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In This Issue
Risk Minute
In this edition of the Risk Minute, I want to speak about CPR and the OSHA 10 & 30 hour courses.
Starting in June, eESI will start offering an Adult CPR/First-Aid course. This added value is open for all employees who need to satisfy an employment requirement or simply educate themseleves on the importance of CPR/First-Aid.
Also starting in June, eESI will be offering an OSHA 10 and 30 hour course. Our clients now have a central location to arrange for their employee's OSHA requirements and make sure the course completion certificate is on file with eESI.
Look for future updates on course curriculum, scheduling, and fees in the next PeopleTalk. In the meantime, if you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me at 210-495-1171 or mgross@eesipeo.com.
Best Regards and be Safe,
Mike Gross
HHS Issues Rules for Retiree Care Reimbursements
Final interim rules unveiled Tuesday, May 4, detail the requirements that employers must meet to receive federal reimbursement of claims by pre-Medicare-eligible retirees.
Under a $5 billion program—authorized by the new health care reform law—employers with health care plans covering retirees from age 55 through 64 will be reimbursed for 80 percent of such retirees’ claims between $15,000 and $90,000.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ rules specify that only health care expenses incurred after June 1, 2010, are eligible for reimbursement. Health benefits that qualify for reimbursement include medical, hospital, surgical, prescription drug, mental health and other benefits that may be specified by the HHS secretary.
To receive reimbursement, health care plans must have programs in place that save costs or have the potential to save costs for participants with chronic and high-cost conditions, according to a White House fact sheet.
Filed by Jerry Geisel of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management.
We are all looking to stretch our dollars. The eESI Benefit Department can help through pre and post tax deduction products available during enrollments.
For instance, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) consist of a pre-determined dollar amount (up to $3000/year) deducted pre-tax for each pay period. This decreases the amount of tax an employee pays on their gross wages. In turn, the employee can use those tax free dollar amounts to reimburse approved medical and health products and services. Dependent Care is handled based on the same pre-tax format as the FSA but has higher limits of $5000/year.
Contact Lisa (lcortinas@eesipeo.com) or Shannon (sschumacher@eesipeo.com) today for more ideas on how to take advantage of all the products and services offered to help stretch the buying power of your dollars a little more. Read More
Update for Form W-11:
The new law requires employers get a statement from each eligible new hire, certifying under penalties of perjury, that he or she was unemployed during the 60 days before beginning work or, alternatively, worked fewer than a total of 40 hours for anyone during the 60-day period. Employers can use Form W-11 to meet this requirement. Read More
Employers can amend their health care plans immediately to provide tax-free coverage to employees’ adult children, the Internal Revenue Service said last week.
IRS Notice 2010-38—eagerly awaited by employers and insurers—involves a provision in the new health care reform law that will require health care plans to extend coverage to employees’ adult children up to age 26 and allows tax-favored coverage through the end of the calendar year in which the child turned 26.
That provision takes effect on the first day of a plan year starting six months after the March 23 enactment of the law. For employers with calendar-year plans, which are the most common, the coverage requirement begins January 1, 2011.
Many major health insurers already have said they will expand coverage to adult children ahead of the mandate unless employers object. The group includes Aetna Inc., Cigna Corp., Humana Inc., Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc. In addition, some self-funded employers are considering amending their plans now. Read More
If you missed a previous release or simply want to review an article of interest, all our PeopleTalk newsletters have been archived. Read More
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Wellness: It is the Future to Curbing Health Care Cost
As we mentioned in previous PeopleTalk issues, eESI has developed a new wellness program branded as LiveBetter. This brand is continuously evolving to encompass cutting edge products and services to help our employers and employees start reducing the cost of health care.
Corporate America and its employees have big stakes to reduce the enormous costs in medical claims and lost productivity linked to obesity. With LiveBetter, eESI employees have access to a number of wellness programs, one being Virgin HealthMiles. As stated on their web site, "It's time to get active. To build a culture of prevention that delivers healthy shifts in behavior and measurable business value. With engaging health and activity programs based on proven science, Virgin HealthMiles effects change that benefits us all." Through cash incentives, tools for calculating your progress, competition, and company specific challenges, the eESI staff has already benefited from HealthMiles by completing two company wide challenges. The challenges created friendly competitions, more department interaction, prize incentives for different levels of completion, family involvement to exercise and more personal awareness to be healthy.
In fact, we made a cultural changes at the office too. We no longer have soda or other sugar drinks located in the break room. We established a fitness center in a former storage room. During long meetings we have fruit trays for refreshments. All these changes happened in a few months and we look forward to improving on our wellness success.
If you want more information about LiveBetter or how to implement a HealthMiles program, please visit www.eesipeo.com/livebetter to contact our benefits department.
Risk Minute (Return-To-Work program)
eESI is committed to providing the best possible care from work site injuries. Proper and prompt medical attention for injuries is essential. In order to accomplish this service we need a constant line of communication between the injured employee, company management and eESI. The communication process will be for eESI to update management of the claim reports filed. In turn, management will keep in contact with the employee; especially an individual who may be away from the workforce. If eESI or management becomes aware of changes in the condition or work requirements of the injuried employee, each party will update each other. An updated summary of that employee and injury will be logged by eESI and confirmed with management.
Another key aspect of the recovery process is the return of the employee back to work. Based on medical evaluations and treatments a proper Return-To-Work Program can help the employee remain at work during their recovery time by modifying their duties to the extent that it is medically possible. When establishing a Return-To-Work program, eESI must send a bona-fide offer of employment to the employee. In order to accomplish this we need the following information
1. Are you able to reasonably accommodate the employee, consistent with their doctor’s restrictions?
2. The work location
3. The work hours and days of week
4. Wages per hour
5. Job duties
6. Physical limitations
7. Maximum physical requirements and time requirements.
8. We must also have any medical documents releasing the employee back to full duty.
If an employee will be out of work for an extended period of time, please contact me for further assistance on the Return-to-Work program.
Best Regards and be Safe,
Mike Gross
210-495-1171
mgross@eesipeo.com.
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