Most employers in a May 2010 Towers Watson survey believe that the recently enacted health reform legislation will reduce the number of large employers offering employer-sponsored retiree health benefits, and 43 percent of employers that currently offer retiree benefits plan to reduce or eliminate them. Read more

The Internal Revenue Service is encouraging small businesses to take advantage of tax-saving opportunities included in recently enacted federal legislation, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act and the Affordable Care Act. Read more

The EFAST2 electronic filing system for Forms 5500 and 5500-SF employee benefit plan annual reports has a new e-signature option, which is designed to simplify the electronic filing process, especially for small businesses that use service providers to complete and file their annual reports, Employee Benefits Security Administration says. Read more

A prerequisite for employees to complete a health risk assessment that includes disability-related questions in order to obtain reimbursement for health expenses is prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Assistant Legal Counsel.

In an informal Read more

More employers are using cost sharing as a utilization management tool in their prescription drug programs, according to a recent survey by Buck Consultants.

Buck says its Prescription Drug Benefit Survey was completed in July 2009, Read more

Despite a challenging economic environment, U.S. Read more

The model COBRA notices incorporating the new subsidy provisions have not yet been published by the federal Department of Labor (“DOL”). HEC members will be immediately notified when they are issued. In the meantime, the following information may be helpful.

Timeline:

Read more

According to the nonprofit International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, its recent survey finds that 26 percent of U.S. Read more

According to a recent Human Rights Campaign Foundation report, 57 percent of Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner benefits, and the larger employers are increasingly extending COBRA, FMLA and retirement benefits to gay and transgendered employees and their families. Read more

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster

A pension plan properly paid benefits to the ex-wife of a deceased participant, where the decedent did not officially remove her as a plan beneficiary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the U.S. Supreme Court rules.
Read more

The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing America’s major employers, is urging Congress to avoid expanding the continuing health coverage requirements under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act for purposes that extend beyond its original int Read more

Employer contributions to participants’ health savings accounts, as well as individual contributions to these accounts increased from 2006 to 2008, reports the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Read more

Affordable health care is a top concern of small business owners, who say that health care cost is the primary issue confronting their businesses. Read more

The Dept. of Labor and Industrial Relations has posted the new HC-5 waiver of health insurance coverage for 2009.
Read more