Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Elliot Health System and Frisbie Memorial Hospital announced they are entering into a joint venture with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care to form a new company with the goals of improving the quality of health care in New Hampshire with…

President Obama has signed the HR1624 bill (Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act or PACE) into federal law. This action repeals the mandated expansion of the Small Group market to include groups with 51-100 employees. This requirement of the Affordable…

On Oct. 1, 2015, the U.S. Senate passed legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that the small group market in every state be expanded to include businesses with 51-100 employees. The Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act…

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released a new ACA Information Center for Applicable Large Employers page, providing information and resources for employers to assist in determining how reporting and shared responsibilities apply if the employer fits the definition of…

Under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), employers that offer prescription drug coverage on a group basis are required to provide annual notice to both employees/covered individuals and to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid…

On Sept. 17, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released final 2015 versions of the forms and instructions that employers will use to report under Sections 6055 and 6056. 1. Self insured employers with less than 50 full-time equivalents will…

According to recent draft instructions for Form 1094-B and 1095-B, employers (regardless of size) that offer HRAs will be required to complete Section 6055 reporting in 2016. Previously, HRAs were widely believed to be considered “supplemental coverage” for which separate…

For many employees, open enrollment may be the only time during the year in which employees can make changes to their benefits choices, such as adding or dropping coverage, adding or dropping dependents, or enrolling in benefits for the first…

As reported by both Forbes and CNBC, insurance plans available through the Marketplace (Exchange) average fewer hospitals and doctors than insurance plans available directly from the carriers. "Network composition is a major way in which insurance companies can attempt to…

Recently enacted legislation requires Vermont employers provide the aggregate cost of any employer sponsored health insurance on the employee's 2015 W-2. This reporting requirement applies to all employers who withhold income taxes. Unlike the federal requirement for employers that file…

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health plans to meet a minimum medical loss ratio (MLR), which varies according to market. MLR rules require health insurance issuers to spend a certain percentage of their premium dollars on medical care and…

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created new reporting requirements under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Sections 6055 and 6056. Under these new reporting rules, certain employers must provide information to the IRS about the health plan coverage they offer (or do…