Notifying Employees of Health Insurance Exchanges is Now Optional
On Sept. 11, 2013, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced it will not penalize employers who do not provide notice to employees about the upcoming public health insurance exchanges, a requirement that previously faced an October 1, 2013 deadline. As a practical matter, this means that providing the notice is now optional.
Although it is still advised by the DOL that employers notify employees by October 1, there is no fine to face if they do not.
“Employers who haven’t yet provided the notice may either distribute the notice or not, as they prefer,” says Linda Rowings, Chief Compliance Officer for UBA. “Employers who want to increase awareness of the exchange marketplace (perhaps because they expect some of their employees will need or want to purchase from the marketplace) may still want to provide the notice. Employers with complicated distribution situations, or that are concerned that the notices may generate questions the employer is not staffed to answer, may prefer to not distribute the notice.”
UBA recently updated their complementary PPACA Decision Guide Executive Summary to reflect the all of the new requirements for employers. The updated summary, “Preparing for 2015: A Snapshot for Employers,” helps employers answer the questions:
– Should you continue to offer health care benefits?
– If you don’t, what are the penalties?
– What do you have to do to comply with the law?
And provides:
– A PPACA Overview
– Pay or Play – decisions and consequences
– Compliance obligations between now and 2015
The PPACA Decision Guide Executive Summary provides basic information on Pay or Play decisions, but UBA Partners can offer intensive decision support customized to small (under 50) or large (50+) employers. Utilizing the 2013 UBA Health Plan Survey, the nation’s largest independent employee benefits benchmarking survey based on responses from nearly 11,000 employers, UBA Partner Firms can offer unprecedented insight into the employee benefits market.
Download a copy of the basic PPACA Decision Guide here, or click here to contact a UBA Partner Firm and get your copy of the PPACA Decisions Expanded Support Guides today.
About United Benefit Advisors
United Benefit Advisors is the nation’s leading independent employee benefits organization with more than 200 offices throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Visit www.UBAbenefits.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Carina Sammartino
FisherVista
csammartino (at) fishervista (dot) com
(650) 477-4839