BeneTrac Helps Employers Address Healthcare Reform Requirements

Online, February 16, 2011 (Newswire.com) - BeneTrac, a Paychex company and provider of powerful, web-based electronic enrollment and employee benefits administration software, today announced that its technology supports emerging healthcare requirements through its reporting and automated process-management capabilities.

Since the U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval to legislation for healthcare reform and President Obama signed it into law, a number of provisions requiring increased management, tracking, and reporting of employer-sponsored benefit plan data are included in this law. BeneTrac's software offers a powerful, easy-to-use set of reporting tools and automates business processes to aid employers in meeting emerging healthcare reform enrollment and reporting requirements.

"When it comes to healthcare reform, no one knows exactly what will be required, as not all of the specifics have been laid out. Having access to information, and being able to easily report on it, however, will be critical for corporations to ensure the proper actions are taken, and fines and penalties are avoided," said Art Brooks, vice president of business development for BeneTrac. "Our system's process-oriented nature and robust, easy-to-use and built-in reporting features will give HR managers and benefits administrators a definite advantage in managing and tracking all the information required."

BeneTrac's technology can assist HR and benefits management professionals with a number of emerging healthcare reform requirements.

• Employers must extend dependent coverage to age 26 if insurer offers health insurance coverage that provides benefits to children - HR departments are struggling to balance carrier renewals, proactive adoption, and the mandatory start date for all carriers to extend dependant coverage to age 26. Prior to 2014, grandfathered plans are not required to extend coverage to these adult dependents if they have access to their own employer sponsored coverage.

• Employers have the option to report the value of employer-paid benefits on 2011 W2s - As of October 2010, this provision became optional for tax year 2011. The IRS recently released the 2011 Form W-2 that indicates how the health care cost will be reported and also makes it clear that this amount is not taxable income to employees. However, we are still awaiting specifics from the IRS on how health care costs will be reported. In the event that this information is required, BeneTrac can currently generate the value of paid benefits for reporting purposes. BeneTrac will continue to monitor for the IRS guidance surrounding this issue.

• Medical Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) will be limited to $2,500 per year, effective January 1st, 2013 - Employees will see a notification of the new limit as they make their FSA election in BeneTrac. In addition, the system will not allow them to choose an amount over the $2500 limit, ensuring compliance with the legislation. Employers can continue to elect a lower maximum for their plan. Employers may also use the BeneTrac "Mail Room" feature to notify employees of the new limits.

• Employers must publish Uniform Explanation of Coverage, effective March 2012- While details of this report have not yet been developed by regulatory agency, BeneTrac helps benefits administrators get a head start with the ability to publish existing plan summaries in the BeneTrac Resource Library. Employers may also use the BeneTrac "News and Announcements" and "Mail Room" features to notify employees that the plan descriptions are available.

For employers wanting to ensure ERISA compliance, an address list can be created in Report Factory and used with mail merge to easily send employees a hard copy of plan descriptions or Uniform Explanation of Coverage

BeneTrac's existing tracking and reporting capabilities ensure that employers will be able to comply with the future requirements of healthcare reform, including offering mandatory coverage, tracking waivers, and reporting to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Through its relationship with Paychex, BeneTrac customers can have a single solution to manage all their HR and employment needs from hire to retire.

About BeneTrac
BeneTrac, a Paychex company, is a provider of powerful, web-based electronic enrollment and employee benefits administration software. The company's online benefit management technology enables employers and human resources professionals to eliminate paperwork and automate management of their complete benefits packages through a single, customized portal. BeneTrac's one-stop-shop platform for automatically adding, updating and managing information, and exchanging data with providers, capitalizes on relationships with more than 400 carriers. The technology offers a full-featured, affordable, user-friendly system that simplifies benefits administration.

For more information, please visit www.benetrac.com.

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