 Open enrollment is upon us again and, like previous years, there is no better time to do a review of your employee benefits. You should mainly pay attention to your health insurance plan because there will be a few changes to the rules at the beginning of the year. Despite the change of President and administration, the requirements of the Affordable Care Act still have to be met. These requirements can get quite tricky when you dive down into the law. However, you can make a very accurate assessment of your health-related employee benefits by looking through this checklist to see if your health plan complies with the law.
If you have any questions about your health plan, we strongly suggest you contact us for a review of your employee benefits. Is your health plan grandfathered? A grandfathered plan is a plan in existence before the ACA took effect. If you made any changes to it in the past year, you must make sure it complies with any new requirements. This article focuses on people in non-grandfathered plans, but even if you are in a grandfathered plan, make sure it's still in compliance. Does your plan meet the new affordability rate? Beginning on January 1, 2019, the new affordability rate for a health plan will be 9.86%. This is a rise of .30% from the previous year. Your employee must not spend more than 9.86% of their wages for their health care plan. The out-of-pocket maximum cannot exceed $7,900 for a single person or 15,800 for a family. These numbers can change depending on the deductibles of the plan. We can help you learn the limits of your policy, give us a quick call. If the plan you offer is a high-deductible health plan, make sure it's within the new spending limits of the ACA act. Also, the IRS has new regulations with healthcare flexible spending accounts. However, they have not announced them for 2019. Not Just Any Plan Will Do, Your Plan Should Offer Preventative Care Your healthcare plan must offer some mandated preventive care services that don't require an out-of-pocket cost to your employees. The list of recommended preventative-care services can be found at the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This would also be a good time to double-check and make sure your health plan meets the requirements of the ACA. Lastly, Let People Know Many employees do not understand what goes on behind the scenes with their health plans. If you make any changes to your plan, let your staff know what the changes are, and why they were made. Employee benefits are important, but health care plans are the one benefit that can harm your business if you don't make sure your plan complies with the law. We recommend you consult with experts in health care plans to make sure your company complies. Culture Insurance is a premier insurance provider that creates employee benefits packages and risk management plans that are affordable and compliant with the law. Please contact us if you have any questions about your current benefits package. |