A company’s success or failure is often determined by the quality of its employees. Offering an attractive benefits package can be a key to attracting and retaining the highest quality employees. Long-term care insurance is a growing trend in the employee benefits arena. According to research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 22 percent* of companies now offer long-term care insurance to their employees as a voluntary benefit.
What Is Long-Term Care?
Effective December 1, 2013, your company will need to meet more stringent standards established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for training its employees on the handling of hazardous substances in the workplace. This new OSHA training is necessitated by the revised Hazard Communication Standard that OSHA put into place starting in March 2012.
November is American Diabetes Month. For those of you who know me well, you are probably aware that diabetes prevention and education is a subject about which I am very passionate.
While the holidays were once a time of family togetherness and peaceful rejoicing, today's world has made it a frantic rush to host the perfect party and outdo relatives with gift selections. With holiday work events, family meals, and parties with friends, you may feel pulled in several directions asyour calendar quickly fills up. Alas, the stress begins. But what to do? Make sure you schedule time for yourself to relax and enjoy the season or you run the risk of over-stressing, losing sleep, and becoming so exhausted you get sick.
During 2012, 55 percent of small businesses experienced at least one data privacy breach and 53 percent encountered multiple breaches, according to the Ponemon Institute. Despite this, the National Small Business Cybersecurity Study found that only 10 percent of small businesses have an allocated staff member who is responsible for online and cyber security.
The key to an effective wellness program is communication. Your employees must know about the programs and understand how they can benefit. Here are five strategies to help you achieve your goals:
Football, backyard campfires, multi-colored landscapes, pumpkin carving, and Halloween festivities. The month of October brings awesome activities and traditions that people of all ages can enjoy. However, for those working in the health care industry, the month of October brings in one of the busiest times of the year: the dreaded cold and flu season.
Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires most individuals to obtain acceptable health insurance coverage for themselves and their family members or pay a penalty. This provision is widely known as the “individual mandate.” If you are covered under a health plan offered by your employer, or if you are currently covered by a government program such as Medicare, you can continue to be covered under those programs and will not be impacted by the individual mandate.
The penalty for not obtaining acceptable health insurance coverage under the ACA will be phased in over a three-year period. The amount of the penalty is the greater of two amounts—the “flat dollar amount” and “percentage of income amount.”
In 2014, the penalty will start at $95 per person, or up to 1 percent of income. For 2015, the penalty increases to $325 per person or up to 2 percent of income. In 2016 and after, the penalty increases to $695 per person or up to 2.5 percent of income. “Income” for this purpose is your household income minus your exemption (or exemptions for a married couple) and standard deductions. Families will pay half the penalty amount for children. The penalty is charged annually but calculated on a monthly basis - assessed for each month in which you go without coverage. There is no penalty for a single lapse in coverage lasting less than three months in a year.
Because this provision has the effect of “requiring” individuals to have coverage, it is often referred to as the “individual mandate.”
Most organizations employ at least one individual who is essential to the company’s success. This person may be a partner, owner, majority stockholder, or another individual who is crucial to the business. If this person unexpectedly leaves the organization – due to a death, disabling accident or an immediate resignation – it may be hard for the organization to survive without the person who makes the business run smoothly.
If your organization employs people who are vital to its success, key-person life insurance or key-person disability insurance can help protect your business. These insurance solutions can give your organization options other than immediate bankruptcy should you lose the key person or people without warning.
In light of the increased HIPAA enforcement activity, covered entities and business associates should review their existing HIPAA Privacy and Security safeguards to determine if you sufficiently protect Protected Health Information (PHI). If applicable, the safeguards should address how to protect PHI taken off your premises either on paper or electronically (for example, on a laptop computer). Also, covered entities and business associates should confirm that any employees with access to PHI have received the necessary HIPAA training. In addition, to avoid HIPAA’s breach notification requirements, PHI should be secured (that is, encrypted or destroyed), to the extent possible.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR), is responsible for enforcing the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Although OCR has been enforcing HIPAA’s rules since 2003, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, significantly enhanced OCR’s enforcement authority.
