Monday Briefing: why retire, best practices for employer-sponsored health, document dump
How many of you are tired of ACA reporting questions? Here are a few other things to take your mind off Forms 1094 and 1095:
- The Real Reasons People Retire. (Fidelity) Maybe it’s those 1095s?
- TowersWatson / National Business Group on Health released their impressive 2015 survey on employer best practices in health care. (TowersWatson) Key findings:
- 83% of employers plan to make changes to avoid the Cadillac Tax. (This supports our thinking that it won’t go away. It’s actually changing behavior.)
- Four out of five employers say that changes to their health and pharmacy benefit designs are their top priority over the next three years. (Keep your lawyers in the loop as you think about what you will be changing.)
- Employer full replacement of health plans with ABHP (tax advantaged account-based health plans) is fast becoming the norm. (Where in the world did they get “ABHP?”)
- Is this what they call a document dump? HHS, IRS and EBSA issue proposed rules on grandfathered plans, preexisting condition exclusions, lifetime annual limits, recessions, dependent coverage appeals and patient protections. (Federal Register) (379 PDF pages — good Thanksgiving reading)
- But wait. There’s more. EBSA issues proposed rules on Claims Procedures for Plans Providing Disability Benefits. (Federal Register) (48 PDF pages — sort of a short story compared to the one above)
- And just when we thought it was over. IRS issues final regulations on Market Rate of Return Rules for Hybrid Retirement Plans. (Federal Register)(we love that 3-column look of final regulations in our good friend the Federal Register)
As always, keep us posted on what is important to you.
