The IRS has updated their Questions and Answers (Q&As) on the employer shared responsibility rules under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), to include adjusted penalty amounts for 2019 and 2020. According to the FAQs, the penalty amounts will be increased as follows: For calendar year 2019, the adjusted $2,000 amount …
It is the CBI CARES team’s third summer supporting the University City Hospitality Coalition and certainly not the last! UCHC is a group of community members, consisting of students, clergy and local residents, who provide holistic support to the homeless and hungry. Through UCHC, CBI CARES has now fed a …
Each year, Medicare Part D requires group health plan sponsors to disclose to individuals who are eligible for Medicare Part D and to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) whether the health plan’s prescription drug coverage is creditable. Plan sponsors must provide the annual disclosure notice to Medicare-eligible …
At Creative Benefits, Inc., we pride ourselves on building service around our clients’ unique needs. In an effort to accommodate frequent requests for FMLA and leave administration support, we created a designated FMLA and Leave Management Department. The superior service provided by this team became a pillar of our business …
On Monday, July 29, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) proposed rules that would require all Medicare-participating hospitals to post their negotiated prices for standard healthcare services. The Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) & Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) proposed rule is intended to increase pricing transparency and help …
On July 17, 2019, the IRS released Notice 2019-45 to add care for a range of chronic conditions to the list of preventive care benefits that can be provided by a high deductible health plan (HDHP) without a deductible. Individuals who are covered by an HDHP generally may establish and …
On July 17, 2019, the House passed a bill that would repeal the currently inactive Cadillac tax. The tax is an unpopular provision of the ACA, which is scheduled to take effect in 2022. The Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019 would repeal the Cadillac tax before …
On Monday, June 24, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to increase pricing and quality transparency in healthcare. The president’s executive order is the latest move that the Trump administration has taken to address rising healthcare costs. In May 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services …
On July 23, 2019, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2019-29 to index the contribution percentages in 2020 for determining affordability of an employer’s plan under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). For plan years beginning in 2020, employer-sponsored coverage will be considered affordable if the employee’s required contribution for self-only coverage …
We are pleased to announce the successful launch of Creative Benefits’ new website! In alignment with our ongoing commitment to invest in our brand and technology, we decided to refresh our website to reflect how we’ve evolved over the last 35 years. We would like to take this opportunity to highlight …
Employers with employee benefit plans that operate on a calendar year basis must file their annual reports (Forms 5500) for 2018 with the Department of Labor (DOL) by July 31, 2019. An employer may extend this deadline by two and one-half months (until Oct. 15, 2019) by filing IRS Form …
All children deserve a safe, comfortable place to lay their heads. Across the US, too many children go without a bed—or even a pillow—to sleep on; leaving children to rest on couches, blankets, and even floors. That’s where Sleep in Heavenly Peace comes in, a group of volunteers dedicated to …
On June 13, 2019, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury (Departments) issued a final rule that expands the usability of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Effective in 2020, the final rule establishes two new types of HRAs: Individual Coverage HRA: Allows employers to offer …
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposes a fee on health insurance issuers and plan sponsors of self-insured health plans to help fund the PatientCentered Outcomes Research Institute. The fee, called the PatientCentered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee, is calculated based on the average number of lives covered under the policy …
On Thursday, May 23, 2019, the Senate Health Committee proposed a bipartisan bill called the Lower Health Care Costs Act. This bill sets out to address surprise medical billing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs and the overall cost of delivering health care, and improve transparency. The proposed bill is the latest move …
