Daryl Jimenea

Rachel Druckenmiller, MS – Director of Wellbeing How do we engage our employees? This is a question I hear on a weekly basis. With employee disengagement hovering around 70%, it's not surprising that this question keeps coming up year after year. Often, we expect a vendor or a portal... Find out more »

DEERFIELD, IL (June 25, 2018) — Alera Group, a leading national employee benefits, property and casualty, risk management and wealth management firm, has acquired Menath Insurance. Terms of the transactions were not announced. Menath Insurance, headquartered in Incline Village, Nevada, is a... Find out more »

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule expanding the opportunity of unrelated employers of all sizes (but particularly small employers) to offer employment-based health insurance through Association Health Plans (AHPs).  Significantly, the final rule applies “large group”... Find out more »

In Rev. Proc. 2018-34, the IRS released the inflation adjusted amounts for 2019 relevant to determining whether employer-sponsored coverage is “affordable” for purposes of the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA’s”) employer shared responsibility provisions and premium tax credit program.  As... Find out more »

A Note from Danielle Capilla, Alera Group's Director of Compliance - Employee Benefits The IRS modified its annual limitations on deductions for contributions to health savings accounts (HSAs) for taxpayers with family coverage under a high deductible health plan (HDHP) for the 2018 calendar... Find out more »

In Rev. Proc. 2018-30, the IRS released the inflation adjusted amounts for 2019 relevant to HSAs and high deductible health plans (HDHPs).  The table below summarizes those adjustments and other applicable limits.   2019 2018 Change Annual HSA Contribution Limit (employer... Find out more »

With the rise in healthcare costs and increase in healthcare legislation, employers are faced with difficult decisions when it comes to their benefit offerings.  Depending on the family demographics of an organization, offering benefits to domestic partners can be a way to promote a culture of... Find out more »

On April 23, 2018, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services released several pieces of guidance on issues arising under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA), including 2017 enforcement actions, guidance on mental health parity implementation,... Find out more »

Many small employers are turning to self-funding to provide economical group health benefits to employees. A growing number now use reference-based pricing to lower costs. Reference-based pricing is a way for employers who self-fund their benefits to limit costs by paying a fixed amount for health... Find out more »

It’s not enough to give your employees the right health plan if they don’t understand it. An online employee portal or self-service site can help — if employees are motivated to use it. You put a lot of time, effort and money into choosing and purchasing the right health benefit plans for... Find out more »