Medicare and Employer-Sponsored Health Plans: Know the Rules and Avoid Problems

As the average age of retirement increases and various forms of phased retirement continue to gain popularity, employers are getting more questions on how Medicare coverage and employer-sponsored health coverage for active employees and retirees work (or don’t work) together. The Medicare alphabet itself (Parts A, B, C, and D), and eligibility rules, can be confusing. Employers that sponsor health coverage for their employees or retirees need to know how Medicare and the employer’s coverage interact so the employer can ensure that its health plans don’t violate Medicare rules. In addition, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) excludes certain retiree-only employer health plans from many of its requirements, but also places new restrictions on some forms of employer assistance for retiree health coverage. COBRA rules also come into play when an employee retires, and the interaction between COBRA enrollment and Medicare enrollment is important.

Join Christine Williams, founder of Health Plan Plain Talk, as she explains the rules and how to avoid Medicare problems.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

This webinar will cover:

• What do Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D cover and who is eligible?
• Who pays first--Medicare or employer-sponsored health coverage?
• Is an employer allowed to encourage employees to enroll in Medicare and drop the employer’s health coverage?
• If an employee has Medicare and drops the employer’s health coverage, can the employee’s younger spouse stay on the employer’s coverage?
• Is an employer allowed to reimburse employees for Medicare premiums?
• What are retiree-only plans and which ACA rules apply to them?
• How does Medicare affect health savings account eligibility and health reimbursement arrangement spending?
• Can an employee who retirees enroll in both COBRA and in Medicare?
• How should a Summary Plan Description address Medicare issues?

YOUR CONFERENCE LEADER

Your conference leader for “Medicare and Employer-Sponsored Health Plans: Know the Rules and Avoid Problems” is Christine Williams. Ms. Williams has worked in the employee benefits field since 1987, both in private practice and as in-house counsel to a Fortune 100 company, and recently founded HealthPlanPlainTalk.com, an online resource for benefit plan sponsors and employee benefit professionals. She has extensive experience with all types of health and welfare plans, and was the editor and a contributing author of HIPAA Portability, Privacy, & Security, published by the Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA), a division of Thomson Reuters, and is now a contributor to that publication. She was a contributing author of Health Care Reform for Employers and Advisors, also published by EBIA. She has provided advice on HIPAA, health care reform, and benefit plan compliance to a wide range of health plans, employers that sponsor health plans, and business associates, and she regularly teaches seminars for employee benefit professionals. Before moving into employee benefits, Ms. Williams was a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. She earned her J.D. degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law.