Benefits
COBRA Subsidies Extended
Monday, December 28th, 2009If you have fired or laid off an employee since September 2008, you know about the group health insurance continuance provisions related to COBRA that allow an employee to only pay 35% of the premiums due, while the federal government subsidizes the rest of the premium. That subsidy was supposed to expire at the end [...]
COBRA Changes Affect Employers
Monday, April 13th, 2009Do you provide group health, dental or vision insurance or a Health Reimbursement Account to your employees?
Do you have at least 20 employees, whether they are on the group health insurance or not?
Have you laid off or fired any employees since September 1, 2008?
If you answered these 3 questions “yes”, you are required to act [...]
Texas’ Group Health Insurance Problem
Monday, March 23rd, 2009There was a very informative article in Time Magazine last week called “The Health Care Crisis Hits Home”. The author, a journalist with 15 years covering health policy, wrote of her brother in Texas whose kidneys are failing. He had been insured for 6 years with one company, buying a new individual short-term policy each [...]
Health Care Dilemmas for Employers
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008Several items about employer-provided group health care benefits have crossed my desk lately. In light of the presidential election next week, all of these items could be addressed soon under a new administration. But it is important to understand the scope of the problem that group health insurance has become for employers.
The rising cost of [...]