Straight From The Source Blog by Higginbotham Insurance

Imagine if we could buy just one insurance policy and be set for life. That’s a nice thought, isn’t it? Like the good things that happen in life, your insurance policy should change and adapt to your situations. The beauty of having a local, independent insurance agency is that it represents multiple insurance companies – one that surely will fit your current and future needs. Some things to consider when reviewing your current insurance:

PCORI Fee Extended Until 2030

Before the holidays, we sent information about President Trump signing into law a spending bill that prevented a government shutdown and repealed the following three taxes and fees under the Affordable Care Act (ACA):

In 2016, the FMCSA and DOT released a final rule on the Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. Since then, employers have had time to get ready. Now that time is up. The compliance date for the Clearinghouse rule is Jan. 6, 2020.

You may feel that your employees would never steal from you or that your business would never be the victim of theft, but the harsh reality is that nearly every business is eventually victimized by fraud or theft. In this day and age, thieves (and potentially your employees) do not need direct access to cash to steal from you — merchandise, supplies and securities are all fair game.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in the Texas v. United States case. The case challenged the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate in light of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which zeroed out the individual mandate penalty. The appellate court was reviewing the lower court's ruling that found that the individual mandate, with no accompanying tax penalty, is unconstitutional and that the individual mandate is such an essential part of the ACA that the ACA cannot function without the individual mandate in place, and therefore the entire law must be ruled unconstitutional.

A common insurance requirement in commercial contracts of all types (construction, energy, real estate, etc.) requires at least one party’s liability insurance to be “primary and noncontributory” to the other party’s liability insurance coverage. Those not well-versed in insurance policies may interpret this language to mean that one party’s liability insurance coverage will pay any and all claims arising from the contract, without limit – so that the other party’s liability insurance would never respond, regardless of the size of claim. If this interpretation was accurate, it would result in great confusion in contracts where both parties’ liability insurance are required to be “primary and noncontributory.” This incorrect interpretation often leads parties to a contract wanting to delete the term “and noncontributory” from the compound requirement “primary and noncontributory” because they think it means their insurance policy will provide unlimited coverage to the other party – but that is not the case.

You see it all over the news – data breaches at major retailers that potentially compromised shoppers’ debit and credit cards. While your banking institutions and credit card issuers do offer some protection against fraudulent charges to your accounts, did you know that your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance may offer additional protection if your identity is stolen?

The Benefits of Matching Retirement Contributions

Is your business compliant with state and federal regulations? Even if you’re staying on top of the ACA, ADA, ERISA, HIPAA and FMLA, there may be one rule you’ve forgotten about: COBRA. Although the ACA has created new options for health insurance, companies are still required to offer continuation coverage in certain situations. Make sure you don’t get caught in this compliance pitfall.

IRS Provides Transition Relief for 2019 ACA Reporting

On Dec. 2, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2019-63 that:

• Extends the due date for furnishing forms under Sections 6055 and 6056 for 2019 from Jan. 31, 2020, to March 2, 2020;
• Extends good-faith transition relief from penalties related to 2019 information reporting under Sections 6055 and 6056; and
• Provides additional penalty relief related to furnishing 2019 forms to individuals under Section 6055. Under this relief, employers will only have to provide Form 1095-B to covered individuals upon request.

Please be aware that these delays relate to the furnishing of forms to individuals only — the due date for filing forms with the IRS for 2019 remains Feb. 28, 2020 (March 31, 2020, if filing electronically).