Employers with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) that make it possible for employees to open health savings accounts (HSAs) now have the information they need to prepare for 2013. The IRS on April 27 issued Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2012-26, which contains the HSA and HDHP limits for calendar year 2013.

There is some confusion in the marketplace as to whether employees can make HSA contributions if they are covered by their employer’s HRA. The basic answer revolves around the design of each HRA program and whether that is disqualifying coverage or not.

In a controversial, but not completely unexpected decision, the Obama administration announced this past week that health insurance plans, excluding specific categories of “religious employers,” must cover contraceptives for women free of charge. In August, the administration had made it known that it intended to require coverage of contraceptives for women, as recommended by an expert panel of the National Academy of Sciences, but the White House decided to reconsider the issue after hearing protests from the Catholic Church and prominent Republicans.

Background

The Internal Revenue Code (Code) imposes penalties in the form of excise taxes for various group health plan compliance failures, such as failures relating to COBRA, HIPAA and group health plan mandates, and requires self-reporting of such taxes on Form 8928 (the Form).  Some of the excise taxes have been around for a long time, and the self-reporting requirement has been in place since January 1, 2010.  However, because the IRS released an updated version of the Form in September 2011 to expressly include failures to comply with Code § 9813 (Michelle’s Law) and Code § 9815 (incorporates by reference the applicable health care reform requirements), we thought it would be a good time to review the Form and its requirements. 

Requirements

The Form is the mechanism by which employers or group health plans report excise taxes for non-compliance with certain provisions of the Code.  The reporting period is the plan year and the taxes must be paid and the Form filed, on or before the...

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has begun conducting audits of covered entities as part of its HIPAA privacy and security compliance program. 

Background

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, as part of HITECH), requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to perform audits of covered entities and business associates to ensure compliance with HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules and Breach Notification standards.  OCR is a division of HHS that is responsible for enforcing HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules.

Under HIPAA, covered entities are health plans, health care clearing houses, health care providers that conduct certain transactions electronically, and enrolled sponsors of the Medicare prescription drug card. 

Audit Program

The audit program is a new part of OCR’s HIPAA privacy and security compliance program.  Right now the program is in a pilot phase.  OCR will perform up to 150 audits to assess HIPAA compliance efforts, identify best practices,...

Keeping up with cost-of-living expenses, the IRS announces changes to its tax provisions, including new limits for transportation benefits and revised dollar amounts regarding Medical Savings Accounts.

The Uniform Coverage Rule requires that “the maximum amount of reimbursement from a health FSA must be available at all times during the period of coverage (properly reduced as of any particular time for prior reimbursements for the same period of coverage).”  Prop. Treas. Reg. §1.125-5(d)(1).  Under the regulations, the maximum amount of reimbursement at any particular time during the coverage period cannot relate to the amount that has been contributed to the FSA at any particular time prior to the end of the plan year.  Thus, once the employee makes an election, the employee has uniform coverage of the entire amount, including the employer’s contribution as well. 

Essentially, the Uniform Coverage Rule causes the health FSA to operate like insurance, with the employer bearing risk similar to an insurance company that provides full coverage for a premium.  However, sometimes employers try to reduce their risk by limiting reimbursements to the amount of contribution or requiring repayment of excess reimbursements...

While it's no big secret that as your plan year ends, nondiscrimination testing must be completed. The mystery begins as you try to assimilate the rules and regulations required to successfully complete the  Nondiscrimination Testing Worksheet. Attend our webinar:  "Secrets of Nondiscrimination Testing Revealed" by our very own testing expert, Jessica Melvin.    

Whether you have a question or two or need step-by-step instruction, the webinars are designed to help you complete your Nondiscrimination Testing Worksheet successfully.

You'll learn exactly how to complete your Nondiscrimination Testing Worksheet for your BESTflex Plan or BESTflex Plan Premium Only; how to specifically address common issues that arise in each section; and problem-solving techniques to address issues that may arise when completing the form.

You'll also increase your understanding on Nondiscrimination Testing and learn specific methods that will ensure you provide accurate data to us so that we can perform the testing on your behalf....

September 1, 2011, not only marks the beginning of a new month, but the end of the federal COBRA subsidy, which covered 65 percent of COBRA premiums for eligible individuals.

There are several requirements surrounding Health Savings Account contributions. In this article, we’ll explain the annual limit on contributions, where contributions to HSAs come from, employer contributions and how the annual contribution limit is affected by a mid-year change in eligibility.

The IRS has announced that, effective July 1, 2011, the medical mileage reimbursement rate will increase to 23.5 cents per mile. This is a 4.5-cent increase from the rate the IRS originally set for 2011 and stems from recent rises in gas prices.

Health Savings Accounts were created in 2003, under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act. Since then, they've competed with Health Reimbursement Arrangements as the go-to spending account option for employers that implement a high-deductible health plan. In part one of our series on Health Savings Accounts, we explain how the accounts work and who can participate.