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Juliet Fitzgibbons

Juliet Fitzgibbons

Juliet joins Fall River as an Account Executive and brings over 15 years of prior broker and account management experience. Her experience brings extensive knowledge on employee benefit programs, account management and creative cost-saving strategies and compliance solutions for employers of various sizes.

She is responsible for new business proposals, client renewals including plan benchmarking, rate analysis and mid-year reviews. She helps clients navigate healthcare systems and educates employers and employees through open enrollment meetings and day-to-day service requests. Juliet joined Fall River in 2015.

The end of the year is quickly approaching which means several plans, such as Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), are ending for the 2017 year*. Depending on the details of those contracts (and whether they contain a rollover, carryover or grace period provision), employees have until 12/31/17 to use any remaining funds in their FSA or to submit claims for reimbursement under the HRA. 
In a Twitter message on July 29th, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to end government payments to health insurers if Congress did not pass a new healthcare bill. Trump tweeted "If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!"

The “BAILOUTS” that President Trump is referring to is the approximately $7 billion in cost-sharing reduction subsidies the federal government pays annually to reimburse insurers who are required under the ACA to reduce deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for low-income Americans. Because of a pending lawsuit, the payments, which are determined by the Department of Health and Human Services, are currently being doled out on a month-to month basis. 
Opiate addiction is a major issue in the U.S., most of which originates from prescription opiates, which are surprisingly easy to obtain. In fact, an estimated 207 million prescriptions for opiates were dispensed in 2013 alone. Prescription opiate abusers are far more likely to eventually develop an addiction to an illicit drug (such as heroin) addiction than a non-opiate abuser, as heroin will offer a similar high at a cheaper price. 
Tuesday, 16 May 2017 11:14

Updates on ACA Reporting and Repeal

The American Health Care Act (AHCA) revised bill designed to repeal/replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed on the House Floor on May 4, 2017. The revised bill included several amendments from the original bill, including changes to limits on Flexible Spending Account (FSA) contributions, age-ratio limits, coverage for pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits (EHB). The bill is headed to the Senate floor where it will either be amended, or the Senate could start from scratch with their own bill. 
Thursday, 27 April 2017 08:22

Introducing an Online One-Stop HR Solution

Fall River is excited to announce that our clients will now have complimentary access to HR360, a comprehensive online Human Resources portal designed to help you comply with employment and benefit laws in all 50 states. With HR360, you’ll find easy, step-by-step guidance on a broad range of laws and policies. Even non-clients can check it out at no cost! 

After weeks of intense ACA repeal and replacement efforts, House Republicans withdrew the American Health Care Act (AHCA) bill on Friday, March 24th, when it was clear they lacked the votes for it to pass. 
 
The AHCA would have kept a few key components of the Affordable Care Act, such as the protection for people with pre-existing conditions as well as allowing dependent children to remain on their parent’s plan until age of 26.  The bill would have eliminated many of the taxes and the individual / employer mandates, as well as significantly defunded Medicaid. 
 
 Guest Article by Kristen Deevy, Managing Director of Strategic Retirement Partners
 
On Feb. 3, 2017, President Trump drafted a memorandum to the DOL, directing that they delay implementation of the Conflict of Interest Rule (The Rule) for at least 180 days. The Rule, which was set to take effect on April 10, 2017, expands ERISA’s definition of “fiduciary” under retirement plans by identifying additional forms of communication that would constitute investment advice and would deem the giver of such advice a fiduciary under ERISA. 
Wednesday, 25 January 2017 20:13

Update on ACA Repeal and Replace Strategy

It was no secret before President Trump signed the executive order that he wanted the Affordable Care Act (ACA) repealed, and now he has made his intentions clear. His first signed executive order requires federal agencies to ease the economic burden of the ACA “to the maximum extent permitted by law” until it is repealed. Although the executive order doesn’t grant the administration any powers that it didn’t already have, it does signal to the public that change is coming. 

Monday, 21 November 2016 15:13

1095 Reporting Changes and Delays

Not long after indicating that there would be no exceptions to the January 31st deadline for 1095 B & C forms, the federal government reversed itself. You may have heard there are several delays and changes that have been announced for this year’s reporting:

On January 1, 2017, new wellness program rules from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) go into effect. These rules differ a bit from those under HIPAA and the ACA, so we recommend every employer review and revise their wellness program to ensure compliance, including new rules around incentives, new limitations on the types of info gathered in Health Risk Assessments on family members, and newly required notices you must provide to employees.

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