R&R Insurance Blog

Recently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) each issued new technical assistance documents about how employers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other software tools to make employment decisions may result in unlawful disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Employers increasingly use software tools to help select new employees, monitor performance, determine pay or promotions, and administer or score tests. Without safeguards, this use may result in ADA violations.

The ADA requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations and have other processes in place to ensure that their software tools do not unfairly rate or screen out qualified individuals with disabilities.

EEOC Guidance

The EEOC’s new guidance focuses on the following three ways an employer’s use of software tools for employment decisions may violate the ADA:

• The employer does not provide a reasonable accommodation necessary for an individual to be rated fairly and accurately by the software;
• The software “screens out” an individual with a disability, even though the individual is able to do the job with a reasonable accommodation; and
• The software makes disability-related inquiries or includes medical examinations.

The EEOC also provides best practices to help employers avoid these violations.

DOJ Guidance

The DOJ’s new guidance provides a broad overview of rights and responsibilities under the ADA. It also provides examples of the types of software tools employers use, clarifies that employers must consider various disabilities when designing or choosing their software, and explains when an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation when using software tools.

Employer Takeaway

Several factors have led these agencies to address this topic. One is the ongoing unemployment challenge for workers with disabilities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April data revealed a labor force participation rate of 23.1% for people with a disability, compared with 67.5% for those without. Employers should review this guidance and assess their employment technology and processes to ensure they are not at risk for ADA violations.

You can read the EEOC’s new guidance here and the DOJ’s new guidance here.

Source: Zywave, Inc.

On April 29, 2022, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2022-24 to provide the inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2023. The IRS is required to publish these limits by June 1 of each year.

These limits include:

• The maximum HSA contribution limit;
• The minimum deductible amount for HDHPs; and
• The maximum out-of-pocket expense limit for HDHPs.

Eligible individuals with self-only HDHP coverage will be able to contribute $3,850 to their HSAs for 2023, up from $3,650 for 2022. Eligible individuals with family HDHP coverage will be able to contribute $7,750 to their HSAs for 2023, up from $7,300 for 2022. Individuals who are age 55 or older are permitted to make an additional $1,000 “catch-up” contribution to their HSAs.

The minimum deductible amount for HDHPs increases to $1,500 for self-only coverage and $3,000 for family coverage for 2023 (up from $1,400 for self-only coverage and $2,800 for family coverage for 2022). The HDHP maximum out-of-pocket expense limit increases to $7,500 for self-only coverage and $15,000 for family coverage for 2023 (up from $7,050 for self-only coverage and $14,100 for family coverage for 2022).

You can download our convenient chart here: HSA HDHP Limits Increase for 2023

Employers that sponsor HDHPs should review their plan's cost-sharing limits (minimum deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket expense limit) when preparing for the plan year beginning in 2023. Also, employers that allow employees to make pre-tax HSA contributions should update their plan communications for the increased contribution limits.

On May 10, 2020, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2021-25 to provide the inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2022. The IRS is required to publish these limits by June 1 of each year.

These limits include:

• The maximum HSA contribution limit;
• The minimum deductible amount for HDHPs; and
• The maximum out-of-pocket expense limit for HDHPs.

These limits vary based on whether an individual has self-only or family coverage under an HDHP.

Eligible individuals with self-only HDHP coverage will be able to contribute $3,650 to their HSAs for 2022, up from $3,600 for 2021. Eligible individuals with family HDHP coverage will be able to contribute $7,300 to their HSAs for 2022, up from $7,200 for 2021. Individuals who are age 55 or older are permitted to make an additional $1,000 “catch-up” contribution to their HSAs.

The minimum deductible amount for HDHPs remains the same for 2022 plan years ($1,400 for self-only coverage and $2,800 for family coverage). However, the HDHP maximum out-of-pocket expense limit increases to $7,050 for self-only coverage and $14,100 for family coverage.

You can download our convenient chart here: HSA HDHP Limits Increase for 2022

It is hard to believe we are already four months into the New Year! Employers are still adapting and elevating their wellness programs for the remainder of the year.

So, what are the employee wellness trends to still consider for 2021?

We know that COVID turned everyone’s world upside down and an emphasis is now being placed on holistic wellbeing and mental health. The Business Group on Health reported from their 2021 large employer plan design survey that:

“45% of employees consider health care strategy to be a critical component in overall workplace strategy which was at 36% in 2019.”

Therefore, a greater focus on holistic wellbeing is needed instead of only focusing on physical activity. This, in turn, creates the need for programs to be more than just a step challenge, walking club, etc. They must incorporate the eight dimensions of wellness to round out a holistic wellbeing strategy for employees.

Companies that are switching to this mentality are focused on employee satisfaction and retention. In addition, by expanding mental health resources, it will help employee’s account for suffering that has occurred from the pandemic. The Standard says, “80% of employees report feeling highly distressed due to the pandemic.” Moreover, there is also an increase in employee assistance programs (EAP’s).

Those who do not have an EAP are researching one and those that have an EAP in place are updating the number of free sessions employees have to utilize. Employers are wanting to provide access online for convenience, as well as recognizing mental health issues are occurring and conducting anti-stigma campaigns around it.

Lastly, expanding financial wellness resources is among another trend for 2021. MetLife says, “81% of employees report feeling major financial stress since COVID.” The value to recognize here is that it’s not only your soon-to-be retirees who can benefit from financial wellness but all of your employees.

Overall, if you are still wondering how to enhance your wellness program for 2021, start with considering one of the three-wellness trends employees are searching for and interested about.

On Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, the Trump administration released its final rule regarding hospital price transparency. This final rule will take effect January 1, 2021, a year later than originally proposed.

Hospitals will now be required to provide easily accessible billing information to patients. This means having all standard charges available online and in one single data file that can be “read by other computer systems,” according to a CMS press release.

Learn more here about the final rule released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding hospital price transparency.

Many employee benefits are subject to annual dollar limits that are periodically updated for inflation, such as HSAs, health FSAs, and transportation fringe benefit plans. The IRS recently released Revenue Procedure 2019-44 revising the Health Care FSA and Limited Purpose FSA maximum for 2020. For tax year 2020:

• The dollar limitation for employee salary reductions for contributions to health flexible spending arrangements is $2,750, up $50 from the limit for 2019.
• The monthly limitation for the qualified transportation fringe benefit is $270, as is the monthly limitation for qualified parking, up from $265 for tax year 2019.

The IRS typically announces the dollar limits that will apply for the next calendar year well in advance of the beginning of that year to give employers time to update their plan designs and make sure their plan administration will be consistent with the new limits. Check out our convenient chart with all of the major IRS benefits limits for 2020!

Contact a Knowledge Broker for more information.

An employee’s mental health encompasses how they think, feel and act. It also includes their emotions and social well-being. While mental health does include mental illness, these two are not interchangeable.

1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness annually;

a recent study by Deloitte revealed that less than half receive treatment.

It has also been found that mental illness is the leading cause of disability for adults in the U.S. between the ages of 15 to 44—making more work days lost to mental health-related absenteeism than any other injury or illness.

The discussion of mental health has been more popular in recent years with the tagline of “end the stigma,” this discussion will only keep growing as society realizes that not all illness are visible ones.

So what does this mean for employers?

It is important that organizations create a culture that supports its employees and their mental health. This process is easier than one might think. Below are five easy ways to implement support at your organization:

1. Promote Mental Health Awareness in the Office
   • This is the first step in supporting employees and their mental health. There must be awareness and de-stigmatizing of mental health or illness. Provide resources / information to employees and those seeking support.
2. Offer Flexible Scheduling
   • Help employees better balance their work and personal lives by embracing workplace flexibility. This will look different at every company but provide employees with job satisfaction, better health, increased work-life balance and less stress.
3. Address Workplace Stress
   • Chronic workplace stress can cause fatigue, irritability and health problems. While it’s probably not possible to eliminate job stress in its entirety for employees, you can help them manage it more effectively.
4. Evaluate Your Benefit Offerings
   • Review the benefits you offer and make sure they support mental well-being. Also evaluate your current health plan to see if it covers mental health services.
5. Provide Mental Health Training for Managers
   • It’s important to properly train management in recognizing the signs of mental illness, excessive workplace stress, workplace bullying and fatigue. Furthermore, managers should be trained to handle potentially difficult conversations with employees surrounding mental health.

On July 23, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2019-29 to index the contribution percentages in 2020 for purposes of determining affordability of an employer’s plan under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA’s employer shared responsibility or play or pay rules require ALEs (Applicable Large Employers) to offer affordable, minimum value health coverage to their full-time employees (and dependents) or pay a penalty. ALEs are those employers with an average of 50 or more full-time and full-time equivalent employees during the preceding calendar year.

For plan years beginning in 2020, employer-sponsored coverage will be considered affordable if the employee’s required contribution for self-only coverage does not exceed 9.78% of the employee’s household income for the year, for purposes of both the pay or play rules and premium tax credit eligibility.

For more details, read more here. If you have any questions, please contact a KnowledgeBroker today!

On Wednesday, July 17th, the Internal Revenue Service added care for a range of chronic conditions to the list of preventive care benefits that may be provided by a high deductible health plan (HDHP). The new list is optional for a plan sponsor of HSA qualified HDHP plan to offer without impacting the member’s opportunity to fund their HSA account.

Individuals covered by an HDHP generally may establish and deduct contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA) as long as they have no disqualifying health coverage. To qualify as a high deductible health plan, an HDHP generally may not provide benefits for any year until the minimum deductible for that year is satisfied. However, an HDHP is not required to have a deductible for preventive care (as defined for purposes of the HDHP/HSA rules).

The IRS and the Department of Health and Human Services have determined that certain medical care services received and items purchased, including prescription drugs, for certain chronic conditions should be classified as preventive care for someone with that chronic condition as specified in Notice 2019-45. Any medical care previously recognized as preventive care for these rules is still treated as preventive care.

For more details, learn more here. If you have any questions, please contact a KnowledgeBroker today!

On June 24th, 2019, President Trump signed an executive order on hospital and insurer price transparency. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will decide through rulemaking whether hospitals and insurers will need to publish individual rates or whether they can keep their pricing information more general and publish only aggregate rates. Administration officials did not confirm when the rulemaking will take place, saying only they will use “any and all regulatory vehicles” that can carry out its directives.

The language of the executive order is not public yet, but Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar laid out the five policies the order is set to address:

1. HHS will need to issue the rule on hospital price disclosures, mandating that they disclose in an easy-to-read format the prices to reflect what insurers and patients actually pay.
2. HHS will also, through rulemaking, require providers and insurers to disclose to patients their out-of-pocket cost before they go in for care.
3. HHS will need to propose a way to consolidate quality measurers across all healthcare programs.
4. HHS will look into how to store de-identified healthcare claims data so researchers can analyze it to make improvements to the system.
5. The Treasury Department is tasked with expanding uses for health savings accounts.

For more details, learn more here. If you have any questions, please contact a KnowledgeBroker today!