Court Finds Employer Met ERISA's Voluntary Plan Safe Harbor, Despite Payment of Premiums Through Cafeteria Plan

Voluntary benefits that are sold directly to employees may be subject to ERISA as employer-sponsored plans, or may be exempt under the voluntary plan safe harbor, which allows for only minimal involvement by the employer. The plaintiff in this case purchased a short-term disability policy after seeing a presentation by the insurer at his workplace.

Read more …

HHS Issues Health Care Exchange Rules

By Joyce Frieden, News Editor, MedPage Today

WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services has issued the final regulations for implementing the state health insurance exchanges mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Read more …

HHS issues draft bulletin defining Actuarial Value for Health Plans

The HHS has just issued their draft bulletin on defining the “actuarial value” methodology that will be used to calculate AV for health plans, and it is good news for HSAs and HRAs! The rules DO include the employer contributions to accounts in the calculations, which is tremendously beneficial to the attractiveness of the plans.

Read more …