA’s excise tax on high-cost group plans.

The DOL’s proposed rules on overtime do not mean workers will automatically earn more money or even work less.

Many believe the DOL has gone about its fiduciary rule-making in the wrong way and fear the rules, as proposed, will do more harm than good.

Industry trade groups and associations flooded the DOL with suggested amendments and revisions to its proposed fiduciary rule, ahead of the July 21 deadline for comments.

President Obama this week asked the Department of Labor to propose a set of rules by the end of the year that would provide a clear path forward for states to create retirement savings programs.

As they struggle to become financially stable, state-based health insurance marketplaces are lagging behind the federally-facilitated marketplace and are likely to continue to do so in the near future.

The ACA added new employer reporting requirements under Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056, applying to employers that sponsor self-insured plans that provide minimum essential coverage regardless of size, and applicable larger employers.

With 24 Republican senators up for reelection in November 2016, not to mention the presidential election, there is so much set to change for both public and private exchanges.

The Department of Labor issued fresh guidance on how businesses should distinguish between employees and independent contractors, noting misclassification of employees has been on the rise throughout the U.S.

As the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges changed the landscape of employee benefits across the country, the question of how the court’s decision would affect domestic partner coverage moved center stage.

About 6.6 million U.S. taxpayers paid a penalty imposed for the first time this year for not having health insurance, about 10% more than the Obama administration had estimated – though a portion didn’t need to.

Advisers who excel in the vision field do the best job of making the connection between vision and medical plans, some experts say. Shannon Enders, a founding partner at Lakeshore Employee Benefits in Norton Shores, Mich., says when he brings the idea of connecting vision and health data to clients’ attention, “they quickly become very interested.”

Simply making more employees eligible for overtime pay may not mean more workers will necessarily earn those benefits, benefits analysts suggest.

The DOL’s proposed definition of fiduciary advice remains worrisomely broad, according to financial and legal experts who are calling upon the industry to flood the DOL with letters of concern about the rule’s possible implications.

Employers in the 51-100 employee size bracket are anxious about the prospect of being added to the “small group” market that under the Affordable Care Act currently cuts off at 50 employees (unless states opt to raise it).

Although the Supreme Court upheld subsidies on the exchanges, there remain key aspects of the ACA that broker and employer lobbyist organizations continue to seek to amend and/or repeal.

Friday’s landmark ruling on gay marriage poses both challenges and benefits to employers.

The landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision being cheered as a step toward equality is also poised to carry unintended consequences, including some that could make life harder for employees, gay and straight alike.

The Supreme Court’s ruling in King v. Burwell that subsides on the federally-facilitated marketplace can continue may present an opportunity for struggling state-based marketplaces to switch to Healthcare.gov, as other challenges remain for exchanges nationwide.

Eliminating subsidies ‘would destabilize the individual insurance market in any state with a federal exchange,’ Chief Roberts says.