Employers Have Flexibility with Contraceptive Coverage Plan Designs: In July, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld expanded exemptions to the ACA’s contraceptive mandate. Under these exemptions, plan sponsors that object to providing contraceptive coverage based on sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions will not be penalized for failing to include contraceptive coverage in the plan’s benefits. The ACA requires non-grandfathered health plans to cover certain women’s preventative health services without cost-sharing, including all FDA-approved contraceptives. Religious exemptions apply to certain churches, houses of worship, and offer church-affiliated institutes, which allows them to choose not to contract, arrange, pay or refer for any contraceptive coverage.
In our conversations with carriers, we are hearing that they will not be developing new processes or plans. If an employer wants to proceed with this type of exception, they should notify us and we can work with the insurance company and confirm what documentation is needed to process the change.
IRS Releases Guidance on Reporting Qualified Sick Leave Wages and Qualified Family Leave Wages Paid: In early July, the IRS released Notice 2020-54, which provides guidance to employers on the requirement to report the amount of qualified sick leave wages and qualified family leave wages paid to employees under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. As a reminder, qualified sick leave and qualified family leave wages are wages subject to withholding of federal income tax including the employee’s share of social security and Medicare taxes.
Workers’ Compensation & COVID-19: I have received a handful of questions from clients on how an employee’s positive COVID-19 test interplays with workers’ compensation. We will be hosting an upcoming webinar on this very topic but here are some immediate resources to offer guidance.
Michigan Auto Reform: Just a reminder that If any of your employees are asking you for information on their current benefit plan or documentation from their current health insurance carrier, employees must request this information directly from the insurance company. The medical insurance carrier will confirm if the plan is a qualified plan and if it is, the carrier will prepare a customed letter for the employee (employee name, covered dependent(s) names, etc.). The employee should then submit this letter to their auto insurance carrier.
Nulty ‘Summer Six Pack’ Webinar Series: We are wrapping-up our fun and successful summer webinar series in a couple of weeks. Our final speaker will be an expert in the safety and workers’ compensation field and will help employers navigate through the difficult tasks of determining whether a COVID-19 case is work-related, and reporting and recording guidelines and requirements. You will be receiving a seminar invite in the near future confirming all of the details.
Live Well, Work Well: Helpful summer wellness information to share with your teams!
