October 1st is a deadline date I would not want you to miss.
As the premier, trusted source, BenStaff has prepared this short announcement for you to announce to employees the required DOL notice for health care reform.
Health care reform, Obama care, is here and to help you comply the team has prepared this email to help you. You will find three links in this note and a few short helpful tips. The first is our employee announcement template, the second is the DOL model notice and the third is a SAMPLE completed notice.
Click here for the employee announcement template you can send to employees. You will likely revise this to fit your own peculiarities, remember to keep your message simple and don’t include language that promises employees something by mistake. The team has seen announcements others have provided and found information that obscures the plain language intended by the DOL.
When writing to employees about benefits, you likely wouldn’t be surprised to learn, shorter is better because employees likely won’t read all you write. Send us your revisions or your own letter and we’ll give you our thoughts at no charge.
The required DOL notice – PDF is easy to fill-in, most employers can fill this in without any assistance and send it to employees with only minor personalization. The DOL also provides tools and resources you can find at www.dol.gov/ebsa. On the second and third pages of the notice there are references to minimum value, actuarial value, and essential benefits. Many insurance companies or issuers of policies have provided employers with these items; minimum value, actuarial value and if essential benefits are included.
But, for some employers who have HRAs or separately administered drug cards or wrap plans their plan may require an actuarial valuation to satisfy the forms accurate completion. This is a written statement made by a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. We have this assistance available if an employer plan needs that help. Our staff is ready to provide the certifications.
The notice intent is to communicate to all employees that the government health care site (to be referred to as the Marketplace) will open 10/1 and to provide employees with basic information about the employer plan. Employees who venture to the Marketplace will need this information.
Review the completed sample; BenStaff_sample_DOL_required_notice_for_10_1.
A WORD OF CAUTION: If the employee cost you enter in box 15 or 16 is more than 9.5% of any employees pay, you should review your plans again. We would recommend you look more closely because an employee whose cost is that high is likely eligible for a subsidy. This may put you into the penalty. It’s true penalties have been delayed to 2015 but the measurement period that will determine the penalties has not. Call us for help, we can provide a few simple recommendations.
The notice we’ve provided here is for employers who have health plans, there is a different notice for employers that don’t.
(as provided in an email alert, September 2013)