Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp data breaches: What action should employers take?
Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp reported the breaches in recent SEC filings. The filings note that American Medical Collection Agency, a contractor used for billing and collections matters, reported the breach but did not yet know what data was accessed.
IRS guidance on S corporation tax treatment for employer-provided medical benefits
The IRS recently issued guidance regarding the tax treatment of medical premiums paid by or on behalf of a 2% shareholder in an S corporation.
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Colorado Helps Fund State Exchange with New Fee on Health Insurance
The board responsible for securing financing for Colorado’s health insurance exchange – Connect for Health Colorado – has imposed a new fee on health insurance polices to help fund the state’s insurance exchange. Colorado is one of a handful of states that chose to...
Shoulder Surgery Humor
I love my co-workers! My painkillers have gone missing. What's this... a note on my desk?
Global Leave Administration 101 (Continued)
Since I’m most likely under the influence of some amazing pain killers right now and spending all my time writing career-limiting e-mails, we’ve pre-arranged for the second part of the mini-series on Global Leave Administration to be posted today. (I know, are we not...
Global Leave Administration 101
It sure seems everything HR has gone global these days. When I first got into HR Tech consulting almost everything that came across my desk was US-centric: the domestic-only employers who were hiring me, the HRIS systems with hard-coded US fields, and the US-only...
Feds Exempt Insurers in U.S. Territories from Some ACA Insurance Reforms
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has indicated that it will not require insurers in the U.S. territories to comply with some of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) insurance market reforms. The U.S. territories include Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin...
Contradictory Rulings Ensure Chaos from Health Reform Law will Continue
Conflicting U.S. court of appeals rulings issued today further muddy the waters over the future of the federal health reform law colloquially known as Obamacare. The fight involves whether individuals enrolled in medical insurance through a federally-operated public...
The Private Health Insurance Exchange Ecosystem
The HR Technology & Outsourcing Practice has been spreading our love across the country the last few weeks via vendor and industry conferences! (Check out the Ceridian Insights and SHRM 2014 recaps if you haven't yet.) Last week, one of my teammates, Brad, had...
States (and Eventually Employers) Considering the High Cost of Hepatitis C Treatment
The high cost of Sovaldi, a breakthrough treatment for hepatitis C, has been garnering significant media attention. (See my previous post.) Now Express Scripts has taken that cost and extrapolated it to forecast what state governments might end up spending on new...
Tobacco Cessation Treatment and the ACA’s Preventive Care Mandate
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires non-grandfathered healthcare plans to supply enrollees with a wide variety of preventive care benefits at no out-of-pocket cost. One preventive care mandate is counseling and intervention (apparently at the primary care level)...
Another Generic Medication Pricing “Gotcha”
As I described in a recent blog post (Peeking Behind the Curtain of Generic Medications), generic medications are not automatically less expensive than their brand equivalents. When a new generic drug is launched, there’s a period of exclusivity during which prices...
More Insights on Insights
After a meaty and memorable Ceridian Insights conference in Vegas, Pat and I are crammed onto our Southwest Air flight heading home. (At least we scored the exit row – many thanks to the illuminati for arranging that!) After countless sessions and a myriad of product...