The upcoming year promises to be another busy one in the area of employee benefits compliance. Employers will have to deal with HIPAA, ERISA and other constantly evolving compliance requirements, all while the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is reviewed again and possibly revamped. This could be another year that completely changes the regulatory landscape.
Starkweather & Shepley Benefits Solutions has you covered. We provide access to compliance specialists and analysts unmatched in depth of experience. Our team includes leading experts on a variety of benefit compliance issues including COBRA, FMLA, and CDH rules as well as extensive experience in fiduciary assessment and training, HIPAA privacy and security, wellness programs, eligibility audits, merger and acquisition transaction support, nondiscrimination testing, plan documents, and vendor contracts, as well as general compliance reviews and health care reform compliance. We have increased our capacity to deal with these complicated issues so that you can be confident in your compliance through the coming year and beyond.
Additionally, the following tools are available to our clients to assist with their compliance needs.
Health Reform Impact Analysis Tool
The Starkweather & Shepley Analysis Tool uses our client’s unique information to create a customized report that estimates the financial impact of various health reform rules including:
- The employer “shared responsibility rules” and possible employer penalties
- The potential cost of expanded eligibility requirements
- The effect expanded Medicaid eligibility rules will have on employer plans
- The cost of not offering a health plan to all full time employees
ERISA Compliance
Employers face strict deadlines and potential liability under ERISA law to provide plan disclosures to plan participating employees and beneficiaries under your various employee benefits programs. We maintain a close alliance with a firm with years of compliance expertise to help you remain fully compliant by providing all required documents, communications, notices, and record-keeping for your Plans. This includes document and form preparation, annual ERISA notices, record keeping assistance and health and welfare 5500 filing.
Legal Support
We have a full range of compliance support services, with access to benefits and ERISA related advice when needed. When support is needed on general legal issues, we have a team of lawyers and consultants that can provide information and guidance at no additional cost to our clients. When specific legal advice is needed, and there is a need for the protection of a lawyer-client relationship, we can assist with that as well.
Compliance Alerts
These alerts are released with breaking news as soon as important compliance issues occur, changes to legislation are passed, or new regulations are released.
Issue Briefs
These publications summarize a specific compliance related issue. The briefs are written in a concise manner designed for employers to review and absorb.
White Papers
White Papers describe a compliance issue in greater detail than Briefs or Alerts. These are a resource for employers needing help with a specific topic
Client Webinars and Seminars
We provide monthly webinars on compliance topics, including presentation materials for future reference. The schedule is published quarterly so clients can plan ahead for scheduling. Seminars for deeper exploration of certain topics are held on a regular basis.
For more information regarding our compliance services, contact the Starkweather & Shepley Benefits Solutions team.