ACA Update – Off-SHOP Composite Rates Available Soon in Maine
In an exciting bit of news, the Maine Bureau of Insurance is allowing off-SHOP plans to offer composite rates (employee, employee/spouse, employee/child(ren), family) in 2016. Anthem and MCHO will be offering composite rates. Aetna and Harvard Pilgrim have not yet decided if they will, but I will be sure to keep you apprised. Composite rates will be based on a calculation of the age-banded rates for the group at renewal rather than the average age of the group which is what the old composite rates did. Rates would stay the same until your next renewal rather than taking any enrollment changes into account during the year.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions regarding the Affordable Care Act.
Elizabeth Ingram
Account Manager, Employee Benefits
CU Insurance Solutions
Phone: 800-287-3379 x 312
info@insurancetrust.us
13th Annual Special Olympics Maine Golf Tournament
CU Insurance Solutions along with our subsidiary Equinox Financial & Insurance Services will be holding our 13th Annual Golf Tournament on Thursday July 23, 2015.
This tournament is our largest fundraiser for Special Olympics Maine and will take place at Spring Meadows Golf Club in Gray, Maine. Tee off will be at 9:00 am with a “Shot Gun” start. Registration is from 7:45 am to 8:45 am with a continental breakfast available, sponsored by Equinox Insurance. We will also be providing a bag lunch for each golfer and a post-golf reception. Please come out, have some fun and help support Maine Special Olympic Athletes and their families!
Registration fee includes:
- Green fees
- Golf cart
- Continental breakfast
- Bag lunch
- Post golf reception (cash bar available)
- Mulligan (Maximum 4 per team)
Click the link below to download the registration/sponsorship form to register today!
Registration Form
Thank you for supporting Special Olympics Maine!
Know Before You Owe: Mortgages
As most of you know the CFPB issued a final rule on the new Combined Mortgage Disclosures. The CFPB requires “easier to use mortgage disclosure forms” commonly referred to by CFPB as “Know Before You Owe.” The new forms will replace existing federal disclosures (e.g. TIL/GFE and TIL/HUD-1 or HUD-1A) Along with the new forms; credit unions will have to review their existing mortgage process to insure compliance with the new rules that will become effective August 1, 2015.
Conmar is working hard reviewing the new requirements and will begin developing the new forms during the 3rd quarter of this year (by September 2014). Our plan is to make them available well before the August 1, 2015 deadline to ensure proper time for data processors to work out any bugs. At the present time, you don’t need to do anything if you are a current customer with a paid Annual License Agreement and receive a Closed End Home Equity Package from us. If you do not receive a complete Closed End Home Equity Package from Conmar or if we don’t provide these forms for you, please contact us to order them at which time we will send you a work order to be signed/dated to begin the work. For most credit unions there is no proof process, the forms will be automatically updated and sent in their last recorded format to either the credit union or the data processor. For some credit unions, depending on the information we gather from your existing forms on file there may be a proof process and you will be notified if this process applies to your credit union.
The forms
The Loan Estimate – this form will be provided to applicants within three business days after submission of a loan application and limits how the final deal can change from the original estimate. It provides a summary of key loan terms and estimated closing costs. The intent of the new forms is to provide consumers with a form to compare costs and features of different loans.
The Closing Disclosure – This will be provided to consumers three business days before consumers close on a loan. It replaces the final Truth in Lending Statement and the HUD-1 uniform settlement statement. In addition to summarizing the final loan terms and cost, the Closing Disclosure provides consumers with a detailed accounting of their transaction. By providing consumers with the Closing Disclosure three business days before closing, consumers will have time to review their final loan terms and costs in an unpressured environment rather than at the closing table.
Conmar will make the determination of which form you will receive based on information we gather from your existing forms on file. For example: Fixed Rate, Variable Rate, Interest Only, Balloons, etc. Modifications outside of the model form formats may be billable charges to the credit union. The credit union contact we have on file will be notified once the files have been sent to their final destination.
The information contained in this notice is provided with the understanding that the author and company are not engaged in rendering legal advice. As such, information should not be used as a substitution for consultation with credit union legal counsel.
Source: Conmar Systems | Informs Compliance Digest | www.conmarsystems.com
The information contained in this notice is provided with the understanding that the author and company are not engaged in rendering legal advice. As such, information should not be used as a substitution for consultation with credit union legal counsel.
Fall University of Lending – Save the Date!
CU Insurance Solutions is gearing up for our semi-annual University of Lending event to take place on September 28-29, 2015 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport, ME. This unique 2 day educational session will be presented by Ed Swanson who is a 30 year veteran of the financial services industry and a 25-year veteran of the credit union industry. Ed has spoken at more than 35 Credit Union Leagues throughout the country on a variety of lending and member service related topics. Our fall session will focus on three new featured topics that were voted on by the attendees from our previous sessions. The lending school topics will include; Building a sales culture, Incentive programs, Cross selling as well as many elements from Ed’s acclaimed University of Lending curriculum. Here are a few quotes from our past attendees:
“This was an excellent training and I took away a lot of great information. Totally worth the time and expense. I would recommend this training to the rest of my staff as well as our CEO.”
“The lending university was a valuable lending lesson for me. I have learned a lot of new things that I hope to incorporate into my everyday lending.”
“With the amount of information in this training, I was able to communicate how to find new opportunities and prompt loan growth”
Ed will focus on real-life experiences that your lending and collections staff encounter daily with your members. Come join us and let Ed’s expertise and passion help you to increase net yield on your loan portfolio, increase fee income and meet the needs of your members in challenging economic times.
Who Should Attend?
This informative session is designed for CEOs, executive management, lending managers and loan staff.
More details coming soon! Please contact Seth McClellan at smcclellan@insurancetrust.us for more information.
TILA\RESPA Integrated Disclosure – Update
As we all know, time flies by! Don’t look now but we all have less than a year to comply with the new Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integration (TILA/RESPA) that goes into effect August 1st 2015.
Conmar is nearing completion of the new forms and discussing implementation timelines with data processors to ensure your forms arrive well before the effective date. It is important to note that the TILA/RESPA rule does not allow you the ability to comply early. You cannot use the new integrated disclosures prior to the rule’s effective date. For now, you should continue to use your existing forms for applications received before the effective date.
Re-Cap of the New Forms
The Loan Estimate – It will replace the preliminary Truth in Lending Disclosure and the Good Faith Estimate. This form is designed to provide disclosures that will be helpful to consumers in understanding the key features, costs, and risks of the mortgage loan for which they are applying.
The Closing Disclosure – It will replace the final Truth in Lending Disclosure and the HUD-1 Uniform Settlement Statement. This form is designed to provide disclosures that will be helpful to consumers in understanding all of the costs of the transaction.
Important Note: The forms are only part of complying with the new rules. Prior to the forms being loaded on your system, you need to review your internal processes, policies, software, contracts with service providers, or other aspects of your business operations in order to identify any changes needed to comply with this rule. Changes related to this rule will take careful planning, time and resources to implement.
The following documents (in addition to the actual final rule) will help as your review internal operations and should be required reading for all your Mortgage staff.
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule
Small entity compliance guide provides an easy-to-use summary of the TILA-RESPA rule
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule
Integrated Disclosure
Guide to the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms provides instructions for completing the new forms
Guide to the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure Forms
There is nothing you need to do now. Conmar will release a final compliance notice closer to the time we start delivery of new forms to the data processors.
Source: Conmar Systems | Informs Compliance Digest | www.conmarsystems.com
The information contained in this notice is provided with the understanding that the author and company are not engaged in rendering legal advice. As such, information should not be used as a substitution for consultation with credit union legal counsel.
Social Responsibility Committee Presents Annual Donation to Special Olympics Maine
The CU Insurance Solutions Social Responsibility Committee is excited to report that a check for $70,000 was presented to Special Olympics Maine at our 52nd Annual Meeting on April 17, 2015. This year, Saco Valley FCU was presented with our annual Sharing and Caring award and Barbara Christy of CU Insurance Solutions was presented with the Sandra A. Doucette Award for her many years of outstanding service, volunteerism and support of Special Olympics Maine.
“Each year, we like to challenge our credit union friends across the state to share an hour, a day or a weekend to volunteer for a Special Olympics event. Opportunities to volunteer are endless; from preparing and serving meals and snacks to coaching or coordinating athletic events. Regardless of the level of interest and measure of time you have to contribute, you will be welcomed and appreciated. The experience will give back more smiles, hugs, and laughter than time and money could ever buy.
A mountain of gratitude goes to CU Insurance Solutions, vendor partners, Credit Union colleagues, and their loyal members for their overwhelming financial contributions and dedication to helping at the Special Olympics events throughout the state.” -Cathy Bond, Chairperson, Winslow Community FCU.
CU Insurance Solutions, Credit Union partners, and vendor partners succeeded in surpassing the 2014-2015 fundraising goal. When last year’s check for $73,500 was presented to Special Olympics Maine, the 20 year total of funds donated to Special Olympics Maine exceeded over $1,000,000!
2014-2015 Donations
GOLD($2,500.00+) |
|
| Saco Valley CU | $11,670.00 |
| Capital Area FCU | $7,150.00 |
| CU Insurance Solutions | $7,056.56 |
| Five County CU | $5,050.00 |
| PeoplesChoice CU | $3,984.00 |
| Midcoast FCU | $3,500.00 |
| Synergent | $3,000.00 |
| KSW FCU | $2,639.00 |
| Taconnet FCU | $2,600.00 |
SILVER($1,500.00 – $2,499.99) |
|
| New Dimensions FCU | $1,829.64 |
| Tricorp FCU | $1,770.00 |
BRONZE
|
|
| Bangor FCU | $1,423.17 |
| York County FCU | $1,150.00 |
| Acadia FCU | $1,000.00 |
| Penobscot County FCU | $777.52 |
| Sabattus Regional CU | $650.00 |
| Equinox | $594.00 |
| Franklin-Somerset FCU | $500.00 |
| Eastmill FCU | $500.00 |
| Rainbow FCU | $500.00 |
| HealthFirst FCU | $500.00 |
| Atlantic Regional FCU | $500.00 |
HEADING FOR THE BRONZE(UNDER $500.00) |
|
| Gardiner FCU | $400.00 |
| Maine Family FCU | $320.40 |
| Monmouth FCU | $300.00 |
| Brewer FCU | $150.00 |
| Casco FCU | $150.00 |
| Franklin-Somerset FCU | $150.00 |
| Lincoln Maine FCU | $150.00 |
| Connected CU | $150.00 |
| Otis FCU | $150.00 |
| Seaboard FCU | $150.00 |
| Sebasticook Valley FCU | $150.00 |
| Town & Country FCU | $150.00 |
| University CU | $150.00 |
| TruChoice FCU | $100.00 |
CHAPTERS |
|
| Aroostook Chapter of CU’s | $3,367.11 |
| Kennebec Valley Chapter of CU’S | $500.00 |
| York County Chapter of CU’s | $500.00 |
VENDORS |
|
| Transamerica | $1,000.00 |
| Equips | $750.00 |
| Frost Financial Services | $750.00 |
| Affinion | $500.00 |
| Albin, Randall & Bennett | $500.00 |
| Berkley Finsecure | $500.00 |
| Lee & Mason | $250.00 |
| NDBS, LLC | $150.00 |
| New England Excess Exchange | $130.00 |
ACA Update – The Swiftly Approaching “Cadillac Tax”
Although 2018 is still a couple years away, I wanted to remind you about the “Cadillac tax” which arrives in 2018. The “Cadillac” tax is a 40% excise tax on the value of employer-sponsored coverage in excess of $10,200 (individual) and $27,500 (families). It is paid by insurers; however, the cost will definitely trickle down to employers. The dollar threshold is indexed to the Consumer Price Index plus 1% in 2019 and to the Consumer Price Index from 2020 on. The $10,200 limit includes premium cost (employer & employee paid) as well as HSA contributions (employer & employee funded). There is still a possibility that this limit could be changed or rescinded, but it is best to be prepared in case it is not.
Please keep in mind that due to the cost of coverage in Maine for certain groups, this will apply to plans even if they aren’t incredibly rich. As an example, the individual limit for HSA contributions for 2015 is $3350 or just over $279/month. The $10,200 limit translates to $850/month. If you have an HSA-compatible plan where the maximum 2015 contribution is made, the highest individual premium that falls under this threshold is $571/month.
Read More About Cadillac Tax
I will be sending out additional information as it becomes available.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions regarding the Affordable Care Act.
Elizabeth Ingram
Account Manager, Employee Benefits
CU Insurance Solutions
Phone: 800-287-3379 x 312
info@insurancetrust.us
HSA Guidelines Update – March 2015
This month, I am discussing HSA guidelines rather than an ACA update. As more individuals gain individual rather than group coverage an understanding of the ins-and-outs of HSAs for those on high deductible health plans (HDHP) that are HSA-compatible becomes of greater importance.
HSAs are generally seen as a group benefit used on HSA-compatible plans as a pre-tax savings device for medical expenses. However, individuals can also have HSA-compatible plans and a growing number do. What they may not know is that they have the option to make HSA contributions post-tax and use an above-the-line deduction on their tax return thus lowering their adjusted gross income (AGI) and providing the same advantage as contributing pre-tax through an employer. Additionally others can make contributions to your HSA account, and the account holder (you) enjoys the tax savings.
For individuals:
HSA funds are used for qualified medical expenses and generally cannot be used for premium payments or non-prescription drugs. There are exceptions to this, and I strongly suggest you make use of the sources found at the bottom of this email or contact a legal advisor if you have questions regarding this.
The 2015 limit for self-only coverage is $3350; for family coverage it is $6650. Individuals 55 and over are allowed a catch-up contribution of $1000; if both you and your spouse are enrolled in an HSA compatible plan and over 55, you can contribute an additional $1000 each, bringing your total limit to $8650 for the year. Once an individual turns 65 and is eligible for Medicare, they are no longer allowed to contribute to an HSA. This limit includes any contributions your employer may make to your account. Employer contributions through a Section 125 plan are not tax deductible for you; however, the contributions are not federally taxable nor are they are subject to withholding from wages for tax purposes.
You cannot have a joint HSA account. If both you and your spouse are covered under an HSA compatible plan, you can have an HSA account in your name or your spouse’s name, or you and your spouse can each have an HSA account. The family maximum contribution can be split between your accounts in any manner; however, catch-up contributions must be made to the account matching the individual 55 or over. So if you turn 55 and your spouse is under 55, if you both have accounts, the $1000 catch-up contribution must be in your account. If you are both 55 or over, you must make your $1000 ($2000 total) catch-up contributions to separate accounts.
The minimum deductible for an HSA compatible plan is $1300 for an individual and $2600 for family coverage. The maximum out-of-pocket (OOP) is $6450 for an individual and $12900 for family coverage. Please note that not all plans that meet the minimum deductible and maximum OOP are HSA-compatible.
You cannot contribute to an HSA account if you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.
A few reminders for employers:
If you make contributions to employees’ HSA accounts, you must treat all full-time employees the same; offering the same dollar amount or percentage of deductible. However, you may treat full-time, part-time, and former employees differently.
If an employee is eligible for employer contributions to their HSA account and the account is in the spouse’s name, you can contribute to the spouse’s HSA account. However, this contribution would be taxable as part of the employee’s gross income.
Sources:
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4012.pdf (p107)
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8889.pdf
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8889.pdf
www.priorityhealth.com/employer/plans/priorityhsa/contributions
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Above-the-line-deduction
www.mycafeteriaplan.com/irs-announces-hsa-contribution-limits-for-2015/
www.irs.gov/publications/p969/ar02.html
http://www.hsaforamerica.com/faq-contributions.htm#ca3
http://www.sterlinghsa.com/faq/contributions_to_hsas/
This is not a comprehensive or exhaustive accounting of HSA information; I have tried to highlight the most common questions that I receive. Please note that I am not a tax advisor and this should not be taken as legal advice. If you are unsure of the particulars of HSA legalities or plan to take the advice herein, please speak with your legal or tax advisor.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions regarding the HSA Guidelines or the Affordable Care Act.
Elizabeth Ingram
Account Manager, Employee Benefits
CU Insurance Solutions
Phone: 800-287-3379 x 312
info@insurancetrust.us
ACA Update – February 2015
There haven’t been any changes on the group side this month, but for your non-eligible employees & customers, it is worth noting that there is going to be an additional open enrollment for individuals at www.healthcare.gov for 2015. This enrollment is March 15-April 30 for individuals who were unaware of the penalty for being uninsured and only found out when doing their 2014 taxes.
On a more fun note:
For those of you who don’t want to login to your health insurance individual portal or are just curious about the cost of coverage a new tool has come out that gives the average (national, state, & closest city) cost of most common procedures as well as explaining what the procedures entail. It can’t tell you what the cost might be with insurance, but www.guroo.com is an interesting site for those of you interested in general cost of care.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions regarding the Affordable Care Act.
Elizabeth Ingram
Account Manager, Employee Benefits
CU Insurance Solutions
Phone: 800-287-3379 x 312
info@insurancetrust.us
Anthem Data Breach
Although we still don’t know if anyone in Maine was affected as Anthem is mailing that information directly to affected members (and former members), the items listed in the article are good practice for anyone with health insurance.
“To the 80 million customers of Anthem whose personal information was stolen by hackers, security experts offer this advice: Keep a close eye on your medical-claims statements.
Identity thieves use plundered health-plan data to run up large bills in the victims’ names. Anthem disclosed yesterday, Feb. 4, that names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, medical IDs, street and e-mail addresses, and employee information, including income levels, were stolen in one of the biggest data breaches of a U.S. company.
Identity theft may not have been the main goal of the breach. Federal and private-sector investigators are pursuing evidence that points to Chinese state-sponsored hackers who are stealing personal data from health-care companies to seek information on the personal lives of defense contractors, government workers, and others, according to three people familiar with the probe. Still, the information of tens of millions of others has been compromised and can’t be considered safe.”
Read Full Article
For those of you with Anthem insurance, Anthem is contacting employers, members, and brokers simultaneously, so you will receive any information at the same time I do. Please do let me know if you do have any questions regarding anything you receive.
For questions, please contact:
Elizabeth Ingram
Account Manager, Employee Benefits
CU Insurance Solutions
Phone: 800-287-3379 x 312
info@insurancetrust.us