Tax partner Michael Bussa has been named the national leader, U.S., for the Global Reward Services (GRS) practice of audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG. Bussa has more than 30 years’ experience advising organizations on the structuring, implementation, and tax and regulatory compliance of their global reward programs to his new position. According to him, “Globalization, technological advances, regulatory changes, the future of retirement, the shifting landscape of health

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) for the U.S. increased sharply in February 2018, after also increasing in January. The index now stands at 107.74, up from 106.50 (a downward revision) in January. The change represents a 5.6 percent gain in the ETI compared to a year ago, “suggesting that strong job growth is likely to continue in the coming months,” according to Gad Levanon, Chief Economist, North

Three months after the December 2017 announcement that CVS Health had purchased Aetna, their respective shareholders on March 13, 2018 voted to approve the proposed $69 billion merger of the companies at special meetings. As discussed in an earlier post, the acquisition sets the stage for a new type of company that will include a health insurer, a retail pharmacy, and a pharmacy benefits manager that negotiates prescription drug

The Pacific Research Institute in February 2018 released a study, Breaking Down Barriers, that examines the economic impact of duplicative licensing regulations for independent claims adjusters and underscores the need for increased licensing reciprocity among U.S. states. According to the study, the average claims adjuster holds between ten and twelve different state licenses, which can cost as much as $1,000 each. These burdensome requirements make it more difficult for

A new ESIS whitepaper published in February 2018, Why Employers Should Consider Integrated Medical Programs to Manage Workers Compensation Costs explores how companies may reduce their workers compensation medical costs by implementing a centralized approach to claims management while ensuring optimal claims outcomes. ESIS, a wholly owned subsidiary of property and casualty (P&C) insurer Chubb, provides claim and risk management services to commercial clients. According to ESIS, with medical

Men and women of all age groups have been visiting YouCanPlanForThis.org, a free website launched in September 2017 by independent nonprofit FAIR Health that enables New York State residents to plan their healthcare costs. The site offers cost lookup tools, powered by FAIR Health’s billions of private healthcare claims records, that allow consumers to estimate in-network and out of-network costs for thousands of medical procedures in their geographic areas,

75 percent of U.S. employees believe their health plan has never alerted them to a health risk, according to the HealthMine 2018 Rising Risk Survey that underscores the challenges health care plans face when educating members about potential health risks and when motivating them to take action to prevent becoming ill. Bryce Williams, President and CEO of HealthMine, pointed out that 86 percent of the US$2.7 trillion annual health

Generali Global Assistance (GGA) in February 2018 announced that it has implemented its proprietary identity and digital protection platform for Deposits.com, which is now able to offer its customers 360° identity protection services including prevention, monitoring, alerts and resolution tools. Deposits.com is a multi-platform financial directory and secure, online portal that connects financial institutions with consumers looking to open financial accounts, take out a mortgage or loan, find a

Alera Group, a U.S. employee benefits, property/casualty, risk management and wealth management firm, in February 2018 announced that they have acquired three more firms, bringing the grand total of their acquisitions since their January 2017 launch to 20. The February 1, 2018 transaction includes Aisling Partners Insurance Brokerage of Worcester, Massachusetts; Davidson Benefits Planning (DBP) of Tigard, Oregon; and HR Benefits Advisors headquartered in Rochester, New York. Aisling is

Alera Group, a U.S. employee benefits, property/casualty, risk management and wealth management firm, in February 2018 announced that they have acquired Spring Consulting Group, located in Boston, Massachusetts. This acquisition expands the national presence of Alera Group to 17 U.S. states. Spring Consulting Group is a multidisciplinary employee benefits and risk management consulting firm that is well known in the employee benefits captive market. Their expertise covers the full

JoAnne Steed in January 2018 has been named senior account executive at Lockton’s South Florida operation, and will be responsible for day to day client strategy and service on health and welfare plans, benefits administration, benefits financing, and structuring employee benefits programs. An experienced employee benefits advisor with more than 15 years of experience guiding clients as an account manager and consultant, Steed has previously worked with Mercer, United

Wolters Kluwer Legal and Regulatory U.S. in January 2018 announced the release of a new white paper: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Will Present Retirement, Benefits, Executive Compensation and Payroll Professionals with New Challenges in 2018, which examines the impacts of the tax bill recently signed into law by President Trump. The white paper looks at aspects of the new law, which will affect a wide range of retirement,

Aetna in November 2017 sold its group life and disability insurance and absence management business to The Hartford for $1.45bn. Life and disability was the only non-health insurance related part of the business remaining after Aetna cut its property casualty insurance business in the mid-1990s. It only brought in about $2bn in premiums in 2016, while Aetna recorded $63.1bn in total revenue, and healthcare premium revenues reached $54.1bn. The

Governments in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, and Rome sent a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin in mid-December 2017 warning him of the risk of tax treaty violations arising from the tax reform under discussion in the United States. If Donald Trump is relying heavily on the tax reform submitted to Congress in autumn − to rebuild his image − he is sending shudders through

DaVita Medical Group, a U.S. independent medical group and a subsidiary of DaVita, and Optum, a health services company that is part of UnitedHealth Group, have agreed to merge as of 5 December 2017 for approximately $4.9 billion in cash. The transaction is expected to close in 2018 and is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. DaVita, a Fortune 500 company, is the parent company of

The announcement that CVS Health has purchased Aetna, referred to in our earlier news item, was made on Sunday, 4 December 2017, laying to rest months of rumor and speculation. The acquisition sets the stage for a new type of company that will include a health insurer, a retail pharmacy, and a pharmacy benefits manager that negotiates prescription drug prices with drug-makers. The announcement comes at a time when

Zenefits, the embattled San Francisco-based HR software company, has jettisoned its Broker-of-Record (BOR) business after Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler ordered the company to cease free distribution of its HR software, and has partnered with OneDigital Health and Benefits as first benefits brokerage partner. Zenefits, founded in 2014 by Parker Conrad, offered software that promised to streamline HR tasks for small businesses. While this was lauded at the time

Chicago-based global insurance brokerage Hub International in November 2017 announced that it has acquired the assets of the Burlington, Vermont-based Summit Financial Corporation and Summit Financial Insurance Agency. Summit’s leadership team and staff will continue to operate out of Summit’s existing offices and will report to Charles Brophy, President and CEO, Regional President, Hub International US East. Summit, founded by Joe Bonasera and Brian Babcock, is one of New

Aetna International has announced the launch of Access US, a product aimed at helping any non-US headquartered company that currently has, or is hiring, American citizens based in the USA. The Access US Plans are an ideal fit for companies with geographically dispersed employees located in the US. They are an ACA-compliant (Obamacare-compliant) medical product designed for organizations with 50 or more total employees worldwide and allow US companies

According to early versions of the 2018 U.S. budget that in November 2017 is making its way through the legislative process, a new 20% excise tax is to be introduced. The tax shall apply to almost all payments made by U.S. companies to non-U.S. affiliates of the same group (an “international financial reporting group”: subsidiaries, parents companies, and sister companies). The tax will not be deductible from U.S. corporate

U.S. employer premiums rose an average of 6.6 percent in the first three fiscal quarters of 2017, according to the 2017 United Benefit Advisors (UBA) Health Plan Survey released on 26 October. This is a significant increase from the five-year average increase of 5.6%. Two states, Connecticut and New York, saw stunning increases of 24% and 14% respectively, while some states, such as Arizona and Washington, saw decreases of

Job website Glassdoor in October 2017 released a study that determines that three in four full- or part-time employees get fewer than 8 hours of sleep per night, averaging just 6.9 hours of sleep. This is below the recommended 7-9 hours per night that are understood to be required for people to function at their very best. Conducted by Harris Poll in late March and early April 2017 among

Global insurance company XL Catlin issued their Q3 2017 October report, Emerging risks we’re watching and why, which highlights key factors in emerging risks presented by new state medical marijuana laws in the U.S. and the ongoing North American opioid epidemic. Of particular note is the marked reduction of the North American workforce as a result of the opioid epidemic. The Federal Reserve has cited the epidemic as one

Global insurance brokerage Hub International in October 2017 announced it had acquired the assets of employee benefits specialist Graffam Insurance Group. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Based in the state of Maine, USA, Graffam services businesses in Maine and New Hampshire.

Gen Z consumers (i.e., people aged 18-21) are surprisingly more likely than any other age group, including Baby Boomers, to visit a bank branch at least weekly, according to a study from Accenture released in October 2017 – reflecting the heavy cash dependence within their age cohort. The study also found that Gen Z consumers are the most active and engaged group using mobile banking, with all other consumers

CVS Health, an American drug store chain that also operates walk-in health clinics and a pharmacy benefit business, in October 2017 was reported to be in talks to purchase Aetna Insurance in a deal that could be worth more than $60 billion based on Aetna’s current market value. This would make the purchase one of the largest in the history of the health industry. CVS, with the addition of

Zenefits Insurance Services and co-founder and former CEO Parker Conrad will pay a combined $980,000 in fines after a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the latter said in October 2017. The SEC alleged Zenefits had misled investors when raising capital through private offerings, by making false statements about their compliance with state insurance laws, specifically whether its business and employees were licensed to sell insurance. The