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In a recent case, a federal district court ruled that an employer didn’t violate the Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) — even though an employee who resigned from the company claimed that she never received notices that she was entitled to continue her...

Few people enjoy giving money to the IRS, but some types of taxes are viewed more unfavorably than others. Here are three worthy candidates vying for the title of most-hated tax. Penalty Tax on Individuals without Health Insurance As you probably know, the Affordable Care Act...

Health care plans that weren’t in place before March 23, 2010 don’t have grandfathered status under the Affordable Care Act. Consequently, these newer plans must meet the provisions under the law including: Unisex premiums (Gender-defined premiums are prohibited under...

Enrollment in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) could gain traction soon, as employers begin to focus on a very attractive feature: These plans have a demonstrated ability to control costs. Also, there is a growing urgency among employers to avoid exposure to the Affordable...

Do you pay Medicare insurance premiums or are you getting close to the age when you’ll become eligible for Medicare coverage? A recently enacted law made changes that will cause some upper-income people to pay higher premium surcharges in the future. This article explains...

Historically, companies that wanted their employees to be protected with health coverage, but didn’t want the hassle of having a company health plan, could simply give employees an amount of money sufficient to reimburse them for the cost of buying that coverage or some...

Tax season is finally here. The deadline for calendar-year corporations to file a return (or an extension) is Monday, March 16. The deadline for individuals to file their income tax returns (or an extension) is Wednesday, April 15. As businesses and individuals start gathering...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) established a number of so-called “market reform” restrictions on employer-provided group health plans, starting with plan years beginning in 2014. These restrictions generally apply to all employer-provided group health plans —...

Employees generally recognize that you don’t have an unlimited budget for all forms of compensation, including employee benefits. And in recent years most have grown accustomed to the necessity of sharing more of the financial burden of health benefits. So if they can get...

Large employers have self-insured their health benefits for decades. In fact, 93 percent of employers with at least 5,000 employees were self-insured in 2012, according to a Kaiser Foundation survey. Compare this with just 15 percent of self-insured employers having fewer than...