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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Under the new health care legislation, experts say the first changes Americans with employer-based insurance will see is in their benefits. Companies don’t have to make any immediate tweaks to their plans, but they will have to incorporate a few of the federally mandated changes by open enrollment time late in 2010, said Tracy Watts, partner with employee benefits consulting firm Mercer.
The changes made this year will come into effect in 2011, with more phased in over the next few years until the law becomes fully implemented by 2018 or later. Some of the changes will increase costs for employers, she said. Consequently, companies could share more of that burden by charging employees higher premiums and deductibles.
So here’s what you can to expect in 2011.
Dependent coverage to age 26:
This is one of the most significant changes, said Watts.
Currently there are different laws in different states regarding the timeframe for dependent coverage. Typically employers provide coverage for dependents ’till age 22 or 23.
In 2011, employers will have to provide coverage for dependents of employees who don’t have access to other employer-based health care coverage ’till age 26 with the exception of a few states which mandate this coverage until age 28 or 29, she said.
Watts said this measure could raise costs for companies, depending how many workers they have with dependents this age.
"This measure goes into the ‘cost increase’ column for employers and could potentially result in higher premiums for employees overall," she said.
No lifetime dollar limits:
Many employer-based health insurance plans have lifetime maximum limits on insurance of $1 million or $2 million. The new law eliminates all lifetime caps, said Watts.
"This is a very good benefit for employees," said Watts. "In the event of a catastrophic accident or illness, employees no longer have to worry that their benefit will run out."
No reimbursement for over-the-counter drugs:
Currently, employees can get reimbursed for the money they use to buy over-the-counter drugs from their flexible spending accounts (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA) to buy over-the-counter medications.
These accounts typically enable individuals and families to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses not covered by their insurance plans with tax free dollars.
The new law removes reimbursements when the accounts are tapped for buying non-prescription drugs, said Watts.
Higher penalty for misusing Health Savings Accounts:
Under the new law, employees who use their HSA money for a non-qualified medical expense will face a higher penalty, said Watts.
"The most frequent example of a non-qualified expense is if you use your HSA money to buy a flatscreen TV," said Watts.
Report health coverage on W-2 forms:
Employers will have to report the value of an employee’s health care plan on W-2 forms.
"This is not the value of your claims but the value of the coverage you elected," said Watts.
Cap on Flexible Spending Account contributions:
Although this change does not kick in until 2013, the new law will limit employee contributions to FSAs to $2,500 a year.
These accounts enable individuals and families to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses not covered by their insurance plans with tax free dollars.
Many employers have their own caps on FSA contributions and the cap for federal employees is $5,000.
"This seems like a significant change but our surveys shows that the average amount put into an FSA is typically $1,500 a year," said Watts
Posted March 26th, 2010 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Uncategorized | |
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By JENNIFER CARPENTER from jobing.com
I’m young. I’m inexperienced. I’m a slacker. I’m entitled. I have a short attention span. I can’t hold down a job.
At least, that’s how my elders see me – a member of Generation Y.
But that’s far from how I see the majority of my generation. We’re in a tough spot right now. Most of us who are lucky enough to have jobs don’t like those jobs and those who don’t are finding job searching impossible. Although we’re ready and willing to contribute, we’re faced with Baby Boomers who don’t understand us, and Generation X, who’s stuck between two generations and thinks we’re trying to take their jobs.
The Stereotypes
I keep coming across articles that try to define Gen Y as some sort of anti-work culture. Granted, most Gen Ys are pretty young and mostly inexperienced, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know what we’re doing or that we don’t have goals of our own. Sometimes I think the older generations forget that they had to start out somewhere, too.
There are a lot of stereotypes out there, everything from "we’re the smartest generation" to "we’re the laziest generation," all of which only make it easier to discriminate. The definitive line between where Gen X stops and Gen Y begins ranges anywhere from 1975 to 1985 through 2000.
I’m not saying there aren’t slackers among us. I know some of them firsthand. There are those who grew up having everything handed to them by their parents – Gen Xs or Baby Boomers who were able to make it and wanted their children to have the best of everything. These Gen Ys always have the newest material things, their parents probably paid for college and they may have even walked into their first job without even having to try, just because they knew the right people. But I don’t think that handful of people should define my generation. There are many of us who have always had to work hard for what we want.
Change (Or move over, old farts)
Most people, no matter what generation they’re a part of, are scared of change, and there’s no doubt society has changed during our time. Because of this, some older generations see Gen Ys as a threat. Gen Ys are used to having information at the tip of their fingers, and grew up with an array of rapidly changing technology, making them extremely adaptable.
Why Hire a Bunch of Entitled Slackers?
As far as the current recession, a similar scenario happened during the 1990s. The dot-com bust found many Baby Boomers laid off, putting Gen Xs in a similar position as Gen Y is today. However, after the bust was over and companies began to recover, they rebuilt their workforce with Gen Xs, resulting in an infusion of youth and new ideas. It’s very likely this recession will bring about the same fate for Gen Ys. And employers have a lot to gain from hiring us.
Not only do we focus on being true and transparent, we’re not afraid to share our ideas and tell upper management we think they’re wrong or that there might be an easier way to do something. Aside from our high values, Gen Y has higher collective SAT and ACT scores than previous generations and is able to do lots of things all at once. And while Baby Boomers and Gen Xs think our ability to multi-task is a curse, taking a five minute break to check your Facebook is no different than taking a five minute break to talk about your children, hang out in the break room or go have a cigarette.
"Millennials are going to change the face of business," Nick Armstrong, of PsychoticResumes.com, said. "Because we multi-task so well, I doubt the eight-hour work day will last much past the economic downturn. I doubt that the eight-hour shift in the office will last either. Personally, I lack the focus to sit in a dreary office, listening to my co-workers ruminate on whatever healthy food they brought in, hear Nosey Nancy gossip about everything and everyone, and spend half my day getting belittled by a patronizing, condescending, hypocritical managerial staff."
How Gen Y is Coping
Due to the old-fashioned, disappointing work style Baby Boomers and Gen Xs seem to be satisfied with, many Gen Ys are escaping by starting their own businesses. Many of us feel it’s more important to make a difference and share ideas than to be caged into the typical work style.
"I want to express my opinions and share my ideas," Armstrong said. "I’m vested in the success of the company. It’s a mortal offense to be filtered, unheard, unable to express my opinions. I go to work to be useful and valuable, to contribute ideas and work with my co-workers to make everyone’s ideas better."
Final Thoughts
I think people my age tend to live more in the now. We grew up facing the dot-com bust of the 90s, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and now have a grave economic recession to deal with. Because of those things, Gen Ys seem to be more concerned with where they are today and about doing something that will make an immediate difference than where they want to be 10 years from now. (Besides, nobody really knows the answer to that question).
We do want to save money and prepare for retirement, just as our previous generations have done, but there’s a more imminent feeling that now is the most important time, and everything else will fall into place. Just because we want to do something fulfilling – and it may take changing jobs 10 times to figure that out – doesn’t mean we’re slackers. We were taught to find something we love and do that for the rest of our lives. We’re taking that to heart – it just may take a little time.
As far as having a short attention span, maybe we do. But that doesn’t mean we can only focus on time-wasting activities like video games and texting. It does mean that we need to be challenged. That’s one Gen Y cliché I agree with. However, I don’t think wanting to be challenged is a negative trait.
I do think that any good boss should be able to recognize when an employee is not challenged enough or satisfied enough with their work and do something to change that. Give them another fresh assignment to work on.
We also don’t want work to be our whole lives. Sure, work is important, but there are other things in life, too. That’s why it’s important for us to do what we love and want to be doing, that way work doesn’t feel so much like work.
And last but not least, we do respect our elders, regardless of what they may say. The problem in their eyes seems to be that we only respect those who deserve it – those who have made a difference, whether that be in our lives or on a bigger scale. We’re also a lot less likely to respect people who have a preformed negative attitude toward us. People should remember that you have to give respect to earn it.
So if you can accept that things are changing, provide a little bit of a challenge and learn to respect us the way you want to be respected, then you can find a good Gen Y employee. If not, you’re most likely going to be faced with a scarce workforce as your Baby Boomers and Gen Xs retire and Generation Y moves forward without you.
Posted March 19th, 2010 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Uncategorized | |
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by Seth Godin
This is deceptive.
You don’t rock all the time. No one does. No one is a rock star, superstar, world-changing artist all the time. In fact, it’s a self-defeating goal. You can’t do it.
No, but you might rock five minutes a day.
Five minutes to write a blog post that changes everything, or five minutes to deliver an act of generosity that changes someone. Five minutes to invent a great new feature, or five minutes to teach a groundbreaking skill in a way that no one ever thought of before. Five minutes to tell the truth (or hear the truth).
Five minutes a day you might do exceptional work, remarkable work, work that matters. Five minutes a day you might defeat the lizard brain long enough to stand up and make a difference.
And five minutes of rocking would be enough, because it would be five minutes more than just about anyone else.
Posted March 17th, 2010 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Uncategorized | |
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From worldlink.com
Question: Should I do a background check before hiring an employee and if so, how do I do that?
Answer: No, it’s not required, but, yes, do some form of background check on potential employees to ensure you are getting a person who will be a good fit for the business.
The cost of hiring and training employees is too high not to at least call references, the easiest form of background check. That can be as simple as calling references and previous employers, checking criminal records or doing a full investigative consumer report. Care needs to be taken not to violate privacy rights, so it’s important to know the rules beforehand. Information on what is allowable and what is not can be found at www.privacyrights.org, www.business.gov/business-law/employment/hiring/pre-employment.html, or by contacting your business attorney.
Many companies use outside agencies for a thorough pre-employment background check. This is definitely an option, but be sure to check on the credibility of the agency. What experience does it have? What resources does it use? Is it a reputable business?
Here are some questions to ask the screening company:
• Do you follow Federal Credit Reporting Act and applicable state and federal laws?
• Will you provide guidance about the proper use of the screening information?
• Will you provide the proper forms and seek the required permission from job applicants?
• How will you investigate any inaccurate information or handle a complaint by a job applicant?
Due to the complexity of human resources issues, legal requirements, time needed to process payroll and the tax reporting requirements for employers, many small businesses choose to use an employee leasing agency, payroll processing company or temporary employment agency to handle hiring, background checks, payroll processing and tax reporting.
Hiring good employees is worth the effort to do some form of background check, even if you just call references and previous employers.
(Arlene M. Soto is the director of the Southwestern Business Development Center. To ask a question call 541-756-6445, e-mail asoto@socc.edu, or write 2455 Maple Leaf, North Bend, OR 97459. For more information, visit www.bizcenter.org.)
Posted March 9th, 2010 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Uncategorized | |
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Regarding your injured workers…here are some things you might not know…
What happens if an injury is not reported immediately?
- It raises significant questions in claim administrators’ minds as to the legitimacy of a workers comp claim.
- It deters CBR’s ability to help the injured employee to the most beneficial degree.
- The claim is far more likely to be litigated, thus increasing the cost of the claim dramatically.
Injuries should be reported immediately to CBR, even if it doesn’t appear medical treatment is necessary. If medical treatment is not required, the claim will not be reported to ICA.
May an injured worker return to work if the doctor has not released him?
It is probably not in the employee’s or the company’s best interest. However, contact CBR’s Injury Counselor (602-200-8500 x2045) to discuss the details and determine the best course of action.
What happens if an injured worker is assigned modified duty and refuses?
Contact CBR’s Injury Counselor (602-200-8500 x2045) immediately. A bona fide job offer will be sent via certified mail to the employee. Failure to comply will render the employee ineligible for compensation of lost wages. (Delay in notifying CBR of an employee’s non-compliance could result in significant negative consequences to your company’s workers comp rates.)
What happens if an injured worker is assigned modified duty and the employer does not accommodate?
The employer risks a significant increase in workers comp rates over the next 4 years. Be sure to read “Workers Comp Class Codes, Policies and Rates” FAQ’s below.
May I terminate an employee who is injured on the job?
It is not in the employer’s best interest to terminate a worker with an open workers comp claim. Once the employee is terminated, the employer has no control over whether or not the worker returns to work, thus the worker may conceivably sit home collecting compensation indefinitely (causing workers comp rates to sky rocket). As the employer at the time of the incident, you are liable for compensation of lost wages until the worker is released to full duty or begins working again.
Posted March 4th, 2010 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in Uncategorized | |
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