Category: Employee Benefits

Are Surcharges an Option for Unvaccinated Employees?

With the recent FDA approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, more companies have announced plans to mandate the vaccine. However, given today’s extremely competitive labor market, some organizations believe a vaccine mandate would further hinder their ability to hire and retain employees.  Would imposing a surcharge on health plan premiums for unvaccinated employees be an alternative solution? Before exploring this option, employers need to know the percentage of employees on their health plan to determine the impact.    Continue reading

CashBackHealth: A New Cost Savings Solution to Drive High-Quality Health Care

The Scott Benefit Services team is excited to announce the launch of a new solution to help employers positively impact costs and drive better health care consumerism by individuals.

CashBackHealth, powered by Garner Health, helps employers empower their employees with the information and tools to find the highest quality medical care available. As a simple addition to an existing employer-sponsored health plan, CashBackHealth drives more care to the highest quality providers in the local community, ultimately generating significant savings and better health outcomes for employers and employees.  Continue reading

Captive Insurance for ESOP Companies

Chad Duke, Vice President/Risk Advisor, and Pim Jager, Vice President/Benefits Consultant, were recently featured on the ESOP Podcast discussing captive insurance and Scott Insurance’s collaboration with the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) to create two new captive programs exclusively for ESOP companies, OWN Health (health insurance) and OWN Risk (property and casualty).  Continue reading

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to the ACA’s Individual Mandate

On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate in a 7-2 ruling.  Continue reading

IRS Issues Guidance on American Rescue Plan’s COBRA Subsidy

On May 18, 2021, the IRS issued Notice 2021-31, a guidance document on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) subsidy for continuation health coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA). The Notice discusses the background of the subsidy and includes 86 questions and answers (Q&As) about its application.  Continue reading