Tonya Young
Tonya is our Senior Account Manager and brings eleven years of prior insurance company expertise to Fall River, having worked at Anthem Blue Cross and Great-West Healthcare (now part of CIGNA). Tonya holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Texas A&M University. Originally from Minnesota, she loves the Colorado outdoors and enjoys family time with her young daughter.
Annual Study Shows Trends Stay Low with Help from HDHPs
The annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Education Trust Employer Survey is always a great source of information about the trends in employer-sponsored health coverage. This year’s big conclusion is that while final premium increases were not that high, the average was markedly reduced by even more movement to cost-saving High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs), which means employees likely have less rich benefits than before.
Ready for Amendment 69?
Amendment 69: Know Before you Vote
By now you’ve most likely heard of Amendment 69, but maybe don’t know much about it. Amendment 69 will be the first option on the November ballot, so now’s the time to educate yourself and your employees about this important healthcare bill!
The Amendment proposes that Colorado implement the first single-payer healthcare system in the nation, called ColoradoCare. This universal healthcare system would cover all Colorado residents and provide the same benefit level to everyone, regardless of taxpayer or citizenship status. To finance the plan, a new 10% payroll tax would be created, with employers paying 6.7% and employees paying 3.3%. Self-employed persons would pay
Handling ACA Subsidy Notifications and Appeals
Cost Containment: Putting Your Claims Data to Work
Mental Health Compliance in the Workplace
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS IN THE WORKPLACE
Are YOUR health plans compliant with ERISA?
Mention ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and most business owners and HR professionals think of retirement plans. We actually find, however, that while the vast majority of employers comply with ERISA on the retirement side, far fewer do on their health plan. How familiar are you with what being fully-compliant entails? What risks is your company taking by not complying with ERISA?
As we audit our clients on ERISA compliance, one of the common themes we find is that employers often do not have a Plan
Reader Survey Results Are In
In last month’s blog, we asked readers to weigh in on what topics were most important to them. And the results are (drum roll please!):
You said the topics most important to you are, in order of importance:
- Strategies to reduce health care costs
- Benefits compliance
Brother, Can You Spare Two Minutes?
Fall River publishes this monthly newsletter in the hopes of bringing valuable information to our readers. This month we’d like to ask you give us two minutes to take a 3-question survey, and share your feedback about what topics you find most useful. Please click here, and thank you for your participation!
2016 Employer 1095 Reporting Due Dates Extended
By now you are very aware of the ACA reporting requirements for the 2015 Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) and Large Employer Shared Responsibility regulations, which will help the feds track the compliance of companies with the employer mandate and individuals with the individual mandate. On December 28th, the IRS announced extensions for the 2016 reporting due dates. Below is a summary of the forms and the new due dates:
|
2015 Report |
Required By |
Original Deadline |
Extended Deadline |
|
Forms Sent to Individuals: |
Self-funded small employers (under 50 FTEs) Large employers (50+ FTEs) |
2/1/2016 |
3/31/2016 |
|
Forms Filed with the IRS: |
Self-funded small employers (under 50 FTEs) Large employers (50+ FTEs) |
2/29/2016 – if filing on paper |
5/31/2016 – if filing on paper |
Although the deadlines have been extended, we encourage employers to provide the necessary forms as soon as possible. The IRS has stated that no additional extensions will be granted, and companies that do not comply could face penalties. Individuals who receive their 1095 forms after they have already filed their tax returns for 2015 will not be required to amend their returns. However, they should keep their 1095 forms with their tax records.
Failure to file/furnish an annual IRS return or provide individual statements to all full-time employees originally carried a penalty of $100 per form. The current penalty amount is now $260 per form. The annual cap on penalties has also increased from $1,500,000 to $3,178,500.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions!