The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) established national standards to secure and protect the privacy of health information. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) requires the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to conduct audits of covered entities and business associates in … Continued
Your new position just got approved and, finally, that mission-critical headcount addition is green-lighted. Celebration ensues until the actual work of finding the ideal candidate begins. The first step is to get a job description. In some cases, a perfectly vetted position analysis and description may exist, one that captures the particulars and purpose of … Continued
In 1990, Health Affairs* reported “The escalating costs of prescription drugs and competition among pharmaceutical firms for customers are drawing the attention of policymakers, pharmacies, and individual and institutional purchasers. Mail-order pharmacies recently have grown in prominence as a competitive alternative to the local community pharmacy.” With the improvements in retail pharmacy pricing, that motivation … Continued
UBA’s compliance team leverages the collective expertise of its independent partner firms to advise 36,000 employers and their 5 million employees. Lately, a common question from employers is: How does an ALE determine whether or not a newly hired variable hour employee should be offered benefits? The answer depends on how the applicable large employer … Continued
The new Department of Labor (DOL) overtime exemption rules increase the salary threshold from $23,660 a year to $47,476 annually, beginning December 1, 2016. This means that employees earning less than the threshold can no longer be considered salaried and exempt from overtime pay. While the DOL has indicated that the regulations will have a … Continued
Applicable large employers and self-funded employers of all sizes have now completed the first round of required IRS reporting under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA requires individuals to have health insurance, while applicable large employers (ALEs) are required to offer health benefits to their full-time employees. In order for the … Continued
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) has many tax provisions written within its 906 pages. I’ll give a brief overview of the taxes, and sprinkle in some good news among some not-so-good news. HIP Section 9010 of the ACA imposes a fee on each covered entity engaged in the business of … Continued
No two Department of Labor (DOL) audits are the same, yet there are typical questions asked and documents requested. See our recent blog on the Seven Common Mistakes That Could Trigger a DOL Audit. If you are audited, it’s recommended that questions received be sorted and color-coded based on what the question references (for example, … Continued
I have worked with my fair share of companies, both large and small, from companies that are just starting out to those that have been well established for 30 or more years. It has been my experience that most companies, no matter how long they have been in business, don’t establish written policies and procedures … Continued
New Survey Data Reveals Health Plan Costs, Options by State and Industry Health insurance premium renewal rates increased an average of 6.2 percent for all plans in 2015, up from the previous year’s 5.6 percent increase, according to new survey data released from United Benefit Advisors (UBA), the nation’s leading independent employee benefits advisory organization. … Continued
Two Radnor Corporate Center
Suite 110
Radnor, PA 19087
610-567-0175
800-527-3615
