BTerrell Group Blog

Uncertain Times Call for Certain Measures

Posted by Brian Terrell on Fri, Feb 03, 2017

How HRMS can ensure compliance even during turbulent times

Uncertainty is the only certainty there is. When it comes to the state of healthcare in America, truer words were never spoken (these by John Allen Workforce_Management.jpgPaulos, just in case you were wondering). The 2016 Presidential election threw healthcare policy into complete upheaval. While both the short and longer term impacts of the policy shift are still unknown, it makes smart business sense to anticipate some of the changes, and begin to consider how your organization can prepare and respond to those changes. Here we’ve assembled just a few of the most pressing uncertainties, and why a Human Resource Management System (HRMS) makes more sense now than ever before.

Affordable Care Act

It’s a safe bet that the Affordable Care Act (aka the ACA or Obamacare) is not long for the world. Since we cannot really prepare to comply with the details of a replacement plan that has not yet been announced or vetted, all we can do is ensure we have smart systems in place to help us reach compliance once the facts are known. A HRMS is designed to help you manage every aspect of your employees’ lifecycle, including their healthcare coverage. Publishers of today’s modern, robust HRMS applications will act rapidly and responsively to ensure their applications are capable of addressing this next phase in healthcare coverage.

Health Savings Accounts

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are an increasingly popular option in employers’ benefit plans, but they are heavily restricted by the IRS. President Trump has spoken about extending HSA availability to everyone, and allowing for greater flexibility for spending the funds within a family unit. Still a big question mark – but you’ll need the additional functionality of your HRMS to handle the inevitable calculation and reporting changes.

Insurance Across State Lines

This is one potential change that might actually make benefit administration easier. Currently, insurance carriers cannot offer cross-state products. As a result, you must track state-specific versions of each carrier’s plans, which can be an administrative nightmare if you have employees in multiple states. Virtually every proposal floated thus far to replace the ACA includes some provision to allow the sale of insurance policies across state lines. While the idea has its critics, it’s something to follow. Here again, a powerful HRMS application will ensure you’re tracking and reporting on accurate information.

Immigration Ban

President Trump signed a controversial immigration ban order on January 27. The order bans nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the U.S. for 90 days, in order to review screening procedures for immigrants and refugees.

Employers would be wise to suspend any work-related travel for employees from the affected countries – even if they have a valid H-1B visa or green card. With a large and distributed workforce, HRMS reporting and analysis tools can help you identify and contact potentially impacted employees and their managers.

Even – perhaps especially - during these uncertain times, businesses must continue to support and manage the healthcare benefits of their employees. HRMS is a vital tool in that effort, and a must-have moving forward. If you have questions about how HRMS can help your organization, contact me at brian.terrell@bterrell.com or at 866-647-2611.

By BTerrell Group, Texas- based Intacct Partner

Tags: HR software