HR Strategies, LLC
Monthly Strategies
Two Ways to Reduce Costs
Reminder it’s AAP Time – This year two discounts
are available to your organization.

A 10% discount will be given to those
organizations that submit their AAP data to
HR Strategies for processing during the
month of January.

The second discount will be $100 off your
AAP fee, this year and every year thereafter,
for each AAP referral that your organization
gives to HR Strategies that result in a new
AAP client. This will continue for each year
they are an AAP client.
Does My Company Need an
Affirmative Action Plan?
Many organizations have asked this question since
receiving last month’s edition of Monthly
Strategies. Several company’s wanted to know
what an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) is and
where do we get one. Below is a brief overview to
answer some of those questions.
Affirmative action refers to programs that exceed
state and federal laws on nondiscrimination and
take proactive steps to hire and promote minorities,
women and the disabled. Employers that are
required to have formal affirmative action plans
include federal contractors and first-tier
subcontractors with 50 or more employees and
$50,000 in contract revenue during any 12-month
period, depositories of government funds in any
amount and issuers or paying agents for U.S.
Savings Bonds and saving notes. Other employers
voluntarily follow affirmative action.
The following website is a tremendous resource
available to help you determine if you must comply
with having an AAP for your organization:
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/ofccp.htm. If you need
further clarification or assistance, HR Strategies
Volume 11, Issue 1
January 1, 2014
would welcome the opportunity to assist, answer
questions or complete your AAP process.
Employers should be tracking their employee’s
information, applicants, hires, promotions, and
terminations in preparation for conducting their
2014 Affirmative Action Plan. 2014 plans should
be submitted to the DOL during the first quarter of
2014.
Compliance Checklist
The following checklist is for organizations that
have group health plans:
Business Associate Agreements (BAA) - Execute
updated BAAs with all business associates. The
BAAs should have been completed already. The
BAAs are due to new regulations that codify
HITECH legislation in the HIPAA privacy and
security rules.
HIPAA Privacy Notice – Provide updated privacy
notice. The contents of the privacy notice have
been materially changed due to the new HITECH
regulations. When the privacy notice contents
materially change, the notice must be redistributed.
HIPAA Privacy Policies or Manuals – Updated
privacy policy / manual. If the plan has a HIPAA
privacy policy or manual, it should be updated for
the new HITECH guidance.
Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) –
SBCs describing coverage effective on and after
January 1, 2014 must be updated to comply with
the revised DOL template. SBC must also be
update to reflect any benefit changes and this must
be provided during open enrollment.
Notice of Exchange Availability – Employers
subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
must send notice of exchange availability no later
than 14 days after date of hire.
COBRA Notice – Update COBRA election notice.
DOL has issued a new model COBRA notice.
Page 2
Essential Health Benefits – Amend plan and SPD
to remove any annual dollar limits on essential
health benefits for plan year beginning 1/1/14.
Preexisting Conditions Exclusions – Amend plan
and SPD to remove any preexisting condition
exclusions for plan year beginning 1/1/14.
90 Day Waiting – Review plan document and SPD
for eligibility conditions and waiting periods.
Amend plan as necessary to include compliant
eligibility conditions and waiting periods not to
exceed 90 days for plan year beginning 1/1/14.
Clinical Trials – Non-grandfathered plans only:
Amend plan to provide coverage for certain clinical
trials for plan year beginning on and after 1/1/14.
Out of Pocket Maximum – Non-grandfathered
plans only: Review plan’s in-network out-ofpocket maximum to ensure compliance with 2014
limit ($6,350 per person / $12,700 per family) for
plan year beginning on and after 1/1/14.
Wellness Program – Review health-contingent
wellness programs for compliant activity based and
/ or outcome based programs under new
regulations. New wellness regulations create
additional requirements for who must be given an
opportunity to qualify and how the alternative
standards must be formulated. You may consider
whether to increase wellness incentives to statutory
maximums (30% or 50% for tobacco cessation
programs. Amend the plan as necessary for plan
year beginning on and after 1/1/14.
DOMA – If health plan covers same sex spouses:
Stop imputing income for same sex spouse
coverage for federal tax purposes; review and
revise plan forms and procedures (example:
COBRA and special enrollment procedures and
forms) to ensure they treat same sex spouses as
spouses; consider whether to extend coverage to (or
continue coverage for) domestic partners and civil
unions.
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) –
Review any HRA to determine whether it satisfies
new rules for integration. If the HRA is not
integrated, take steps to integrate (including
establishing an opt-out procedure), terminate, or
convert to a standalone, retiree-only HRA for plan
year beginning on and after 1/1/14. For instance,
Monthly Strategies
“mini-med” and stand-alone HRAs cannot be
maintained after 2013. New guidance provides that
HRAs that are not integrated with a group health
plan will fail to comply with the ACA rules
prohibiting annual dollar limits and, for nongrandfathered plans, requiring coverage of
preventive care services without cost sharing.
Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSA) –
Review any FSA to determine whether it is an
excepted benefit. If the FSA is not excepted, and
the FSA is non-grandfathered, take steps to convert
to an excepted benefit FSA or terminate for plan
year beginning on and after 1/1/14. New guidance
clarifies that FSAs that do not qualify as excepted
benefits will fail to comply with the ACA rule
requiring non-grandfathered plans to provide
coverage of preventive care services without cost
sharing. Consider whether to amend FSA to allow
carryover of up to $500 of unused FSA amounts. If
choose to allow carry over, amend FSA to
eliminate grace period, if applicable. The new
guidance permits plan sponsors of FSA to either
provide a grace period or allow participants to carry
over up to $500 in unused FSA amounts to the
following plan year.
If your organization would like to learn more about the
items in this newsletter, please feel free to contact
Tricia Clendening at 302.376.8595 (office) or
302.373.1784 (cell) or [email protected]. Please
contact us if you would like to be removed from our
Monthly Strategies mailing list or if you would like for
us to add someone to our mailing list.
Happy Holidays!
HR Strategies would like to take this opportunity
to thank you for your business in 2013. We
welcome the opportunity to again support your
business needs, in the coming year. We hope you
and your family have had an enjoyable holiday
and we wish you a safe and happy new year!