Massachusetts announces contribution rates effective July 1 for paid family leave
The commonwealth of Massachusetts announced the employer and employee contribution rates that will apply beginning on July 1, 2019, to finance the state’s paid family leave law.
The Department of Labor announces 2019 increased penalty amounts
The Department of Labor recently finalized regulations containing civil penalty inflation adjustments for 2019 in accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015.
Reframing the Question of Preventive Care
Although the idea of workplace wellness programs as a strategy for reducing costs and absenteeism is no longer new, certain questions remain prevalent among our employer clients and prospects. On a fairly regular basis, Lockton’s Health Risk Solutions Consultants are...
Before You Count Out Workplace Wellness, Take a Closer Look
The controversy continues unabated regarding the value of workplace wellness initiatives and it doesn’t appear that it will let up any time soon. The latest in a string of high-profile naysayers has come in response to a recent Health Affairs report [abstract...
ICYMI: Lockton Benefits Conference 2014
In case you missed the Lockton Benefits Conference last week in Scottsdale, Ariz., I wanted to provide you with the highlight reel. Number of Lockton Attendees: 196 Number of Sponsor Attendees: 232 Lockton Offices Represented: 25 Rounds of Golf: 101+ Day 1:...
Health Plan Identifiers: Procrastination Might Pay Off
Lately at Lockton we’ve been receiving questions about the HIPAA requirement that health plans obtain a health plan identifier (HPID) from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Our advice, at least for now, is that clients should not rush out to...
Friends Helping Friends
Lockton recently held a networking event as a part of the Women in Leadership program for some of the females here and a few of my teammates were able to attend. Maureen and Wendy were really jazzed about the tips and tricks they learned and wanted to share. Here are...
The Importance of Security 101
Courtney here again! I recently had a conversation with a vendor about the topic of system security, which sparked some thoughts I wanted to share with you all. In December, millions of Target customers were informed that their personal and banking information was...
Integration Beyond the Brochure
Maureen, a teammate of ours, was recently at a client finalist presentation when she referred to the system as being “integrated” and was corrected by the vendor saying it was “unified.” Ok… is this po-ta-to, pa-ta-to? Or is there something deeper going on here? We...
Beware: Next Year, HSA-Compatible HDHPs Cannot Use ACA Out-of-Pocket Limit
Most employers are familiar with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision that sets upper limits on the out-of-pocket (OOP) maximums that non-grandfathered group health plans may apply to essential health benefits. (We’re referring to these as the “ACA cost-sharing...
App of the Week
I can’t say that I find new apps every week (although there are enough out there to do so), but I came across one this week I thought was worthy of sharing. If you are like me, you accumulate countless numbers of business cards over the course of a month from meeting...
Exchanging Concepts
Growth is so exciting. Seeing a new service that is so helpful to employers launch always makes me feel proud of what we're doing here at Lockton to make running a business much easier. The HR Technology and Outsourcing Practice has been working closely with the...
New Kid on the Block
This next post comes from Eric. Last week we were having a conversation about professional relationships and his take was a little different than mine. I’ve been in this industry for a while now (longer than I’d like to admit) and have forgotten what it was like to be...
FTE vs. PTE 101
Hey guys! It’s Courtney again. Kaiser is back on the road, so I have prepared another blog post for your perusal on an important employer consideration for 2015 and beyond. Unless you‘ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’re aware of the Affordable Care Act’s...