2018 Compliance Calendar. The following are important compliance due dates and reminders for 2018. The laws and due dates apply based on the number of employees, whether or not someone does business with the federal government, and on benefits offered. Other state-by-state laws may also apply.
Date
Compliance Issue
Employer Action
1/1/2018
Social Security Taxable Limit Increases
The maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) has been increased for 2018 from $127,200 to $128,400.
1/31/2018
Forms W-2 and 1099 due
Employers must provide all employees copies of Form W-2 reporting earnings and taxes for 2017 by January 31, 2018. When applicable, employers must provide Forms 1099 to contractors who earned more than $600 in business-related payments in 2017.
2/1/2018
Post OSHA Form 300A
Employers with more than 10 employees who are not in exempted low-risk industries must post Form 300A, the annual summary of job-related injuries and illnesses, in a workplace common area from February 1 through April 30, 2018. If there were no recordable injuries or illnesses, applicable companies must still post the form with zeroes on the appropriate lines.
2/28/2018 or 4/2/2018
ACA Forms 1094 and 1095
Applicable Large Employers must submit Forms 1094 and 1095 to the IRS by February 28, 2018 if submitting paper forms or April 2, 2018 if submitting electronically.
3/2/2018
1095-C/B Form
The IRS recently announced they were extending the ACA reporting requirement deadlines for Forms 1095 C/B to employees for all Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) and anyone offering a self-funded plan from Jan. 31 to March 2, 2018. No further extensions will be permitted beyond this revised deadline.
3/31/2018 (extended from 9/30/2017
EEO-1 Report
Organizations with 100+ employees and organizations with federal government contracts of $50,000 or more and 50+ employees are to submit the 2018 EEO-1 report by March 31, 2018.
04/30/18
Form 941
Deadline to file Form 941, employer’s quarterly tax return. Subsequent quarter deadlines are 7/31/2018, and 10/31/2018.
4/30/2018 (if on a calendar plan year)
Summary Plan Description (SPD)
Employers who offer a health insurance plan must provide SPD’s to all participants within 120 days after a new plan is adopted. SPDs must also be provided to new participants no later than 90 days after the person first becomes covered under the plan.
7/1/2018
OSHA Form 300 A Accident Summary Posting
Employers with at least 250 employees (including part-time, seasonal, or temporary workers) in industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation must submit information from their 2017 Form 300A by July 1, 2018. Employers with at least 20 employees but fewer than 250 in certain identified high-hazard industries must submit information from their 2017 Form, 300, and 301 by July 1, 2018.
7/31/2018
PCORI Fee Due
July 31, 2018 is the annual deadline for payment of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute fee (PCORI fee). The amount of the PCORI fee is equal to the average number of lives covered during the policy year or plan year multiplied by the applicable dollar amount for the year.
7/31/2018 (if on a calendar plan year)
Form 5500
Group plans with 100 or more participants must file Form 5500 annually, by the last day of the 7th month following the end of the plan year. Outside of a few exceptions, all group health and retirement plans subject to ERISA are required to file a form 5500 when they have 100+ participants. If an extension is obtained forms are due by October, 15, 2018.
9/30/2018
VETS-4212 Report
Government contractors must submit a VETS-4212 Report no later than September 30.
10/15/2018
Medicare Part D Notice
Employers are to provide notice to all Part D eligible individuals, or those about to become eligible, prior to October 15 of each year who is covered by an employer health plan with outpatient prescription drug coverage, regardless of whether the employer coverage is primary or secondary to Medicare. The notice must be provided to all Part D eligible individuals, whether covered as active employees, retirees, COBRA recipients, disabled individuals, or as dependents. Plan participants are Part D eligible if they are 65 or more years old, three months before turning age 65, and/or if they are disabled.
Note: If you provided participants with the all-in-one Employee Notification service provided by HR Service, Inc. this notice was included.
Employers who offer either a 125 POP or Flexible Spending Account must conduct Nondiscrimination testing as of the last day of their plan year to ensure that benefits are available to all eligible employees under the same terms. A good practice is to test the plan after open enrollment is complete and again at the end of the plan year. Early testing allows for modifications in plan design should discrimination testing result in a fail.
12/31/2018
HIPAA Certification Part 2
Health plans must certify that its data and information systems are in compliance with applicable standards and operating rules for:
health claims or equivalent encounter information
enrollment and disenrollment in a health plan
health plan premium payments
referral certification and authorization
health claims attachments
Note: The information and materials herein are provided for general information purposes only and have been taken from sources believed to be reliable, but there is no guarantee as to its accuracy.
Contact Us Now Learn how our Agency is helping buinsesses thrive in today’s economy. Please contact us at info@medicalsolutionscorp.com or (855)667-4621.
The one constant in healthcare today is increasing costs. According to data from Kaiser, premiums have increased 50% over the past eight years with family plans reaching an all-time high of $18,142 for the year in 2016. The good news is Ancillary Benefits Fill Benefits Gaps.
Employees love dental and vision products, they are the second and third most requested employee benefits. Research continues to show that dental and vision plans can be effective preventive healthcare tools that may lower medical claims costs overall. Early symptoms of high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases can be detected in an eye exam before showing up in a physical. Life insurance can help employees protect their loved ones by providing a monetary benefit to cover the cost of a funeral or a debt health insurance also does not provide income protection in the event of a death.
Voluntary benefits as an industry has increased 257% over the past twenty years, with the greatest growth in the past five years coming specifically from supplemental health benefits such as accident, critical illness, cancer, and hospital indemnity insurance. These benefits can all provide employees with a cost effective way to fill in the holes created by high deductible health plans by paying first dollar benefits directly to employees upon diagnosis or occurrence of medical events. By making these benefits available at the workplace, employees gain access to more affordable rates and waived or simplified underwriting not available to them individually as well as the convenience of payroll deduction and often the added perk of portability.
Ancillary benefits are affordable, too. Purchasing these benefits at a group level is more affordable than if purchased on an individual basis. Cost is limited for three reasons:
As group insurance products, the risk is spread through a large population, which keeps premiums reasonably priced.
If your business takes advantage of Section 125 of the IRS code, premiums are paid with pre-tax dollars.
The cost can either be completely covered by the employer or shared with the employees by arranging an employer-employee split.
There are two ways ancillary benefits can be funded: voluntary or employer-contributory. On employer-contributory ancillary benefits, the employer usually pays 50 to 100 percent of the premiums. On voluntary plans, the employer may contribute 0 to 49 percent of the premiums.
Through payroll deduction, employees pay whatever portion of the premiums that the employer does not cover. Then when an employee uses their benefits, a claim is submitted and benefits are paid directly to the network-contracted provider or to the member (if a network provider is not used). For life insurance claims, the beneficiary is paid directly (in the event of a death).
There are many reasons why an employer may contribute more or less of the cost of an ancillary benefit. Companies may only cover the full cost of their health plan, and let employees choose to purchase a voluntary dental or vision plan. Others may find that offering employer-contributory ancillary plans encourages more employees to enroll.
There are several benefits for employers and employees when choosing to add on ancillary benefits.
For employers:
Lower employer FICA contributions if your business takes advantage of Section 125 so that employees can use pre-tax dollars for these benefits
The value of ancillary benefits is high among employees and would enhance the employer’s reputation among employees.
Offering ancillary benefits make your business more competitive in the employment marketplace. With them, you can compete with other employers who may already provide these value-added benefits.
Employers do not pay for voluntary ancillary benefits or can share the cost with employees to keep costs down while pleasing employees.
For employees:
They can use pre-tax dollars to pay for ancillary benefits, thus lowering their taxable income.
The cost is affordable. Risk is spread among a large group of people to keep the premiums reasonable.
Ancillary products respond to workers’ needs to access important benefits, such as dental insurance, vision insurance and group term life insurance.
With ancillary dental and vision benefits, workers can get preventative care, not just care when a problem develops.
They can enjoy the peace of mind and security that comes with ancillary benefits and group insurance.
With 77% of workers saying the benefits package is an important factor in their decision to accept or reject a job, and with 70% of employers today offering voluntary benefits as part of their total benefits package, employers in 2017 would be at a clear disadvantage to not be offering voluntary benefits to their employees. (EBRI, 2015) (LifeHealthPro, 2014) Voluntary supplemental health benefits can help fill the gaps created by changing medical plan designs, meet the needs of an ever-increasing diverse workforce, and attract and retain top talent – all at no cost to an employer’s bottom line.
For more information regarding ancillary benefits, please contact us today.
Overtime Pay FLSA on HOLD. Yesterday, Judge Amos Mazzant III issued an injunction blocking the overtime rule changes that were set to take effect on December 1.
The New FLSA Overtime Rules changes would have raised the white collar exemption from $455/week ($23,660/year) to $913/week ($47,476/year). This is welcome news for groups struggling with the impact of the rule-both to their budgets as well as its impact on workplace flexibility and employee morale.
Overtime Pay FLSA on HOLD
At this time, employers do not need to implement changes by the December 1, 2016 deadline. After hearing the full case, the court could allow the rule to go forward. The incoming Trump Administration now has more time to make changes, including ending the rulemaking permanently or issuing a new rule with a more reasonable salary threshold, as SHRM and Employers have advocated.
Understanding the Labels on Your Thanksgiving Turkey
Use this cheat sheet to help navigate labels when shopping for your Thanksgiving turkey
From our wellness partner, Cleveland Clinic
There’s a lot to consider when shopping for your Thanksgiving turkey. Use this cheat sheet to help you navigate what the labels mean and ask the right questions so you’re bringing home a bird that suits your needs.
1. USDA-certified organic turkey
This means it was raised without antibiotics or pesticides, fed organic feed and given access to the outdoors. They are usually more expensive than grocery store turkeys and they need to be ordered a couple weeks before Thanksgiving.
2. Heirloom or Heritage turkey
Specific breeds of turkey that are naturally raised outdoors without hormones or antibiotics. This slower-growing turkey has a little more fat marbling, meaning a richer flavor and texture. These also need to be ordered a week or two ahead of Thanksgiving Day.
3. Conventional grocery store turkey
These are factory farmed turkeys known as the Broad Breasted White Turkey. They are bred to have more white meat and typically raised with antibiotics to promote growth.
4. “Enhanced,” “prebasted” or “marinated”
These labels mean the turkey has been injected with a solution to enhance flavor, increasing its sodium content from 75 mg to as much as 710 mg. Read the fine print so you know all of the ingredients.
5. “Hormone-free” or “No hormones added”
This is a misleading label you can ignore. It implies a healthier choice, but federal regulations already prohibit the use of hormones in poultry.
6. “Natural”
A turkey labeled natural can still be enhanced or prebasted and fed antibiotics. It is supposed to mean minimally processed, containing no artificial flavoring, coloring, ingredients, preservatives or other artificial ingredients. Read the fine print to know all of the ingredients and talk to your grocer.
7. Final Tip
If you’re buying a bird from a local poultry farmer, be sure to ask how it was raised and whether or not it’s been enhanced with a solution to add flavor.
Gobble! Gobble! We hope you all enjoy the long Thanksgiving weekend. Get the latest on healthcare news on our website.
The IRS Notice released today December 28, 2015 extends the due dates for the 2015 information reporting requirements (both furnishing to individuals and filing with the Internal Revenue Service) for insurers, self-insuring employers, and certain other providers of minimum essential coverage, that is, all Forms 1094 & 1095.
There is no extension for individual tax filings and individual taxpayers/employees may not receive their Forms 1095-B or 1095-C before they file their income tax returns for 2015.
Because of the delay, some employees will not receive their forms until after the April 15 tax filing deadline. The IRS indicates that these employees do not have to file an amended tax return. They should simply keep their forms in a file should they need them later.
Specifically, this notice IRS extends 1094 and 1095 deadlines to:
Form 1095-C – from employer to employees – original deadline was 2/1/16, was extended to 3/31/16
Form 1094-C and 1095-C IRS filing by the employer (paper) original deadline was 2/29/16, was extended to 5/31/16
Form 1094-C and 1095-C IRS filing by employer (electronically) original deadline was 3/31/16, was extended to 6/30/16
Resource:
For a copy of the Notice 2016-4, please click on the link:
Our payroll partners offer the ability to fill out your Forms 1094 & 1095 as well as providing copies to your employees and filing them with the IRS. For additional general Payroll Support and ACA Tax filings 1094 & 1095 please contact us at 855-667-4621.
Oxford has released an affordable new plan for 2016 and not a moment too soon. With the recent exit of popular Health Republic of NY, Health Republic NY is Shutting Down, the market is starving for an affordable option.
Today’s largest networks with in-network only GOLD are priced at $9,000/single annually. They typically are accompanied with $50 copays and non-office exposures of $1,000 deductibles and coinsurance percent in network. The new Metro network is approximately 25% smaller than NY Liberty network with up to 15% IN SAVINGS. For example, an Oxford Liberty HMO Gold is $745 vs Oxford Metro Gold $650.
In 2015 Oxford’s Garden State Network originated the same game plan of offering a third network in addition to FREEDOM and LIBERTY. After all what good is a large network when one cannot afford to visit Providers? The third network answers the call for access to Providers with half the copays priced at approximately $1,500 less.
All Metal Levels will be included for all size groups including 1-99 & 100+. The new Oxford Metro plan will be limited to NY and NJ Garden State Network Providers. Referrals will be needed to see Specialists. Importantly, most NY Hospitals will be participating with the EXCEPTION of NYU Health System, North Shore LIJ Health System (NorthWell Health) and Maimonides Medical Center. In addition, certain key medical IPA Groups such as Mt Kisko Medical Group are NOT in the network.
The Healthy NY and off-exchange Individuals will use exclusively this new Oxford Metro Network.
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