Articles by WorkWise Compliance team

August 26, 2014
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CT Obamacare Chief Named Healthcare.gov Czar | WWC

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has named the head of Connecticut's Obamacare program to run HealthCare.gov for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Kevin Counihan will join CMS officially as Marketplace Chief Executive Officer (CEO).  In addition, Lori Lodes has been named the new Director of Communications for CMS. In his role as Marketplac...
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August 25, 2014
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HHS Announces Interim Final Rule on Obamacare Contraceptive Services Mandate

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), saying it was taking "several steps to help ensure women, whose coverage is threatened, receive coverage for recommended contraceptive services at no additional cost, as they should be entitled to under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)," has issued an Interim Final Rule on the subject of religious objections to offering such services. ...
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August 22, 2014
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HHS Eyes Compromise on ACA Contraceptive Rule | WWC

According to today's Wall Street Journal, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working on a new rule on the contraceptive mandate in Obamacare that will allow non-profits to object to the mandate but let the insurance provider pay for it anyway. In other words, non-profits will be allowed to say "no" to the mandate to align with their religious beliefs, but t...
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August 21, 2014
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Orion Energy: Cautionary Tale About Wellness Programs | WWC

Manitowoc, Wis.-based Orion Energy Systems violated federal law by requiring an employee to submit to medical exams and inquiries that were not job-related and consistent with business necessity as part of a so-called "wellness program," which was not voluntary, and then by firing the employee when she objected to the program, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charg...
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August 21, 2014
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MSHA Awards $8M in Safety & Health Grants | WWC

The Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced today that it has allocated $8,348,423 in health and safety training grants for 47 states and the Navajo Nation in fiscal year 2014. Grantees will use the funds to provide federally mandated training to miners. The grants cover training and retraining of miners working at surface and underground coal and ...
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August 20, 2014
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DOL Issues Guidance on Contractors' Nondiscrimination Obligations

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued guidance to clarify and implement Executive Order 11246, which bans discrimination on the basis of gender identify and transgender status for all businesses doing contract or subcontract work with the federal government. Both the executive order and yesterday's guidance follow on the heels of 2012 discrimination lawsuit brought by the Equal Emp...
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August 20, 2014
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Medical Device Tax Slipping Through IRS Hands | WWC

A 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices that took effect in January has failed to live up to expectations, and an audit blames the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for botching its implementation. A report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) says the tax has so far brought in only $913.4 million out of a projected $1.2 billion for the first two quarters of 2...
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August 19, 2014
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Watchdog Groups Claim Insurance Companies Still Discriminating Against the Sick

Several watchdog groups have written to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell to protest that the health insurance industry is still discriminating against the sick in terms of harder access to care and onerous pricing for medicines, despite the antidiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Among the 300 groups writing -- all supporters of the A...
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August 14, 2014
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Prove-It-Or-Lose-It Notices Sent to Suspect Obamacare Policyholders

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week sent out 310,000 demands to Obamacare policyholders to verify their citizenship/immigration eligibility. The prove-it-or-lose-it notices followed failed previous attempts to obtain verification from the individuals. The HHS set a deadline of Sept. 5, 2014. If no verification of eligibliity is supplied by that time, the policies w...
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August 12, 2014
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Obamacare Premiums to Rise Average of 7.5 Percent for 2015, Research Shows

A preliminary analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute predicts that premiums on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces will rise an average of 7.5 percent for 2015 policies when open enrollment commences Nov. 15. State by state, a wide gap exists between highest and lowest, with Arkansas at top with a predicted 50 percent increase in premiums, and Arizona bel...
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