More and more employers are offering qualified high deductible health plans (QHDHP). With those plans, they are allowed to offer their employees the option of contributing to a Health Savings Account tax-free to pay the deductible on their health plan and other out-of-pocket expenses for their whole family. Sometimes employers even contribute to those accounts to encourage participation and add another layer of benefit. The maximum employees and employers are allowed to contribute changes every year. Go to www.YourHSA.com for more information and you can sign up online.

We administer Health Savings Accounts for employees and use a custodian bank, National Advisor's Trust.

Each employee has their own account. Any balance over $1,000 can be invested in over 20 investment options. There is a small investment fee of $1.50/month to participate in the investment feature but there are no fees to buy and sell investments within the approved fund structure.

We have a Claims Vault that allows them to upload a digital copy of their receipts if they like.

They can login and look up their balance and activity 24-hours a day on www.YourHSA.com or www.YourFlex.com.

A credit card is included for the account owner and their spouse.

These plans allow employers to self-insure for all or a portion of out-of-pocket medical expenses. That makes these plans very customizable. The employer can decide how much will be reimbursed and for which expenses. They can also choose to reimburse for the medical expenses of family members or include embedded deductibles.

The best part is the employer does not have to pay claims until an employee files a valid claim. We prepare the Plan Document and SPD and update annually. We review the claim to determine if it meets the specifications of the plan and we reimburse the employee.

We even do dynamite training sessions to help your employees understand how to make the plan work for them. We also can set up and administer a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Account (QSEHRA) to help employers (who don't offer a health insurance plan) reimburse their employees for individual premiums.

We are ready to go!

These plans allow employees and/or employers to pay for employee parking and transit passes pre-tax. The max that can be reimbursed each month changes each year.

We have the system ready to set that up.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 requires employers to offer continuation coverage to employees who lose their health, dental or vision coverage during the year. There are specific COBRA Qualifying Events that require COBRA to be offered.

This also applies to other health related plans such as HRA's, FSA Medical Reimbursement Accounts, and GAP Plans.

On the first day of each calendar year, each company should determine if they are required to offer COBRA. Only employers who had an average of at least 20 full-time equivalent positions (FTE's) at least 50% of the previous calendar year are required to comply.

The rules are complex and require specific legal approved letters to go to employees at specific times and within certain time periods of when the employee lost their coverage. We do that for our customers. We mail letters with legal proof they were mailed and we track them. If employees or former employees have questions about their rights, they call us. If an employee accepts COBRA, they contact us and we take it from there.

If a COBRA participant makes a payment, they make it through us. We have multiple ways to pay either online with a credit card or debit card, or by check in person or through the mail.

We are a one stop shop when it comes to COBRA administration. We do it all!

ERISA requires that all health related plans - no matter how many participants - have a Plan Document and SPD for each plan and the SPD be distributed to employees.

This includes medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, etc.

That document sets forth the specifics of the plan: Contact person at the company, plan year, eligibility, plan number, claim information.

Most of the time the insurance carrier does not provide these documents in accordance with Department of Labor (DOL) regulation. However, these documents are the first thing DOL looks for when they come to audit. We can prepare that for you and keep you current every single year.

This form must be filed with the DOL annually if your health related plan had at least 100 employees participating on the first day of the plan year.

It is due within 7 months after the plan year ends. We do a full evaluation of what plans the employer offers, which ones meet the Form 5500 reporting requirement and we prepare the form for you.

How your Form 5500 is structured and completed depends on whether you have a Wrap Document for all your plans or not and should coincide with the way your plans are defined in your Plan Documents.

It's not easy... but that's why we are here.

At Benefit Solutions, one of our goals is to help our customers maintain compliance with the Affordable Care Act and avoid corporate fines and penalties. All 2018 forms must be completed and in the mail to employees by January 31, 2019. We can help! We have knowledgeable staff and tools to help you prepare these forms. For more details visit: Your ACA Team

We know billing retirees for their benefits once they leave the company (or any billing function) can become a very time consuming job for an employer to administer on their own. We can help service retiree accounts. We can also do other types of billing or payment processing for other functions. For example, if you have employee deductions for 5 parking providers, you can send those to us and we can keep track of each employees parking payments and send one check to each parking provider each month. The possibilities are endless.

We provide total communication with retirees including payment coupons and any letters to communicate needed information. We also collect insurance premiums from retirees each month and distribute total premiums to the employer or the carrier monthly. We can even make all changes at the carrier for the employer and reconcile their carrier bills each month.

We want to lift that burden off your shoulder using our proven processes. At the same time, we understand your retirees are important to you and they all deserve top-notch service from our experienced and friendly staff.