May 2023

Leading Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Lawyer Peter Marathas Joins Board FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Jessica Tiller at jtiller@pughandtillerpr.com or 443.621.7690 CLEVELAND, OH (5/16/23) – Benefit Advisors Network (BAN) – the premier international network of independent employee benefit firms – is announcing its updated Board of Directors, including new board member, Peter Marathas. Sheri Alexander, Retired: [Read More]

Sponsors of self-funded ERISA plans have fiduciary obligations to plan participants, which includes the obligation to provide a full and fair review of claims and effectively and meaningfully communicate or engage with plan participants regarding claims denials. One district court recently clarified that this obligation may include the need for the plan administrator, which is [Read More]

As Senior Vice President of The Insurance Center in Onalaska, WI, Jeff directs his team forward to achieve the agency’s purpose of fighting for the highest possible good of their clients, co-workers, and community. He focuses on the overall operations and business development for the life, health, and commercial benefits side of the business. What [Read More]

On July 25, 2023, the agencies released an extensive proposed rule related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (the “Proposed Rule”) as well as a Technical Release requesting comments on certain proposed data requirements for nonquantitative treatment limitations (“NQTLs”) and the potential for an enforcement safe harbor if certain data requirements are [Read More]

As CEO of TIG Advisors in Missouri, Jason is focused on positioning TIG to accomplish our mission to help our clients manage risk and achieve greater success. He is primarily focused on the agency’s strategic leadership and growth, creating a positive impact culture, and expanding our product lines and service offerings. Status quo health plans [Read More]

CLEVELAND, OH and EAST SYRACUSE, NY (10/24/23) – Benefit Advisors Network (BAN), an international network of progressive and visionary employee benefit brokers and consulting firms from across the United States and Canada – announces it is partnering with ProAct, a fully integrated, employee-owned Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) company. Under the terms of the new partnership, [Read More]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Jessica Tillerjtiller@pughandtillerpr.comCLEVELAND, OH (9/12/23) – Benefit Advisors Network (BAN), an international network of progressive and visionary employee benefit brokers and consulting firms from across the United States and Canada – has developed a strategic partnership with Truveris, a leading healthcare technology company focused on transforming and reducing pharmacy spend. Under the terms [Read More]

After several failed attempts by pharmacy benefit managers (“PBM”) to challenge state laws regulating PBMs, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (in Pharmaceutical Care Management Association v. Mulready) handed down a big win for PBMs and, by extension, self-funded ERISA plans, when it held that provisions under an Oklahoma insurance law that established strict network [Read More]

Barry joined Hausmann Group in 2010 and was later named President in 2014. During his time as President, the agency has been named on the lists of 10 Best Workplaces in Insurance (2015), 50 Best Workplaces for Giving Back (2016), and Best Small Workplaces (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020) by Fortune. Prior to joining [Read More]

On July 12, 2023, the IRS, DOL and HHS (collectively, “the Agencies”) released proposed regulations that modify the conditions for hospital indemnity and other fixed indemnity insurance to be considered an “excepted benefit.” Maintaining “excepted benefit” status is important for fixed indemnity plans, as it exempts them from having to comply with the ACA’s insurance [Read More]

Tom Murphy is a veteran Benefits Consultant and Managing Partner at Sonus Benefits. After over 30 years in the benefits space, Tom knows what it takes to supply clients with a comprehensive partnership and superior results. Tom also serves as one of four partners at MSMF, Sonus Benefits’ parent company, and runs his own personal [Read More]

Please allow us to introduce David Fischer. David’s specialty is transforming organizations into market leaders that deliver sustained growth and profitability. Fusing a high-energy sales, business development, change management, and operations background with a lifelong work ethic and leadership built within the US Marine Corps, David has ignited multimillion-dollar growth across a range of industries [Read More]

In Rev. Proc. 2023-23, the IRS released the inflation-adjusted amounts for 2024 relevant to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs). The table below summarizes those adjustments and other applicable limits.   2024 2023 Change Annual HSA Contribution Limit (employer and employee) Self-only: $4,150 Family: $8,300 Self-only: $3,850 Family: $7,750 Self-only: +$300 [Read More]

On April 10, 2023, the President signed H.J.Res. 7, which ended the COVID-19 national emergency on April 10, 2023, approximately one month earlier than anticipated.  However, prior to the passage of H.J. Res. 7, the DOL and other federal agencies issued guidance in the form of FAQs that indicate an end date of May 11, [Read More]

On March 3, 2023, federal agencies released revised Prescription Drug Data Collection (RxDC) Reporting Instructions applicable to the 2022 reference year.  RxDC reporting for the 2022 reference year is due on or before June 1, 2023.    Background The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA, 2021”) includes a provision that requires group health plans and health [Read More]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Jessica Tillerjtiller@pughandtillerpr.com Cleveland, OH (4/3/2023) – Benefit Advisors Network (BAN) –  an international network of progressive and visionary employee benefit brokers and consulting firms from across the United States and Canada – and the National Benefits Center (NBC), are spinning off from Alera Group, a top independent, national insurance and wealth services [Read More]

On February 21, 2023, the IRS released Final Rules amending the existing requirements related to mandatory e-filing of information returns, including Forms 1094-C and 1095-C, among others.  The final rules are effective for all applicable returns due on or after January 1, 2024.  While the final rule requires electronic filing for a number of different [Read More]

Written by: Andrea Dunn and Miracle Gladney from Alera Group Many of us consider Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) to be a leader in the movement to end racial segregation in the United States, and a hero in the fight for civil rights for black and brown citizens during the 1950s and 1960s. Martin Luther King Jr. sought equality [Read More]

CAA, 2023 Eliminates MHPAEA Exemption for Self-Funded Non-Federal Governmental Health Plans On December 29, 2022, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023  (“CAA, 2023”), into law.  The CAA 2023, which is largely a bipartisan spending bill, sunsets provisions of the Public Health Service Act which permitted large, self-funded, non-federal governmental plans (i.e., self-funded state [Read More]

On October 18, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2022-38, which increases the health flexible spending account (FSA) salary reduction contribution limit to $3,050 for plan years beginning in 2023, an increase of $200 from 2022.  Thus, for health FSAs with a carryover feature, the maximum carryover amount is $610 (20% of [Read More]

On October 13, 2022, the IRS finalized regulations (the “Final Rule”) intended to revise the method of determining affordability under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for an employee’s family members by considering whether the coverage offered by the employer to the employee and their family members is affordable. The final regulations are effective on December [Read More]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Jessica Tillerjtiller@pughandtillerpr.com or 443-621-7690 San Francisco, CA and Beachwood, OH (10/12/2022) — Benefit Advisors Network (BAN) – a national network of independent employee benefits firms – has partnered with Sparrow, the first high-tech, high-touch leave management solution for employers. This strategic partnership will enable BAN to provide a superior leave management solution [Read More]

An integral component of company culture is understanding the compensation strategy that your organization is paying employees. Many employees are asking for transparency. A company can no longer make wage pay decisions based on their geographic location, what competitors are paying, and what an employee was previously making. While this may have been a simplified [Read More]

On July 28, 2022, the DOL, HHS, and the IRS (collectively, the “Agencies”) released FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation Part 54, which, according to the Agencies, is intended to make it clear that, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs, the ACA’s preventive care mandate requires non-grandfathered group health plans and health insurance issuers [Read More]

BAN Director of HCM Services, Bobbi Kloss, recently teamed up with Lucy Henry, Vice President of Stakeholder Relations from First Sun EAP to provide updated information on the importance of EAPs, which the National Association of Health Underwriters published in the June edition of their Benefits Specialist Magazine. Read the full article here

In Rev. Proc. 2022-24, the IRS released the inflation-adjusted amounts for 2023 relevant to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs). The table below summarizes those adjustments and other applicable limits.   2023 2022 Change Annual HSA Contribution Limit (employer and employee) Self-only: $3,850 Family: $7,750 Self-only: $3,650 Family: $7,300 Self-only: +$200 [Read More]

On March 15, 2022, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (H.R. 2471) into law (“CAA 2022”).  The CAA 2022 is largely a spending bill but also includes, among other things, a much-anticipated new telemedicine safe harbor similar to that which was created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).  [Read More]

In the April 2020 newsletter edition, I spoke about attracting qualified…or just candidates, thesedays. Groan if you are still having problems with finding qualified candidates these days. According to the latest Bureau of Labor and Statistics Jolt Report as of December 2021, there are 10.9million positions that need to be filled within the U.S. while [Read More]

Good news! As of February 11, 2022, pension fund audits are no longer required for Defined Contribution Pension Plans in Ontario.  You can find the official regulatory change here. We note that this applies somewhat retroactively, so for example a DC pension plan with a December 31, 2021 year-end that would have filed their audit [Read More]

The HR buzz today is around having a company culture that attracts and retains quality employees. Wetalk about performance management, succession planning, training, and development, all devisedupon supporting the short-and long-term success of the employee. We support holistic wellbeingstrategies focusing on programs for the physical, emotional, social, and 􀀠financial wellbeing of our employees which in [Read More]

Raise your hand, or just groan, if you are having problems with finding candidates these days. Read the full article

On January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court released its much anticipated opinions in the ongoing challenges to OSHA’s November 5, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring private employers with 100 or more employees to either mandate employees be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and mask mandates, and CMS’ November 5, 2021 Interim [Read More]

On December 2, 2021, President Biden announced that federal agencies would soon issue guidance regarding the availability of coverage/reimbursement from group health plans and health insurance carriers for individuals who purchase over the counter, at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests (“OTC COVID-19 tests”).  Accordingly, on January 10, 2022, the agencies released “FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation [Read More]

Trends and developments to follow in the year ahead By Stephen Miller, CEBS January 5, 2022 s the new year gets underway,SHRM Online has collected the following predictions from experts on how compensation, benefits and workplace culture are likely to change. Take Steps to Counter the Great Resignation Employers facing worker shortages are now open to enacting certain [Read More]

If the pandemic were to magically disappear on 12/31, what news would benefits advisors like to see make headlines in 2022? By BenefitsPRO Editors | December 29, 2021 at 09:46 AM If the pandemic were to mysteriously disappear on the last day of 2021, what big trends or topics would you like to see take its place in [Read More]

On November 22, 2021, the IRS filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Proposed Rule”) that among other things, provides for an automatic 30-day extension of the deadline for applicable large employers (“ALEs”) to furnish annual Forms 1095-C to individuals for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2021.  Further, the Proposed Rule allows ALEs to voluntarily [Read More]

From Elisabeth Nunes Just 6 months ago, in April of 2021, Benefit Advisors Network expanded its membership across the border with our first two Canadian firms. The addition of Owen & Associates and The Leslie Group has been a pivotal step towards facilitating the opportunities and connections our North American members need to collectively provide [Read More]

On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he ordered OSHA to develop an emergency temporary standard (ETS) that would require private employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that employees either receive one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.  On November 5, 2021, OSHA published its COVID-19 [Read More]

The latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that there are 10.4 million job openings across the U.S. No wonder the topic of employee attraction has been a key topic this year for employers with businesses of all sizes, industries, and geographic locations. The labor market and the multi-generations currently in the [Read More]

On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he ordered OSHA to develop an emergency temporary standard (ETS) that would require private employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that employees either receive one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.  On November 4, 2021, OSHA released an unpublished [Read More]

Experts share practical advice on how to improve the enrollment process despite an uncertain future. By Alan Goforth | October 13, 2021 at 09:54 AM Every pain point may present an opportunity, but easing that pain is easier said than done. (Illustration by Sjored van Leeuwen) Brokers often prepare for open enrollment as if it were a 100-meter [Read More]

Published in America’s Benefit Specialist Magazine, October 2021 Life has felt like a proverbial rollercoaster over the past year and a half. It seems no matter how much more prepared the industry is or how much better it gets, the more outside forces continue to disrupt business continuity, constantly challenging the industry to think differently [Read More]

Dear BAN members and friends I am pleased to announce that HRprimed Inc. has entered into a definitive merger agreement with HR Covered Inc., a leading provider of Human Resources Products and Support based in Ontario, Canada. HR Covered has a proven track record in offering customized solutions to every aspect of HR and H&S [Read More]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Rev. Proc. 2021-36, which contains the inflation-adjusted amounts for 2022 used to determine whether employer-sponsored coverage is “affordable” for purposes of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility provisions and premium tax credit program. As shown in the table below, for plan years beginning in 2022, the [Read More]

On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he ordered OSHA to develop emergency temporary standards (ETSs) that would require employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that employees either receive one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines or submit to at least weekly COVID-19 testing.  Employers who do not comply with these requirements [Read More]

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new challenges for those already suffering from mental illness. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), approximately  4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, up from one in ten adults who reported these symptoms from January to June [Read More]

In October 2020, CMS Released its Transparency in Coverage Final Rules (the “TiC Final Rules”) which require non-grandfathered group health plans and carriers offering health insurance in the individual and group markets to: (1) make available to the public three separate machine-readable files (for in-network rates, out-of-network allowed amounts and prescription drugs) that include detailed [Read More]

Benefit Advisors Network is pleased to welcome our newest agency, PSH Insurance, to the BAN network. PSH Insurance Inc. is a locally owned, independent health and life insurance brokerage firm serving Hawaii businesses and individuals since 1982. Based in Honolulu, PSH offers a wide assortment of high-quality products from a broad range of vendors. In [Read More]

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”), which was signed into law on December 27, 2020, included several provisions impacting group health plans and health insurance issuers.  Below is a summary of the provisions focused on mental health parity and health plan transparency (specifically, broker/consultant commissions and pharmacy benefits and drug costs). Mental Health Parity [Read More]

Employers that sponsor self-insured group health plans, including health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) should keep in mind the upcoming July 31, 2021 deadline for paying fees that fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).  As background, the PCORI was established as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to conduct research to evaluate the effectiveness of [Read More]

In Rev. Proc. 2021-25, the IRS released the inflation adjusted amounts for 2022 relevant to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs). The table below summarizes those adjustments and other applicable limits. Out-of-Pocket Limits Applicable to Non-Grandfathered Plans The ACA’s out-of-pocket limits for in-network essential health benefits have also been announced and [Read More]

Two Prestigious Canadian Firms Named Founding Members CLEVELAND, OH and TORONTO, CANADA (4/14/21) – Benefit Advisors Network (BAN), the premiere international network of independent employee benefit firms, is pleased to announce that it has launched in Canada, with Owen & Associates and The Leslie Group becoming the first two firms accepted as members of BAN [Read More]

CFOs have become more involved in the decision-making strategy in recent years, and it’s changing the way companies think about benefits. By Emily Payne | April 05, 2021 at 10:55 AM Published by BenefitsPro “Agility.” “Human capital.” “KPIs.” As a benefits professional, you’ve no doubt heard this kind of terminology popping up more and more in the past [Read More]

CLEVELAND, OHIO AND OREM, UTAH (PRWEB) MARCH 16, 2021 Benefit Advisors Network (BAN), a national network of independent employee benefit firms, is pleased to announce that it has created a strategic partnership with Nectar, a 360-employee recognition and rewards platform that enables organizations to celebrate and spotlight great work, anytime, anywhere. Under the terms of the [Read More]

Published by SHRM on January 2, 2020, with input from Perry Braun As a new decade begins, employee-compensation specialists shared their expectations. Below are five trends that pay-watchers predict will gain ground in 2020 and beyond. No. 1: States will continue to set their own compensation mandates. On minimum wage and overtime requirements, “more states [Read More]

Meet Kate Current. As Director of Employee Benefit Operations, Kate oversees the delivery of employee benefits insurance brokerage services to ensure that they meet or exceed the Hausmann Group’s quality standards. She also leads, develops, and manages employee service departments. Kate has spent many years in customer experience and has led using the model “scalable, [Read More]

You need to know Sheri Alexander: an employee benefits guru whose ledger of experience is longer than her young-at-heart vigor might suggest. Sheri wakes each morning driven to seize every opportunity the day affords. Add to that an insatiable hunger for learning, and you have an influencer who not only understands the complexities of the [Read More]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Jessica Tillerjtiller@pughandtillerpr.com or 443.621.7690 CLEVELAND, OH (5/2/23) – Benefit Advisors Network (BAN) – the premier international network of independent employee benefit firms – has named Bobbi Kloss as Vice President of Human Capital Management.   With more than 25 years of Human Resource Generalist and executive-level Human Capital Management experience, Bobbi will [Read More]