| Free Employee Training Library for Stumm Insurance Clients Stumm Insurance is pleased to offer a new service in which clients can access a video library to use for employee training. Most videos range from 10-20 minutes, and topics include: Harassment & Violence, Drugs & Alcohol, Diversity, Coronavirus Response, Hiring & Termination, Cybersecurity, Ergonomics, OSHA Compliance, HIPAA Compliance, Employee/Manager Success, Safety (including Workplace, Restaurant & Food, Transportation, Fire, and Health Care), and many more. Best of all, Stumm is paying for this service on your behalf! If interested, please reach out to your service team for more information. ACA Affordability Threshold Change for 2021 The IRS announced in July that employer-sponsored health coverage will satisfy the ACA “affordability test” for large employers in the 2021 year if the employer offers a Single coverage option that does not exceed 9.83% of an employee’s household income. This is up slightly from the 2020 rate of 9.78%, but below the 2019 rate of 9.86%. To put the new 2021 number in perspective for a $10/hour worker who works 30 hours a week, an employer (using the Rate of pay safe harbor) charging more than $127 per month for their least expensive single medical plan may be penalized under the affordability test. If you need help making sure your medical plan meets these requirements, please reach out to your SI Account Executive. Health Insurance Tax Repeal for 2021 A “good news” reminder for employers with fully-insured plans that the Health Insurance Tax (or the “HIT”, as it is affectionately called) will be repealed in 2021. This tax, which was designed to help fund the federal and state marketplace exchanges, returned in 2020 after a one-year hiatus. But thanks to a law passed by Congress in late 2019, it has been repealed for 2021 and future years. This will be a welcome change for fully-insured plans as of their renewal date in 2021, as it will translate to a reduction of ~2.2% on health insurance premiums (a recent study estimated annual impact at $154 for a single person and $479 for a family). Medical Pre-Authorizations & Rx Utilization Reminder Health insurance plans continue to encourage cost-effective medical procedures and prescriptions as ways to contain rising healthcare costs. Employers should remind employees that medical plans can require “Prior authorization” or “Pre-certification” for certain medical services received, and failure to do so could result in claim denials, limits, or penalties. Additionally, prescription drug benefits may have similar cost-savings provisions, such as “Mandatory Generic Substitution”, “Member Pay the Difference (for higher cost drugs)”, “Prior Authorization” or “Step Therapy”. If you have further questions, or would like a “reminder memo” to distribute to employees, please feel free to contact your Stumm Client Service Team. |
4 Point Compass: Fall 2020
