
Apr
13
2018Grandmothers Can Visit A Little Longer | Houston Employee Benefits
States that permit carriers to renew medical policies without adopting various Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements may continue to do so through 2019, according to a bulletin released April 9, 2018, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The bulletin extends transitional relief for non-ACA-compliant policies for another year. The affected category of non-ACA-compliant policies, available in some individual and small group insurance…
Read More
Read More
Dec
27
20172017 UBA Healthplan Survey | Houston Benefit Advisors
It was recently unveiled the latest findings from our 2017 Health Plan Survey. With data on 20,099 health plans sponsored by 11,221 employers, the UBA survey is nearly three times larger than the next two of the nation’s largest health plan benchmarking surveys combined.To learn more, watch this short video below.
Nov
24
2017UBA Survey: Weary Families Get a Break While Singles See Out-of-Pocket Cost Increases | Houston Benefit Advisors
While the rate impact of the regulatory environment plays out, one thing is clear from the 2017 UBA Health Plan Survey: employers continue to shift a greater share of expenses to employees through out-of-pocket cost increases. While this is just one of 7 mega trends uncovered in the survey, it is particularly interesting this year because singles were hit more heavily than families as compared…
Read More
Read More

Nov
20
2017Latest IRS ACA Round Up (Including 2018 Cost-of-Living Adjustments) | Houston Benefit Advisors
Recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued the instructions for Forms 1094/1095 for the 2017 tax year, announced PCORI fees for 2017-18, and announced cost-of-living adjustments for 2018. The IRS provided additional guidance on leave-based donation programs’ tax treatment and released an information letter on COBRA and Medicare. Here’s a recap of these actions for your reference. IRS Announces Cost-of-Living Adjustments for 2018 The IRS…
Read More
Read More

Nov
10
2017PPOs Dominate Despite Savings with HMOs and CDHPs | Houston Benefit Advisors
The findings of our 2017 Health Plan Survey show a continuation of steady trends and some surprises. It’s no surprise, however, that costs continue to rise. The average annual health plan cost per employee for all plan types is $9,934, an increase from 2016, when the average cost was $9,727. There are significant cost differences when you look at the data by plan type….
Read More
Read More

Sep
22
2017Court Remands Wellness Regulations to EEOC for Reconsideration | Houston Benefit Advisors
On August 22, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia held that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) failed to provide a reasoned explanation for its decision to adopt 30 percent incentive levels for employer-sponsored wellness programs under both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rules and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) rules. The court declined to vacate the EEOC’s…
Read More
Read More

Apr
17
2017An Employer’s Guide to Navigating the ACA’s Strong Headwinds | Houston Benefit Advisors
One might describe the series of events leading to the death of the American Health Care Act (Congress’s bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act) as something like a ballistic missile exploding at launch. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal debate began nearly a decade ago with former President Barack Obama’s first day in office and reemerged as a serious…
Read More
Read More

Apr
1
2017Congress Abandons Effort to Repeal the ACA | Houston Benefit Advisors
On Friday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives pulled pending legislation, known as the American Health Care Act, from further consideration. The bill had been scheduled for a vote on the House floor Friday afternoon but, recognizing that it was headed for defeat, the House leadership cancelled the vote. It is now unlikely that Congress will pursue any legislation to repeal or replace the…
Read More
Read More

Mar
15
2017Long-Awaited Repeal and Replacement Plan for ACA Unveiled | Houston Benefit Advisors
On March 6, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee released a proposed budget reconciliation bill, entitled the American Health Care Act, to replace portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). If enacted, the American Health Care Act would provide some relief from provisions of the ACA for employers and make other significant changes to employee benefits. While the proposal is 53…
Read More
Read More

Mar
10
2017The “Line 22” Question: Which Box(es) Do I Check? | Houston Benefit Consultants
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), individuals are required to have health insurance while applicable large employers (ALEs) are required to offer health benefits to their full-time employees. In order for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to verify that (1) individuals have the required minimum essential coverage, (2) individuals who request premium tax credits are entitled to them, and (3) ALEs are…
Read More
Read More