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Plant and Harvest Your Wellness Budget Tree

Viewpoints from Claire Letourneau and Briana Loff I’m always thrilled when I can strategize with some kind of wellness budget. But however meager or robust the funding, employees will still be able to receive wellness programming or services. An internal budget makes me the most optimistic; it demonstrates that senior leadership finds enough value in taking care of employee wellbeing to allocate resources toward their success. Yet many Human Resources professionals find themselves searching for alternative options – either free wellness programming or a magic tree on which wellness funding grows. Your magic tree may be in your medical carrier …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/plant-and-harvest-your-wellness-budget-tree/

Special Compliance Alert: IRS Extends ACA Reporting Due Date

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Notice 2020-76 (Notice) which extends the due date for furnishing to individuals the 2020 Form 1095-B (generally provided by insurers), and the 2020 Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, from January 31, 2021, to March 2, 2021. The Notice also extends good faith transition relief from penalties relating to 2020 Affordable Care Act (ACA) information reporting requirements under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) sections 6055 and 6056. Finally, the Notice provides new relief relating to the failure to furnish information required by IRC section 6055 under certain circumstances …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/compliance-alert-irs-extends-aca-reporting-due-date/

Checklist of Key 2021 Requirements for Health & Welfare Benefit Plan Sponsors

Complying with the many rules that govern health and welfare benefits can be a challenge for benefits administrators. EPIC has prepared this compliance checklist to help administrators manage their 2021 benefits compliance efforts. Please note that this checklist may not cover every requirement applicable to a specific employee benefit plan. This list focuses on key federal requirements affecting most health and welfare plans and is subject to legislative or regulatory changes. Additional requirements or exceptions may apply under state insurance laws which vary from state to state. Administrators should also remember that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) remains in effect …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/compliance-alert-checklist-of-key-2021-requirements-for-health-welfare-benefit-plan-sponsors/

Is Anybody Listening?!? Use Analytics to Determine Communication Success

Viewpoints from Bob Simpson A few years back, I was speaking with one of my clients in the construction industry. The company was making some disruptive (but positive) plan changes. She was worried that any type of change would be viewed with suspicion. She wanted to get the right message out to her employees but had always felt uncertain about workers on job sites, where printed and mailed communications wouldn’t be as effective. Fortunately, we’d just built a mobile-enabled website for her – complete with analytics – including information on geographic interactions. Our campaign drove people to the site …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/is-anybody-listening-use-analytics-to-determine-communication-success/

Justice Ginsburg’s Death Makes Healthcare Cloudier Than Before

Viewpoints from Craig Hasday The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg throws a giant monkey wrench into the healthcare battle and is yet another unexpected plot twist in 2020. California v. Texas (known as Texas v. U.S. in the lower courts) will be heard by the Supreme Court on November 10 – the week after the presidential election – and it may well be that this case ends up at a 4-4 tie with Justice Ginsburg’s seat vacant. A tie would mean California v. Texas gets sent back to the lower courts and the decision would stand, yet it …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/justice-ginsburgs-death-makes-healthcare-cloudier-than-before/

Data Supports Our Assertion That COVID-19 Has Worsened the Mental Health Crisis

… with the prior year. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a new three-digit “988” number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which will be fully adopted by July 2022, providing more direct access to mental health crisis counselors. The current 10-digit hotline number for suicide prevention is (800) 273-8255. Employers need to be concerned about this trend in their workforce. An assessment of mental health resources should be undertaken by all employers and senior management may want to open a dialogue with employees about the issues. Many organizations offer passive Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) which are

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/data-supports-our-assertion-that-covid-19-has-worsened-the-mental-health-crisis/

Attacking Out-of-Network Again

One of the hallmarks of in-network-only plans is that the provider prices have been pre-negotiated as a precondition for the doctor or hospital to join the network – and the insurer and employer to benefit from the lower costs – in exchange for the volume the provider receives through the insurance network. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)-style plans, similar to the earlier indemnity-style plans, provide coverage (albeit at greater cost to the member) for non-negotiated, out-of-network providers. Employees get more choice at greater cost, and doctors receive some reimbursement from the plan and the remainder …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/attacking-out-of-network-again/

COVID-19 Makes 2021 Medical Cost Predictions Far More Challenging

Self-insured employers typically establish “premium equivalent rates” in the third quarter of the prior year. These are an estimation of claims based upon the most recent claim data available. While these rates are used to set healthcare cost budgets, the costs that hit an organization’s income statement are based upon actual claim costs paid during the year. Several of the large public brokers predicted significant COVID-19-related costs. The EPIC financial team did not. We believed that the deferral of care would offset any pandemic claim spikes and we were right. As 2020 winds down, it is …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/covid-19-makes-2021-medical-cost-predictions-far-more-challenging/