Word on Benefits

DOL Addresses Mental Health Parity, Again

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

02 Jun 201602 Jun 2016

The FAQs about Affordable Care Act Implementation Part 31 released on April 20, 2016 mark the fourth time the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) disclosure rules have been addressed by the Department of Labor (DOL) in its series of […]

CEBS (Certified Employee Benefit Specialist) Education

Searching for Your Awesome? Just Add CEBS

Rachel Oliver

01 Jun 201601 Jun 2016

I was a lucky kid, one with a great support system of family and friends who celebrated with me through each success and picked me up and encouraged me through the bumps in the road. If you are like me, you likely […]

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Communication Employee Benefits Health Care Insurance

How to Tell an Employee You are Appealing Their ACA Subsidy

Lois Gleason, CEBS

31 May 201631 May 2016

Soon the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will begin notifying employers about employees receiving advance premium tax credits (APTC) or subsidies for 2016 on the ACA federally facilitated exchange. For an idea of what the notice will look like, see […]

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Care Regulatory

ACA Reporting and Disclosure—Someone’s Gotta Do It

Justin Held, CEBS

26 May 201626 May 2016

Laundry, shoveling snow, a big pile of dishes, replacing the busted water heater, filing taxes. These are things that must be done, that you’ve dreaded doing and that perhaps you’ve learned the hard way it’s best if someone else does them for […]

Employee Benefits Health Care Insurance

Time for a Spousal Spending Checkup?

Chris Vogel, CEBS

24 May 201624 May 2016

It’d be nice to write that health care doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. In this case, that cliché likely is both inappropriate and overly optimistic. But two experienced health plan administrators suggest in the May Benefits Magazine that […]

Human Resources (HR) Regulatory

Time for Action—New Rules on Overtime Finalized

Kelli Kolsrud, CEBS

19 May 201607 Jul 2017

Updated April 20, 2017: The status of the overtime rules described in the blog post below is uncertain. Various legal actions and the changes in Congressional and presidential leadership have put the implementation of the rules on hold. On November 22, 2016, […]

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Employee Benefits Health Care Regulatory

If ACA Is Repealed, Will Employers Keep Mandated Provisions?

Staff

18 May 201619 May 2016

Health care and the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have been defining issues for presidential candidates this election season. A new report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans finds that if ACA is repealed, just over three in […]

Employee Benefits Multiemployer Pensions Regulatory Retirement

Central States Benefit Reduction Application Denied—Now What?

Julie Stich, CEBS

13 May 201618 May 2016

On May 6, 2016, the Treasury Department announced that it—along with the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation—was rejecting the application the Central States Teamsters filed for benefit reductions (a.k.a. suspensions), as submitted in September 2015. In rejecting the […]

Apprenticeship Programs Canada Financial Education Financial Wellness

What Kim Kardashian Can Teach Us About Financial Literacy Programs

Justin Held, CEBS

11 May 201619 May 2016

Financial literacy continues to be a challenge throughout the United States and Canada. Plan sponsors struggle with the most effective methods to educate their workforces regarding the management and use of money. These challenges were addressed at a recent presentation by Grant […]

Canada Employee Benefits Health Care Human Resources (HR) Mental Health Wellness

PTSD: An Often Hidden Workplace Issue

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

03 May 201606 Jun 2016

Many people think of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an issue for war veterans, but it is increasingly gaining attention as a workplace issue. Some Canadian provinces are passing what’s called presumptive legislation around PTSD, which means that when a worker has […]