Contracts, Compliance and Research Updates
Federal Health Care Reform Hangs on the Constitution's Commerce Clause
According to Bloomberg, "In the last 75 years, the commerce clause has become one of the Constitution's most potent provisions, underlying federal laws that affect every American business and consumer, from the 1938 minimum-wage statute to the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulations. This month the 16-word clause will play a starring role again as the focus of the fight over President Barack Obama's health-care law."
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Is Your HR Function Ready for Health Care Reform?
Towers Watson states, "To understand the potential impact on employers and the HR function, it's important to grasp the three major changes set to occur in 2014: the individual health insurance mandate, state-run health insurance Exchanges and the employer 'play or pay' requirement. The effects on health plan administration will be dramatic, as employers begin to deal with new players in the health insurance arena: state insurance Exchanges. How will these affect your HR function---- and how should HR prepare?"
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Requirement to Post New Employee Rights Notice Put on Hold
Employers can hold off on making room for a new poster informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. temporarily blocked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule requiring most private employers to post the new 11-by-17 inch notice, which was scheduled to take effect on April 30, 2012. The court's decision to block the rule was prompted by two recent lower court decisions that reached conflicting conclusions about whether the NLRB had the authority to issue the notice-posting rule.
For further information about the new requirement, including a detailed discussion of which employers are covered, please see the NLRB's Frequently Asked Questions.
To learn about other federal notices required to be displayed in the workplace, please visit the HR360 section on Federal Poster Requirements.
Additional NLRB information:
eflexgroup Compliance Alert
The eflexgroup is excited to present the IRS Notice 2012-40 with guidance for the $2,500 FSA limit. Among other things, this notice answers the question: "What defines a tax year in applying the Health FSA $2,500 limit?" It also specifically states the cafeteria plan year is the "tax year," and determines that an "off calendar year" can fall into 2013 and still have an unlimited Health FSA amount.
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HHS Outlines Approach for Making Transitional Reinsurance Payments to Issuers Under Affordable Care Act; Seeks Comments
According to the International Foundation Extra, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a bulletin on Friday, June 1, 2012, outlining how it will identify, calculate, and disburse reinsurance payments under the Transitional Reinsurance Program established by the Affordable Care Act.
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