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A mandatory uniform standard for health plans to pay claims electronically was adopted in rules issued Jan. 5 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The rules are designed to help health care providers match payments received with the “remittance advice” transactions that plans are already sending them under an existing HHS […]
One in five human resource executives reported a violent workplace episode, according to a new survey of Southern California employers by Thomas Staffing Services in Irvine. Respondents expressed the most concern over fist fights, guns, and obscene or threatening phone calls. Nearly all believed preventive measures such as pre-employment screening, tighter security and employee hotlines […]
The IRS has issued final/temporary and proposed rules, and a raft of guidance and draft forms related to reporting requirements for employers and individuals under health care reform. The rules and guidance are designed to help individuals and businesses calculate both their penalties if they don’t have health coverage, and subsidies, if they are eligible, […]
Federal courts are off to “a promising start” in issuing rulings under the ADA Amendments Act according to the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency. NCD says that recent rulings are a substantial improvement over pre-amendments decisions in achieving the broad scope of coverage that Congress intended. That finding is part of an […]
Final rules that will govern the state-based insurance exchanges created by health reform include more detailed privacy and security requirements for the exchanges themselves and participating insurers. These restrictions also will apply indirectly to agents, brokers and others involved in this process. In the rules, published March 27 (77 Fed. Reg. 18310), the U.S. Department […]
Two new federal Department of Labor programs will make it easier for employers and benefit plan officials to voluntarily correct certain employee benefit plan violations and avoid enforcement actions and hefty penalties. Here’s how these programs work.
Just when you thought you’d figured out all the new regulations set to go into effect for 2012, some government agency changes them up on you. At least with last Friday’s announcement from the IRS, you can breathe easy: its changes won’t take effect until Feb. 1, 2012, or later. The Service’s Announcement 2011-82 changes […]
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) recently released a study of revenues needed for PBGC to continue to protect participants in multiemployer plans that are likely to run out of money—and the news isn’t good.
The Obama Administration’s proposed 2013 budget includes funding to hire 92 additional Wage and Hour Division investigators. The budget would allocate $6.4 million to hire investigators to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, said Nancy Leppink, acting WHD administrator during a webchat on Monday. The funding would allow […]
Just in the past year, we’ve started doing almost all of our hiring through online sources. In some ways, it works very well, but I’m becoming increasingly concerned that we’re sort of losing control of what was a pretty solid commitment to diversity. Are we exposing ourselves to discrimination and affirmative action problems by recruiting […]