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COBRA Subsidy To Continue?
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Actually there are two related questions;
1. Will they extend the subsidies for those CURRENTLY on the subsidy, and/or
2. Will people be eligible for the subsidy if they lose their job AFTER Dec. 31, 2009 (when the current plan is supposed to end.
 This is one of the most frequent questions we get. Our crystal ball (it looks more like the Magic 8 Ball to the right) is a little fuzzy on the answer. Our best guess is - maybe.
While we have heard nothing about it being extended formally, remember it was part of the stimulus plan that was supposed to have gotten us out of this economic funk. We are still in the funk and there are some rumblings of a second stimulus plan in the near future, so... stay tuned.
NOTE: While preparing this newsletter, we came across an article that asked this same question. While their crystal ball was not much better than ours, the article began,
In September, House lawmakers approved a bill granting workers in 27 states another 13 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits. For employers, the move may signal that Congress is willing to extend the Dec. 31 eligibility date for the COBRA subsidy program if lawmakers fail to agree on health care legislation by the end of the year. Read the rest here
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IRS Offers COBRA Subsidy Q&A Webpage
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The IRS has created a new webpage with questions and answers (Q&As) for employees and former employees relating to the COBRA premium subsidy created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). If you remember, under ARRA, COBRA premium assistance is available for certain employees who are involuntarily terminated and become eligible for COBRA between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. Generally the questions have to do with changes in eligibility and the taxability of the subsidy. You can see the Q&A web page here.
Also remember that the IRS has issued warnings
that if an individual continues to receive the subsidy after they are
eligible for other group health coverage, such as coverage from a new
job or Medicare eligibility, the individual may be subject to the new IRC § 6720C penalty of 110 percent of the subsidy provided after they became eligible for the new coverage. |
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Why HSA's Are Becoming More Popular |
We have been talking to more and more people - groups and individuals about the advantages of Health Savings Account (HSA) medical plans. For all the right reasons, they are starting to gain traction. We recently ran across an article that did a good job of listing out
some the reasons to consider a Health Savings Account (HSA) medical
plan.
In the article, Reason #2 is "Renewal increases are lower". Want proof? We have an individual client with and HSA and his monthly premium for his family went up just $2.00 month! That's all. Does it always work that way? No, but when was the last time you heard of an individual health policy go up at renewal just $2.00?
Go here to see the 10 reasons.
Go here to read the entire article.
Contact us and we can see if an HSA may be suitable for your family or company
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See the clip below of a young man carrying 22 bricks on his head - barefoot! We can only imagine what OSHA would say/do about this.  |
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I Wish I Had Said That... |
"A new study determined that the phrase President Obama uses most often is 'Let me be clear.'
The phrase he uses the least often? 'Let me be SPECIFIC.'"
- Jay Leno |
