Benefit Briefs for October 2014

The Total Benefit Solutions team...Working for your benefit!

Upcoming Important Enrollment Dates

Remember we can help anyone enroll during this year's open enrollments, on the healthcare.gov marketplace, or off. Including small businesses or those on Medicare!

October 1st Medicare Pre-AEP begins. We can discuss the 2015 plans but no enrollments can take place.

October 15th: Medicare Annual Open Enrollment Period Begins for January 1st 2015 effective dates.

November 1st: The FFM-SHOP for small business open enrollment begins for the first time ever.

November 15th: Individual ( under age 65) Open Enrollment Begins for January 2015 effective dates

November 30th: FFM-SHOP open enrollment ends

December 7th: Medicare Annual Open Enrollment period closes.

January 1st to February 14th 2015: Medicare annual disenrollment period.

February 15th 2015: Individual (pre-65) open enrollment period closes.

February 16th 2015: Total Benefit Solutions is closed for recovery.

We are all licensed, insured, retrained and recertified for the upcoming enrollment year, 2015. Trust your enrollment to your dedicated professionals at Total Benefit Solutions, Inc.

Did You Know?

October is national "donut hole month because most seniors who hit the Medicare Part D "Donut Hole" do so during the month of October each year!

Health Reform: NOTICES DUE

Remember your exchange notices are coming due..click here for more

There are updated COBRA notices....click here

For Medicare Eligible Employees & Dependents: Reminder to Distribute Creditable Coverage Notice

HR: Total Benefit Solutions to partner with ThinkHR

In another effort to enhance our client experience and bring value to our small business clients, Total Benefit Solutions is proud to announce that we have entered into an agreement to provide Think HR.

Soon our clients will get an introductory e-mail with instructions on how to access their complimentary ThinkHR account. We expect to have this resource available to our clients in September 2014, just in time for this year's open enrollment period!

Think HR will help our clients:

Stay up to date with the latest news and resources
Remain compliant with best practices from HR professionals
Build tools like job descriptions, employee handbooks and more!

Click here to learn more!

Health Reform: Checklist Released for 2015-2016

This bulletin features a checklist, including descriptions of key topics, to guide your business or organization through Affordable Care Act compliance in 2015-2016.

Click Here to Get the Checklist

Health Reform: Penalties for Using Individual Insurance

IMPORTANT Blue grunge stamp on white background

IRS Highlights Stiff Penalty for Reimbursing Individual Premium

Click here to read the FAQ.

Click here for all of the latest updates.

Bookmark this link as we update this site multiple times each week!

H.S.A. Limits for 2015 Released
The IRS has released the 2015 cost-of-living adjustments affecting HSAs and HDHPs. The 2015 IRS HSA limits are increasing for 2015.
Click here to learn more.

Now More Than Ever, Stay Informed

Things change faster now in weeks, than they used to in years. Clients often ask us why we do not send out bulletins more often. The answer is simply because if we did we would be sending you notices many times each month, cramming your inbox.

To avoid that, we post updates multiple times each month at our website, www.totalbenefits.net

There you can always search for answers to your questions, or use your newsreader to follow the feed as changes are posted.

The latest posts always appear on the right hand side of the site. You can also follow us on social media sites such as to get notified when updates occur.

We try to keep this newsletter brief and to the point to respect your time and inbox space. In these times of so much change that certainly is a challenge. Thank you for subscribing!

Warm Regards,

Edward T. MacConnell CBC, CHRS
Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist