Later this year, group health insurers will need to announce whether, for the 2011 policy year, they satisfied the new federal “Medical loss ratio” standards.  Those standards require health insurers to spend a certain percentage of their premium revenue on paying medical benefits and expenses to improve health care quality.
Group health insurers that don’t meet those standards will have to issue premium rebates to their policyholders, which will in most cases be employers that sponsor group health plans for their employees.  Most employers that receive these rebate checks, however, will not be free to spend them as they wish.  That’s because the federal employee benefits law known as ERISA will require the employer to treat at least a portion of the rebate as “plan assets” and apply it solely for the benefit of participating employees.
This webinar will discuss the recent federal guidance governing what employers can do with these health premium rebates.  Questions addressed will include:
·  Is your health plan subject to these ERISA rules?
·  What portion of your rebate must be treated as “plan assets”?
·   How do you apply the “plan asset” portion of your company’s rebate for the benefit of plan
participants?
·   Must former employees be included in the group that benefits from the rebate?
·   What are the tax consequences associates with applying a portion of the rebate to benefit
your plan’s participants?

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