DOL to Host Webinar on EFAST2 and 2009 Form 5500

The US Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will be hosting a EFAST2 and 2009 Form 5500 compliance assistance webinar on June 3, 2010 at 1:00pm EDT. 

From EBSA:

"Now that electronic filing is here, and you are using the EFAST2 system and preparing to file the 2009 Form 5500, we know that you have questions. This webcast will provide tips and address some of the most frequently asked questions the Department has received as all parties involved in filing begin to use the EFAST2 system and prepare the 2009 Form 5500.  The webcast will also feature a discussion of the new e-signature option for Form 5500 and 5500-SF that is designed to simplify the electronic filing process, especially for small businesses that use service providers to complete and file their annual reports.

 

The 2009 Form 5500 has a number of changes, including a new simplified annual reporting form for small plans with easy to value investments; expanded reporting by large plans of compensation received by plan service providers; and realignment of the reporting rules for Internal Revenue Code section 403(b) pension plans subject to Title I of ERISA to make them on par with 401(k) plans.   The EFAST2 system is a new, modernized system to handle the electronic filing of the Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF that also provides electronic public disclosure of filings."

Click here to read more and to sign up for the webcast.

Lenox Hill Enters Partnership with NS-LIJ

North-Shore Long Island Jewish Health System (NS-LIJ) yesterday announced that it would be acquiring Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side.  The deal gives NS-LIJ a toehold in Manhattan as well as access to a population of patients who, according to a New York Times article, "seek pampering during childbirth and orthopedic surgery."  NS-LIJ Chief Executive Michael Dowling said that Lenox Hill would retain its name, board, and chief executive.

Click here to read the New York Times story.

Kingsdale Article on Health Insurance Exchanges

The New England Journal of Medicine has recently published an article on health insurance exchanges, penned by Jon Kingsdale, PhD, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority.  Mr. Kingsdale asserts, plain and simply, that exchanges sell insurance and that a failure to enroll enough people is essentially a failure to achieve an exchange's core mission.  Exchanges were included in the recently passed health reform legislation - and experience widespread bipartisan agreement - because they facilitate a marketplace of managed competition where consumers can easily comparison shop for health insurance plans that fit their needs and budget.  In addition, exchanges offer administrative savings, a choice of high-value health plans, transparency in quality and price, and the ability to determine one's eligibility for subsidies and/or tax credits.

HealthPass, NYBGH's subsidiary health insurance exchange runs a similar exchange model except that it has focused on providing quality, affordable options to small businesses for over ten years.  The Massachusetts Connector, in contrast, first concentrated on enrolling eligible individuals and have only recently begun their efforts to increase the number of small businesses that offer health benefits.

Click here to access the full article.

New York Convenes Health Reform Implementation Cabinet

New York's Governor David Paterson announced Thursday that his office would be spearheading the health reform implementation effort across the state with the formation of a Health Care Reform Cabinet.  The group will be chaired by Valerie Grey, the Director of State Operations and is commissioned with:

• Identifying deadlines for the completion of interim or final steps necessary or desired to comply with the provisions of federal health care reform;
• Identifying those provisions of federal health care reform with which the State must comply and those that are optional, and evaluating whether participation in optional programs is appropriate;
• Assessing the State's capacity to carry out those provisions of federal health care reform that affect or potentially affect the State;
• Identifying any changes needed to State statute, regulation, policy or procedure in order to implement such provisions and facilitating the achievement of such changes as necessary;
• Communicating with the federal government, local governments, other states, health care providers, and other stakeholders as advisable or necessary; and
• Providing for outreach to the public to educate them on the implementation of reforms as necessary.

The Deputy Secretary for Health, Medicaid, and Oversight and the Deputy Secretary for Labor and Financial Regulation will serve as vice-chairs.  An external advisory group consisting of individuals representing providers, consumers, businesses, labor, local government, health insurers, and health policy experts will be named to assist with the implementation effort.

To read more about this, click here.

Guidance on Adult Dependent Coverage Released

Today the Department of Labor (DOL), the Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released clarifying guidance on the provisions in the new health reform law that require group health plans to cover adult dependent children up to age 26.

Highlights of the new regulation include:

• Except for children age 26 or older, the terms of the policy cannot vary for dependent coverage based on age of a child
• Additional charges (e.g. surcharges, fees, etc.) are not allowed unless the surcharge applies regardless of the age of the child
• Married adult dependents are eligible for this new benefit. However, coverage does not have to be offered to the adult child's spouse or children.
• Plans must provide a special enrollment period - that includes written notice - for at least 30 days to adult children whose coverage may have ended under a plan or who may have been previously denied coverage. This is effective no later than the first day of the first plan year beginning on or after September 23, 2010 (i.e., January 1, 2010 for most employer-sponsored plans).
• Because of the special enrollment period, the adult child is treated as a special enrollee per HIPAA laws. Therefore, employers must:
• Make available to adult children all benefit packages that are offered to other similar individuals who did not lose coverage because they lost dependent status; and
• Charge the same premium price that they charge other similar individuals who did not lose coverage because they lost dependent status
• Financial contributions set aside for this new benefit may be excluded from the employee's income for the entire taxable year the child turns 26 so long as the coverage continues until the end of that given taxable year.

On a related note, HHS released cost estimates of this new benefit, concluding that it will cost $3,380 for each dependent and thus will raise premiums by 0.7 percent in 2011 for employer plans. A little over one million young adult dependents are expected to sign up, with HHS estimating that more than half of them would have been uninsured if not for this program. While this aspect of the health reform law is effective September 23, 2010, many insurers across the country have already pledged to cover this population far in advance of September. A list of these insurers can be seen in the below referenced DOL Fact Sheet.

Click here to access the regulation.
Click here to view the DOL fact sheet.
Click here to read the FAQs, courtesy of DOL.

New NBCH-Commonwealth Fund Newsletter

National Business Coalition on Health and the Commonwealth Fund have teamed up to periodically report on developments in employer-related health policy and quality.  The third edition of the Purchasing High Performance newsletter has been released and the feature story includes a health reform implementation timeline for employers.  Also in the newsletter is an article on health insurance exchanges that highlights HealthPass, NYBGH's subsidiary commercial health insurance exchange.

Click here to access the newsletter.

Early Retiree Reinsurance Program Regulations

Today the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released regulations on the new early retiree reinsurance program for employers.  Expected to be included in the federal register within the next few days, the regulations provide greater clarification regarding how employers will be reimbursed for early retiree claims costs between $15,000 and $90,000.  Of special note is that the program will go into effect June 1, 2010 in advance of the June 23, 2010 mandated effective date.  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has allocated $5 billion dollars for this program that expires in 2014 when state-based health insurance exchanges are established.  Both self-insured and fully-insured employers are eligible to apply to participate in this program.  In the regulations, HHS states that they predict that many of the program participants will be those that receive the retiree drug subsidy (RDS) because of the similarities between the two programs.

The HHS press release can be accessed by clicking here.  A recently revised White House fact sheet on this program can be found by clicking here.

HealthPass - Health Insurance Exchange with Choice and at the Heart of Reform

In a newly released edition of the Commonwealth Fund's Purchasing High Performance newsletter, HealthPass, NYBGH's subsidiary health insurance exchange, is cited as one of only a few health insurance exchanges around the country.  A hot topic now that federal health reform has passed, health insurance exchanges like HealthPass provide small employers with choice and flexibility of plans, extensive provider networks, and an organization that works to make offering health benefits hassle-free.

Operating for over 10 years in downstate New York, HealthPass has expanded to over 35,000 members and now offers 25 medical plans along with a number of ancillary products and advocacy services to small businesses and sole proprietors.  Quoted in the article are both Vince Ashton, HealthPass Executive Director as well as Laurel Pickering, NYBGH Executive Director and Chair of the HealthPass board of directors.

Click here to read the complete article.