Extension, expansion of COBRA premium subsidy program to become law

The COBRA subsidy program will continue and expand under legislation (HR 3326) approved by the Senate Dec. 19 and signed by the President on December 21, 2009. The maximum subsidy will stay at 65 percent, but eligibility will extend to people losing health coverage due to involuntary employment termination on or before Feb. 28, 2010 -- not Dec. 31, 2009, as originally provided. The subsidy period will increase from nine months to 15 months. The law creates new notice duties for employers and provides options for people who exhausted the original subsidy and then dropped COBRA or paid higher premiums.

As in the past, BSG's COBRA and Compliance Departments will work with you as well as our COBRA software vendor to assure complete and timely compliance with these new regulations.

Interim Final Health Insurance Rules Under Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ("GINA") Published 

On October 7, 2009, new interim rules for implementation of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ("GINA") were published in the Federal Register. They take effect for plans and issuers on the first day of the first plan year beginning on or after December 6, 2009 (January 1, 2010 for plans administered on a calendar year). Affected parties may submit comments on the interim rules electronically at http://www.regulations.gov on or before the end of the day, January 5, 2010.

The release of these new regulations is important because they will affect how plan sponsors operate their group health plans, and particularly health risk assessment components of group health plans. Yet, even employers who do not utilize health risk assessments need to understand GINA. When GINA was passed in May 2008, it prohibited discrimination on the basis of genetic information in plan coverage and in the workplace. This client alert discusses both the plan coverage and workplace discrimination provisions. The plan coverage provisions took effect May 21, 2009. The workplace discrimination provisions took effect November 21, 2009.

Is Your Wellness Program Cost Effective?

Employers hoping their benefits package will become an effective talent recruiting tool will need to effectively communicate the value of those benefits, a new research paper finds.  A Prudential Financial news release said a "clear linkage" exists between the effectiveness of employee communications and the perceived value of benefits - but that more workers feel their employers are cutting back on benefits, a perception that hurts their attitudes toward the value of the  benefits.