Employee Wellness 
Provide your employees with the latest wellness newsletter with the July edition of Live Well, Work Well. Also available in Spanish.
Educate employees about their benefits with the July Benefits & Me Newsletter.
Upcoming Employer Webinar: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)
Wednesday, August 2, 2023 | 2-3:00 PM
New arrival announcements happen every day. The latest “new arrival” in the lives of HR professionals is called the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA took effect on June 27, 2023 and applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The purpose of the PWFA? To fill in the pregnancy protection gaps that remain despite the numerous existing laws.
You’re probably already familiar with the host of federal and state laws that offer various protections for pregnant employees. And while they may have similarities, each of these laws has distinctive features. Please join us for a webinar on the PWFA where we will discuss its purpose, how it differs from other pregnancy-protection legislation, and how it’s likely to affect employers.
Hosted by Towne Benefits HR Consultant, Barbara Jennings.
Medicare News
HHS Announces Actions to Lower Health Care Costs and Allow Medicare to Negotiate Lower Drug Prices
Are Medicare Premiums Tax Deductible?
Helping Employees Navigate Phased Retirement
Mid-Atlantic Women's Care Leaving Anthem Network (VA)
Mid-Atlantic Women’s Care, PLC (MAWC) has notified Anthem in Virginia that it intends to leave its care provider network on August 1, 2023. Anthem remains open to continued dialogue to negotiate a new agreement to keep MAWC practices and its physicians in their network. The negotiations center around Anthem's goal of maintaining equitable access to quality, affordable healthcare for its members and minimizing healthcare costs for Virginia families who are already struggling with the effects of high inflation.
If MAWC ends their contract with Anthem, members may have to pay more for care received at the following:
- Center for Women's Health
- Chesapeake Women's Care
- Complete Women's Care
- Gynecology Specialists
- Harrisonburg OB GYN Associates, PC
- Obstetrics & Gynecology Associates of Hampton
- Peninsula Women's Care
- Physicians to Women, Inc.
- Specialists for Women
- The Group for Women
- Tidewater Physicians for Women
- TotalCare for Women
- Virginia Beach Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Virginia Center For Women
- West End Obstetrics & Gynecology, PC
- Williamsburg Obstetrics & Gynecology
- WomanCare Centers
HR Insights
New Virginia Organ Donor Leave Law Effective July 1, 2023
PCORI Fees Due by July 31, 2023
The ACA imposes a fee on employers with a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) or a self-insured plan to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, also known as Comparative Effectiveness Fees. This Fee is always due by July 31 of the calendar year following the end of the plan year. For plan years ending in 2022, the PCORI fees are due by July 31, 2023.
Click here to learn more about PCORI fees or see our most recent employer webinar.
Important Compliance Deadlines:
Gag Clause Attestations
On February 23, 2023, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury issued FAQs on the prohibition of gag clauses under the transparency provisions of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). These FAQs require health plans and health insurance issuers to submit their first attestation of compliance with the CAA’s prohibition on gag clauses by December 31, 2023.Plans and issuers must annually submit an attestation of compliance with these requirements. The first attestation is due by December 31, 2023, covering the period beginning December 27, 2020, through the date of attestation. Subsequent attestations, covering the period since the last attestation, are due by December 31 of each following year.
We don't yet know how our carrier partners will handle this new requirement and it might be left to the health plan sponsor (the employer). Currently, only Cigna has released their FAQs.
Employer Reporting
The IRS has released a rule that substantially expands the requirement to file certain information returns electronically, including the ACA reporting requirements. Starting in 2024, only very small employers can continue reporting to the IRS on paper forms.
Employers that file at least 10 returns during the calendar year must file their ACA returns electronically, beginning with returns required to be filed during 2024. The final rule requires employers to aggregate most information returns, such as Forms W-2 and 1099, to determine if they meet the 10-return threshold for mandatory electronic filing.