Inszone is dedicated to ensuring our clients are fully supported in their employee benefits offerings. We want to thank you for your partnership and look forward to serving you for the upcoming year.
As a valued client, we are dedicated to providing you the tools and resources to effectively manage your plan while staying compliant with federal and state guidelines. In this document, you will find Inszone’s value-added services offered to all clients free of charge, as well as a summary of regulations that apply to employers offering employee benefits plans.
If you have any questions about the information below, please be sure to reach out to your service team for more info.
INSZONE’S NO COST VALUE ADD SERVICES
Benefits Administration & Online Enrollment Platforms: Streamline your employees’ enrollment experience by utilizing our no cost online enrollment platforms for mid-year and open enrollment changes. Employees can easily view costs, compare plans and make selections with a few clicks. Where available, data connections can be made with payroll and carrier partners for easy data transfer, reducing the amount of manual entry for your team.
Enrollment Support: To help alleviate the administrative burden on your team, Inszone supports you with full plan management, including mid-year adds and term support for employee changes.
HR Support via Client Portal and HR Hotline: Offered to group administrators, our free online portal provides access to a wealth of tools to include:
- HR Hotline
- Compliance Support
- COBRA Administration
- Section 125 Premium Only Plan Documentation
- ERISA Plan Wrap Documents
- Employer Handbook Template
- Learning Management Systems and more!
Section 125 Premium Only Plan (POP) Document: Required by IRS guidelines when taking pre-tax employee premium contributions, the Inszone team will provide a free Section 125 POP plan document to our employee benefits clients. To request a no cost Section 125 POP plan document, please reach out to your service team.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PLAN SPONSOR COMPLIANCE OVERVIEW
As you may know, employers who offer an employer sponsored plan are subject to a variety of state and federal regulations. This email is to review those regulations and help keep your company in compliance.
- Pre-Tax Contributions / Section 125: Employers have the option of deducting employee premium contributions out of their paycheck on a pre-tax basis by setting up a Section 125 Premium Only Plan (POP) document. This document needs to be kept on file by the plan sponsor / employer. As a value add Inszone offers this service for free. For more information, please contact your service team. LEARN MORE
- SBC Distribution: As regulated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), all employers must distribute Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) to employees upon hire and at open enrollment. Your SBC’s have been sent with your renewal documents and are also available for download on your insurance carrier site. LEARN MORE
- Annual Notice Packets: Employers that sponsor group health plans should provide certain benefits notices on an annual basis with information about the plan offerings.
Download a Sample Employee Annual Notice Packet Here
- Continuation Rights: Employees who term off the plan may have options to continue their benefits through state or federal continuation rights. The continuation rights available to your employees depend on your company’s size.
- Groups with 20 or more average employees: If your company averages over 20 employees, you will be subject to Federal COBRA which allows employees to continue their coverage for 18-36 months depending on the situation. It is the employer’s responsibility to send out the corresponding continuation notice to affected employees at time of hire and termination. To learn more about COBRA guidelines, please visit the Department of Labor website.
While groups can self-administer COBRA, we highly recommend using a third-party administrator to manage this process. If you would like an introduction to a COBRA TPA, your Account Manager or Producer can facilitate an introduction.
- Groups with less than 20 employees: Groups with less than 20 employees on average are not eligible for COBRA. For fully insured groups, states may provide continuation rights. Please check with your service team for specific information on your state’s continuation rights.
- Groups with 20 or more average employees: If your company averages over 20 employees, you will be subject to Federal COBRA which allows employees to continue their coverage for 18-36 months depending on the situation. It is the employer’s responsibility to send out the corresponding continuation notice to affected employees at time of hire and termination. To learn more about COBRA guidelines, please visit the Department of Labor website.
- ACA Reporting: Employers who average more than 50 full time equivalent employees must submit annual 6056 reporting with the IRS to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s pay or play rule. Generally, this rule requires Applicable Large Employers (ALE) to offer minimum value coverage that is affordable to full time employees. You can find more information about 6056 reporting requirements here. Groups with less than 50 employees who have a level funded plan also have annual reporting requirements.
- PCORI Fees: Self and level funded plans and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) are subject to the Patient Center Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) fee. This fee is due annually in July and paid through IRS form 720. LEARN MORE
- Medicare Part D Notices: Employers with a group health plan that provides RX coverage must comply with disclosure requirements. Medicare Part D requires employers to disclose whether their prescription drug coverage is credible on an annual basis prior to October 15th each year. LEARN MORE
- ERISA Plan Wrap Docs: Under ERISA, employer-sponsored welfare benefits plans, such as group health plans, must describe benefits offered in a written plan document. LEARN MORE
Enrollment Changes: Inszone will help with employee additions and terminations to coverage. While we do our best to process changes accurately, it is the employer’s responsibility to audit invoices monthly to ensure accuracy, even when set up on ACH / EFT payments. Please report any billing updates to our team as soon as possible, within 30 days of the invoice date. Refunds may not be available after certain timeframes depending on the carrier guidelines.
If you have any questions about the above guidelines, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Account Manager or Producer. We appreciate your partnership and look forward to continued success.