On Jan. 2, the IRS published proposed regulations addressing numerous issues with the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) shared responsibility requirements. These proposed regulations include a special transition rule that provides relief from penalties for non-calendar year plans, also known as fiscal year plans.

The transition relief is provided because it may be difficult for employers with fiscal year plans to comply with the ACA’s shared responsibility rules on Jan. 1, 2014. Those plans would have had to make changes for the 2013 plan year, or make mid-year changes effective Jan. 1, 2014, to be compliant and avoid penalties.

The transition relief includes the following components:

• If employees who are eligible for employer-sponsored coverage under the terms of the plan in effect on Dec. 27, 2012, are offered affordable, minimum value coverage that starts no later than

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On Jan. 1, 2013, the House of Representatives voted on and approved the Senate’s proposed solution for avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff that was predicted to happen when the tax cuts enacted by the Bush administration expired.

Whether the fiscal cliff deal will boost or put a damper on the country’s economy is a subject of much debate.

Highlights of the fiscal cliff deal include:

• Permanent extension of Bush- era income tax rates for individuals earning $400,000 (or $450,000 if married) or less annually
• For individuals earning more than $400,000 (or $450,000 if married) annually:
• o The Bush-era income tax rates will expire, meaning their tax rates will rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent
• o The capital gains and dividend tax rates will increase to 20 percent from 15 percent
• o The two new Medicare taxes, enacted in the Affordable Care Act, for high income earners are permitted
  • Permanent rates for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
  • The AMT is indexed for inflation

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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes provisions to encourage appropriately designed, consumer-protective wellness programs in group health coverage.

On Nov. 26, proposed regulations were released regarding the ACA’s nondiscrimination requirements for wellness programs.

The proposed regulations would increase the maximum reward under a health-contingent wellness program from 20 percent to 30 percent of the cost of coverage, and would further increase the maximum reward to 50 percent for wellness programs designed to prevent or reduce tobacco use.

Health-contingent wellness programs require individuals to satisfy a standard related to a health factor in order to obtain a reward. This includes wellness programs that require an individual to attain or maintain a certain health outcome in order to obtain a reward (such as not smoking, attaining certain results on biometric screenings or meeting exercise targets). This type of wellness program must meet the following five nondiscrimination. Click here to read more

It’s not uncommon for the motivation to stick to New Year’s resolutions to fizzle out as quickly as an uncorked bottle of champagne. The enthusiasm of new goals often fades as the temptation to indulge takes over. Stick with your resolutions this year by following these tips when selecting what to aim for:

• Set specific goals. A vague goal is more easily broken. Try taking a larger goal and dividing it into manageable tasks.
• Set measurable goals. If there’s no way to track your progress, you’ll have more opportunity to slip—make sure there are ways for you to check your progress along the way.
• Choose goals that are meaningful to you, not to somebody else. If you’re doing it for yourself, rather than to please others, you’ll have much more motivation to succeed.
• Aim to achieve, not to avoid. Rather than saying you’ll stop eating unhealthy snacks, think of what you want to achieve.

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