Big Tax Breaks in the New Law
Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act
|
On March 18, 2010, President Obama signed
the new Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE) into
law. This federal legislation creates brand-new tax breaks for hiring
and retaining unemployed workers, extends the enhanced business
equipment deduction that was available last year, and reinforces the "Build America Bond Program"
Here's a quick rundown on an important tax break: Employers get a
Payroll Tax Holiday for New Hires
-- Plus a Potential Tax Credit Bonus. Normally, an employer is required to pay its share
of Social Security taxes on wages earned by employees. For 2010, the
portion of the tax is 6.2 percent on the first $106,800 of wages.
Under the HIRE Act, an employer
is effectively excused from paying its share of the 6.2 percent tax on
wages received by "qualified employees." This exemption applies to wages
paid after the date of enactment through the end of 2010. The maximum
value for each qualified employee is $6,621.
Example: If a qualified
employee is hired in March and receives $50,000 in wages in 2010, the
employer saves $3,100 (6.2 percent of $50,000) in Social Security tax.
The new law defines a "qualified
employee" as someone who meets all of these criteria:
- Begins work after February 3, 2010 and
before January 1, 2011.
- Has not been employed for more than 40
hours during the previous 60 days (ending on the start date).
- Was not hired to replace another
employee unless the former employee separated from employment
voluntarily or for cause.
- Is not related to the employer and does
not own more than 50 percent of the business, either directly or
indirectly.
Notes: A qualified
employee may be either a full-time employee or a part-time employee.
There is no minimum requirement for the hours worked. The payroll tax
forgiveness does not apply to the 1.45 percent Medicare portion of
payroll tax. And household employers (for example, hiring nannies)
cannot claim the new tax benefit
The exemption officially begins with
wages paid in the second calendar quarter of 2010. Employers entitled to
tax relief for the first quarter will be credited against their general
Social Security liability for the second quarter.
Another
tax credit bonus: In addition to the payroll tax
forgiveness, an employer can claim a tax credit if it retains a
qualified worker for a minimum of 52 consecutive weeks. The credit is
equal to the lesser of: $1,000 or 6.2 percent of the employee's wages
paid during the 52-week period. If the employee quits or is fired before
the end of the one-year period, no credit is allowed.
The new law requires that employers get
statements from each eligible new hire certifying that he or she was
unemployed during the 60 days before beginning work or, alternatively,
worked fewer than a total of 40 hours for someone else during the
period. The IRS has created Form W-11 for employees to fill out and sign
so employers can take advantage of the tax credit.
Consult with your tax adviser to
determine if these tax breaks make it advantageous for your business to
hire new employees now and to ensure you comply with the documentation
rules to qualify. |
|
Flexible Spending Accounts
Changes That Affect You
|
The recent passage of  Health Care
Reform legislation will affect virtually every American in one way or
another. Among many other health care benefits, regulations for Flexible
Spending Accounts have also been altered by Health Care Reform.
Children up to Age 26
- There is a requirement for group health
insurance plans to cover children up to age 26. This requirement applies
to plan years that begin on or after September 23, 2010. Plans that run
on a calendar year, as most do, would not have to begin covering these
young adults until January 1, 2011.
- Effective March 30, 2010 parents can now
use their flexible spending accounts to pay for medical expenses
for their children regardless of tax dependency status, as long as the
child does not reach age 27 in that tax year. With employer approval,
employees can now increase contributions to their flexible spending
accounts midyear to pay for medical expenses for their dependents up to
26 years old.
Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medicine
- OTC medicine is still eligible, however,
effective January 1, 2011, a prescription or letter of medical
necessity will be required for OTC medicines to be reimbursed through an
FSA, HRA or HSA. OTC items such as insulin, contact lens solution,
bandages and durable medical equipment will continue to be covered
without a prescription.
Contribution Limit
- For tax years beginning after
12/31/2012, annual Health FSA contributions will be capped at
$2,500. Starting in 2014, this contribution limit will increase each
year to adjust for inflation.
|
|
Smart Technologies and a Personal Touch
The Delphi Card
|
The DELPHI CARD®
has been  providing companies with solutions to their healthcare benefits
since 1990. The company was founded on the core principles of:
- The closer you tie the reward or consequences to the individual's
action, the higher the probability is for change in the desired
direction.
- When you separate the purchaser and the user you violate sound
economic principles.
The DELPHI CARD®
is a healthcare management and advocacy approach to healthcare that
brings the consumer back into the decision process. We do this by
providing both the company and employee the tools and information to
make wise healthcare decisions.
The consumer is assisted in finding quality healthcare and information
to make informed healthcare decisions by a health care coach. It is
unique in that patients are not left to fend for themselves, but are
provided a personal health care coach that guides them through the
healthcare maze.
The process of proactive continuous case management allows the employers
to reduce their costs while delivering high quality care to their
employees. Consumers are motivated to contact their personal health
coach, learn about various options, and make their own decisions about
what costs will be incurred. Once the contact is made, case management
begins thus initiating a superior form of proactive risk management. The
combination of these techniques, allow clients to achieve a much lower
rate of healthcare utilization than any other plan in the market,
resulting in reduced costs and better quality care.
The DELPHI CARD®system encourages the following:
- Contact between the patient or patients' family/support group and
their health care coach, when possible, prior to using the health care
system and at each step of and episode of illness.
- Readily available and understandable information comparing the
measured quality and costs associated with various providers and
treatment alternatives.
- Incentives to choose providers and treatment plans not only for
quality but also for value.
- Health Reimbursement Arrangement Administration
- Professional assistance before and during each step of an episode of
illness so patients understand how economics and medical treatment
plans can be interwoven in a cost-effective manner.
For more information on the Delphi Card and its Smart Card Technology, Click here to view the latest PDF For more information Email Bev Gough at Bev@GreatLakesIM.com, or call her at (269)983-0633 or (800)782-8190. |
Selling Travel Insurance
Another Client Sales Opportunity |
So you just booked the trip of a lifetime --
with unrefundable tickets. Now you find yourself lying awake at night
with various scenarios running through your head. What if....there is a
natural disaster or you come down with a serious illness just before
departure? You're called for jury duty? An unexpected emergency causes
you to cut your trip short? Or a terrorist attack or political unrest
breaks out at your destination? You may be able to protect your
investment with travel insurance. There are four basic types of travel
insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute. In some
cases, you can also purchase packages that offer several options.
Policies can be obtained for a single trip or on an annual basis for
frequent travelers.
Here is a brief description of the four
types of travel insurance: Trip Cancellation or Interruption Insurance -- This coverage
provides reimbursement if:
You are forced to cancel a trip due to
illness, a death in the family, or other catastrophe listed in the
policy.
A cruise line or tour operator goes out
of business.
You or a family member becomes seriously
sick or injured during your travels. In this case, you would generally
be reimbursed for the unused portion of the trip.
"The cost is generally five to seven
percent of the price of the vacation, so a $5,000 trip would cost
roughly $250 to $350 to insure," according to the Insurance Institute.
Check to see if the coverage includes
trip delay as well as cancellation. In these cases, a carrier will pay
out a certain daily amount per person, say $150, once a trip has been
delayed beyond a specified number of hours.
Don't confuse trip
cancellation insurance with a "cancellation waiver" offered by some
cruise lines and tour operators. Waivers provide some coverage if you
have to cancel and they cost much less -- about $40 to $60 -- but they
contain numerous restrictions. In some cases, they only provide partial
credits for future travel.
In addition, waivers are technically not
insurance, so they are not regulated by state insurance departments. If
you have a dispute, a government insurance office cannot help you.
How can you tell the difference between
travel insurance plans and waiver programs? The name "insurance" should
not be used in the latter. For example, Celebrity Cruises offers a
"CruiseCare Cancellation Penalty Waiver," at a cost of $29 and up,
depending on the vacation price. Celebrity also offers more expensive
"CruiseCare Travel Insurance," which provides more protection and falls
under the jurisdictions of state insurance departments. Lost Baggage Coverage -- One common
traveler's nightmare involves arriving at a destination without any
luggage. This type of insurance provides coverage if your belongings are
lost, stolen or damaged during the trip.
The Insurance Institute
estimates it could cost about $50 to insure $1,000 worth of personal
belongings for a week.
Emergency Medical Assistance -- This
insurance is provided if you receive medical care after an illness or
accident, you are hospitalized or have to be airlifted to receive proper
care.
The U.S.
State Department advises travelers to familiarize themselves with the
conditions at overseas destinations that might affect their health, such
as high altitude, pollution, availability of medications, safe
water and types of medical facilities. Get required immunizations before
leaving. Note that
medical insurance is generally not accepted outside the United
States, and Medicare and Medicaid programs do not provide coverage for
hospital or medical costs. Check with
your health insurance company. If your policy does not cover you abroad,
consider purchasing a short-term policy that does. If your policy does
provide coverage, bring both your insurance ID card and a claim form.
Although some
health insurance companies pay "customary and reasonable" hospital
costs abroad, very few cover medical evacuation back to the United
States. This can easily cost $10,000 and up, depending on your location
and medical condition.
Accidental Death -- This provides coverage
if you, or a family member, die while traveling. The decision
to buy travel insurance depends on many factors -- how much the trip
costs, your physical condition (as well as the health of your
companions) and your risk tolerance. Important:
If you do have to file a claim with the insurer, you will be asked for
documentation to support your loss. So keep copies of receipts, travel
manuals, photos you may have of lost or stolen personal belongings,
invoices for medical treatment, and other relevant documentation.
|
|
| New Health Care Law
Impacts Employers & Employees
| |
The extensive reform of the health
insurance/health care system in the United States - debated and wrangled
over for more than half a century -- now is law.
Four of the
main objectives of the new system, recently enacted by Congress and
signed by President Obama, are to:
- Encourage employers to provide group health insurance opportunities
to employees and their families. (Those employers who don't will get
penalized.)
- Encourage self-employed and unemployed individuals to purchase
health insurance for themselves and their families. (Those who don't
will get penalized.)
- One way or another, get 32 million more Americans covered with
health insurance.
- Put a bridle on runaway health care and health insurance costs so
that future increases don't strangle the U.S. economy.
The main law is called the Patient Protection and Affordability Care
Act (PPACA) which Congress immediately amended with the Health
Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010.
The PPACA doesn't mandate that
every employer provide health insurance to employees and their families.
However, starting in 2014, employers with 50 or more full-time
employees that do not offer acceptable health insurance coverage will be
penalized if any of their employees get subsidized coverage through the
new health insurance exchanges.
The penalty is $2,000 for each
full-time employee, with the first 30 employees exempted from
calculating the penalty.
To determine the number of full-time
employees, the "full-time equivalent" calculation is used.
However,
penalties will only be assessed on the number of employees working an
average of more than 30 hours a week figured on a monthly basis.
Further, if
an employer with 50 or more full-time employees offers health care
coverage ruled "unaffordable," that employer may be penalized $3,000 for
each full-time employee getting a federal subsidy (up to a cap of $750
multiplied by the number of full-time employees). For a plan to be
ruled "unaffordable," the employee must pay more than 9.5% of their
income (indexed over time) or an employer that contributes less than 60%
of the value of the plan.
Employers with
more than 200 employees will have to automatically enroll their
employees in their health plans. Each employee, though, will have the
choice to opt out of the plan. |
|
|
New Website Address Our Email addresses have changed too | www.GreatLakesIM.com
We
have changed our website address, the name is shorter and easier,
please be sure to point your browser to www.GreatLakesIM.com. Over the
next couple of months you will notice a new design with greater user
interaction and flexibility. Stay tuned! |
|
Artichokes Vs. Allergies
Folate from
Lentils, Greens & Beans
to Fight
Symptoms
|
Has this been a particularly rough  allergy season, or is
it just us?
Sneezing, coughing, itching all around. But there's good news on the
nutrition front: It's possible that increasing folate intake (from
sources
like those listed below) could help alleviate allergy suffering.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine compared blood levels
of folate with antibodies that induce allergies among 8,083 study
subjects. They found that those with the highest folate levels were up
to 40%
less likely to be plagued with the allergic antibodies or to suffer
allergic skin rashes.
An even more recent study from Danish
scientists confirmed that people with a genetically impaired ability to
metabolize folate were 37% more likely to suffer from asthma and 43%
more likely to experience shortness of breath -- so clearly,
insufficient folate, whether from low dietary intake or from genetic
dysfunction, predisposes people to more trouble breathing. The
takeaway for most folks is to load up on healthy folate sources like the
ones listed below:
Top Sources
| Quantity | Daily Value
| | Lentils | 1 cup
| 90% | Spinach, cooked
| 1 cup | 66% | Black, Navy and Pinto
Beans
| 1 cup | 64-74% | Collard Greens
| 1 cup | 44% | Artichokes
| 1 cup | 38% | | Beets | 1 cup | 34% | Brussels Sprouts
| 1 cup | 24% |
In
addition to soothing allergies, increasing folate from food sources
yields a bounty of other health benefits such as protecting against age-related hearing loss, reducing the rick of certain birth defects, guarding against depression, boosting bone strength. |
|
 A
Managing General Agent (MGA) and General Agent (GA), providing
assistance to independent Agents and Agencies throughout the Midwest
with products and services which increase their sales and market growth
in the individual, group and senior insurance markets.
Great Lakes Insurance Management began company operations back in the early 1970's in St. Joseph, Michigan. We provide services to agents via a staff of experienced and trained insurance professionals. |
|
|
 |
SAND, SUN, FUN AND A FEW GREAT PRIZES TOO!
|
Great Lakes Insurance Management is changing the Vacation Giveaway Program this year!
We will still be giving away a fantastic trip to qualifying agents, but we will also be giving away some great prizes on a tiered level.
|
|
|
