Building a Financially Healthy Workforce | VA Employee Benefits Group

Financial stress is a silent epidemic plaguing workplaces everywhere. It impacts employees at all levels, leading to decreased productivity, lower morale, and increased absenteeism. But there’s good news: employers hold the key to building a financially healthy workforce. Stress and Financial Well-Being Cultivating your employees’ financial well-being is a necessity in creating a productive and … Continued

Benefits Buzz March 2025 | VA Employee Benefits Advisors

ERISA Fiduciary Breach Claims Dismissed in Prescription Drug Lawsuit On Jan. 24, 2025, a U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed two claims in a class-action lawsuit filed against Johnson & Johnson (J&J), which alleged that the company breached its fiduciary duties under ERISA by mismanaging its prescription drug benefits plan and … Continued

New Legislation Updates ACA Reporting Rules | Virginia Benefits Firm

At the close of 2024, Congress passed two new pieces of legislation: the Paperwork Burden Reduction Act and the Employer Reporting Improvement Act. These laws simplify the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting requirements for employers and introduce new limits on the IRS’s authority to enforce “pay-or-play” penalties, among other changes. Under the ACA, applicable large … Continued

Beyond Open Enrollment: Engaging Employees with Benefits | Virginia Employee Benefits Consultants

Most organizations treat employee benefits like a seasonal event. Open enrollment brings a flurry of activity – emails, seminars, and even benefits fairs. However, communication often dwindles after this initial push, leaving employees confused and underutilizing their valuable benefits. This is a missed opportunity. Research shows that employees crave more benefits education, spending hours researching … Continued

Benefits Breakdown February 2024 | VA Employee Benefits Partners

Key Takeaways From the CAA-mandated Prescription Drug Cost Report The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) mandates that group health plans and health insurance issuers submit annual data on premiums, enrollment, medical spending and prescription drug rebates to various departments to address this. This initiative, known as the Prescription Drug Data Collection (RxDC), aims to enhance … Continued

8 Keys to Building Trust at Work | VA Employee Benefits Firm

Trust has always been important to organizational success.  Trust can’t be demanded. It must be earned over time and through consistent behavior and actions. Rebuilding trust is even more difficult, but it’s even more critical to your organization’s success because when trust is broken, productivity usually suffers. One of the things we are learning about … Continued

Benefits Buzz January 2025 | Virginia Benefits Consultants

PCORI Fee Amount Adjusted for 2025 The IRS recently issued Notice 2024-83 to increase the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee amount for plan years ending on or after Oct. 1, 2024, and before Oct. 1, 2025. The updated PCORI fee amount is $3.47 multiplied by the average number of lives covered under the plan. For plan years that … Continued