Employee Benefits updates
Employee benefits today      
       March 28. 2016
SEE BELOW FOR CRESTOR COUPON SAVINGS
Dear 
:


Recently we visited with a client who shared a story how their pharmacist gave them a coupon for Crestor.   Crestor was in one of the higher cost prescription tiers with their particular carrier, so the coupon was a material savings. We decided to search for more information and found the coupon /savings card readily available.
 
Check out the Savings Link to print your own card.  Once in the link just click on "Get Savings Card".  You will be asked to give some basic information and  the card will be emailed to you. The final card should look like this.!
 
Why is information like this such a secret?  Interestingly enough, my brother just started to take Crestor and his doctor gave him a supply of free samples.  He was on a minimum dose so he purchased a pill cutter and was able to make the supply last longer.  Once again the burden is on us to speak up and ask what is available.  Bill and I encourage you to ask your doctor for any free samples and look for coupons on the internet.
 
If you have any questions please send us an e-mail.   Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you know who owns a business.    

 
Sincerely,

The FSA Store

We have been researching implementing FSA plans for a client.

These programs have been around for quite some time, but typically are only popular with larger size companies.  Smaller businesses tend to have reservations from both employer and employees.  Traditionally, employees have been afraid of the "Use it or Lose it" issue with these plans. 
 
Employers have been hesitant with the amount of risk they are exposed to as well.  For example, if an employee elects to withhold 2,000 from their pay, that money is available to them from day one.  So, if an employee incurs the expense on January 10, has the full $2,000 paid from the plan, and then terminates on Feb 1, the employer never has a chance to recoup that money and ends up funding most of the expense.  Risk is inherent on both sides.
 
Some of you may not know that the" Use it or Lose it " has been modified.  The IRS now allows a rollover provision.  This provision is at the discretion of the employer.  Elimination of the "Use it or Lose it" has made it easier to implement FSA's for smaller businesses.  Check out this summary of the rollover option.
 
There is another resource you may want to check out and make available to your employees.  Qualified eligible medical expenses purchased on line from The FSA Store is a convenient resource for those employees looking to make sure they spend the full amount of their annual pre-tax election.
 
Since most employers have high deductible plans, you may want to reconsider implementing Flexible Spending Accounts for your business.
Let us review a cost estimate with you!

Walmart updated December 2015 Generic Drug

Walmart continues to be a popular option for filing prescriptions.  They have a great program for both 30 day and mail order 90 day supply.  We continually try and educate our clients about their offerings.  If you are taking a generic then please check out the most recent list of available prescriptions..  Please distribute this list to employees it may be a viable option for some. 
 
There are other choices besides Walmart.  Some local grocery stores also have prescription programs, and Target also provides prescriptions & pharmacy.
But, as of  just a few months ago, Target pharmacies have been acquired by CVS.  Check out their announcement on the website.

You know it is Spring when you start seeing Masters golf tournament commercials (April 7th thru the 11th).    If you are stuck at the office, do not worry the Masters has some of the best on-line coverage including this year from the driving range. 

One of our favorite Masters moments:

Click for a different angle of shot
  

Client Questions this month

We cannot find our plan document for our Premium Only Section 125 Plan that was implemented 15 years ago? 
 
You are not alone, we have found that most employers cannot locate their original plan documents. 

Many employers had the 125 plan installed by a payroll company.  It was a free service for their payroll customers. 
Technically there was also an official plan document, summary plan description and election sheet that were part of the original paperwork.  

 
It is possible to prepare a WRAP document.  This is designed to meet plan documentation requirements under ERISA and other federal laws and to incorporate all other welfare plans, insurance contracts and other relevant documents into a single plan.  
 
One of my employees los their medical insurance with Mass Health and they need to come on our group plan now.  How can I do that? 
 
This is a classic question!  There are very strict rules for when employees can enroll in health insurance.  In this example, this would be a Qualifying Event.

All we would need to process this is the letter from Mass Health confirming the loss of coverage with the date.  This is the tricky part... The date of coverage to enroll in the group plan MUST BE the date the employee lost coverage with Mass Health. 

SO, when the letter from Mass Health comes to us, the effective date of the loss is November 1, 2015.  This means if we were to enroll the employee we would have to use 11-1-15 as the date.  This means both the employer and the employee would have to pay back premiums to November!
 
This is a common problem we see all the time.  The employee no longer qualifies for Mass Health, they lose coverage, and then do nothing until they need to go to the doctor months later.....
 
The insurance carriers will not grant an exception in a case like this.  The coverage must go back to November 1, or the employee must wait until Open Enrollment.
  Advantage Benefits Group       
78 Pleasant St Worcester MA 01609
     800-426-2413 (Bill)                508-798-0887 (Vanessa)
 508 4-14-8305  (Bill cell)          508-494-8303 (Vanessa cell)
[email protected]     [email protected]
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Advantage Benefits | 78 Pleasant Street | Suite 300 | Worcester | MA | 01609