How to monitor your business’s compliance-related activities (ThinkHR Comply)

How to monitor your business's compliance-related activities

Summary: Learn what compliance tools are useful for your business with ThinkHR Comply.

No matter what industry your business is in, you should understand the importance of workplace compliance. Proper compliance doesn’t just protect your employees… it protects you, too.

 Last year, Bernardini & Donovan were excited to partner with ThinkHR for people risk management. We discussed our efforts to maximize our health insurance services by this partnership,  in addition to ThinkHR’s end-to-end people risk management solution (PRM). In this article, we’ll be discussing the following points that ThinkHR Comply addresses: 

  • Tools for Fellow Compliance Nerds

  • Popular Guides and Checklist

 You might not be a compliance nerd, but if you own a business, ThinkHR Comply is beneficial. Compliance protects you from lawsuits and other penalties.

 It’s also important that your employees know that they’re safe from exploitation, discrimination, and harassment, and that they have legal recourse if they ever face these things.

 Related article(s): Partnering With ThinkHR To Minimize Risk Management…

TOOLS FOR FELLOW COMPLIANCE NERDS

COMPLY FEATURES 

  • Extensive guidance explains laws and provides sample policies and HR best practices to assist businesses with risk management before, during, and even after it is exposed.

  • Powerful tools to help businesses manage their day-to-day tasks while mitigating the numerous people-related compliance risks that exist in every organization.

When it comes to using the best tools to monitor compliance-related activities, ThinkHR Comply delivers fully-integrated content combining expert analysis of employment laws and regulations, best practice information, and high impact delivery that shows HR leaders what to prepare for, provides the guardrails for when something happens, and outlines the necessary steps to move forward.

ThinkHR has created easy to use, cloud-based tools to help you complete these tasks while ensuring you remain in compliance and keep the best interests and goals of your company front and center.

ThinkHR Comply is cloud-based, so information on policies, laws, and HR best practices is continually updated and always current. Access their robust Q&A Database to see the questions and answers from the ThinkHR Live team or get the latest policies and forms on topics like hiring, time off, compensation, and benefits.

LEARN ABOUT THINKHR SOLUTIONS FOR:

State and federal laws piling up? Employees losing touch with your culture? ThinkHR Comply has got you covered. Use their powerful compliance-monitoring tool to create a pre-populated fully editable handbook that assures communication of your most important values and compliance in all 50 states.

EMPLOYEE CLASSIFICATION TOOLKITS

Full-time? Overtime eligible? Independent contractor? Their tools help you classify and document each worker’s status for compliance and payroll tax purposes.

JOB DESCRIPTION BUILDER

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. Their tools let you easily create engaging job descriptions that attract the right candidates.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW TOOLS

Save everyone countless hours with well-designed review tools. Properly crafted reviews yield meaningful, fair, and productive reviews for both employer and employee.

Q&A DATABASE

ThinkHR talks to thousands of employers every year. So chances are good that they have solved your problem before. Easily access the right answer in their robust database.

POPULAR GUIDES AND CHECKLIST

HR AUDIT CHECKLIST

Use their proven guides to quickly assess HR compliance risks.

 HIRING AND TERMINATION GUIDELINES

Years of experience have enabled ThinkHR to give you the help you need to handle sensitive situations in the most compliant and expedient manner while reducing legal risks.

WHITE PAPERS AND WEBINAR LIBRARY

For both strategic planning or immediate HR issues, it’s comforting to have expert guidance at hand for any compliance or HR related issues.

BENEFITS OF USING THINKHR COMPLY AS YOUR COMPLIANCE SOLUTION

To bring the most value to their companies, HR professionals need to stay on top of laws, policies, news, and best practices for managing and developing employees. This waterfall of information can be overwhelming.

ThinkHR Comply turns the waterfall into a manageable stream of the important, current information you need to implement best practices and avoid risks. You’ll get law alerts, whitepapers, access to HRCI webinars, and more. You’ll also get access to thousands of up-to-date tools as well as the latest information that supports compliance best practices!

ThinkHR Comply offers the best solutions to monitor employee compliance for your business such as:

  • Federal, state specific, and even local legislation for many large markets throughout the US.

  • Guidance that benefits all business sizes, from small to large.

  • Content curated by a team of attorneys and compliance experts ensures library is accurate, current, and reliable.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THINKHR COMPLY? 855.271.1050

Related page(s): Resources That Make Your Business A Well-oiled Machine

Part II: COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave for California Employers (SB 95)

COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave

SB 95 Bill

Details of the recent SB 95 Bill that provides supplemental sick leave as a result of Covid-19

 In part I of this blog, we talked about the past Assembly Bill 1867, sick leave hours for the newest SB 95 bill, and eligibility. Today, we’ll be discussing the following points: 

  • How SB 95 interacts with other leave laws

  • Requirements, notices, and pay stubs

  • Compliance recommendations

SB 95 Interaction with Other Leave Laws

An employer may not require an employee to use other paid or unpaid time off before the employee uses SB 95 leave.

California Sick Leave – The Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act

SB 95’s paid sick leave is in addition to any paid sick leave available pursuant to California’s sick leave law, known as the Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act of 2014, established in Labor Code section 246.

Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards Required Paid Leave

Late last year, Cal/OSHA enacted Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) that required employers, among other things, to prepare and implement a COVID-19 Prevention Program. Employers also had to provide “continued earnings” to employees who were excluded from the workplace because of work-related exposures or positive COVID-19 cases. SB 95 clarifies that employers may require an employee to exhaust supplemental paid sick leave under SB 95 before becoming eligible for “continue earnings” under the ETS.

If an employee took leave for an SB 95 qualifying reason after Jan. 1, 2021 pursuant to any federal, state, or local law, or employer-provided COVID-19 leave, it can be counted as leave provided under SB 95. The employer might be required to provide retroactive payment to the employee for the leave taken if it was unpaid or not paid at the level required by SB 95.

Retroactive Pay Requirement

SB 95 supplemental sick leave became retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021. The new law established these provisions for retroactive payments:

  • The employee took supplemental paid sick leave specific to COVID-19 on or after Jan. 1, 2021 (for example, a city-mandated leave for quarantine).

  • The leave was for one of the reasons covered by SB 95, as defined above.

  • The leave was either unpaid or paid at a lower rate than mandated by SB 95.

If all of these conditions are met and the employee requests retroactive pay either orally or in writing, the employer must comply. Once retroactive payments are made, employers may take credit for the leave hours previously provided.

Retroactive payments must be paid on or before the next full payroll period after the employee requests it. And employers might have to replenish the PTO, vacation, or other leave banks of employees who used them while on an SB 95 leave prior to its enactment.

Requirements and more

Notice Requirements

 Employers must provide employees with notice of the new law. The Labor Commissioner’s Office will release a model notice by the end of March. Employers may provide this notice electronically.

Pay Stub Requirements

  • The COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave balances must be included on itemized wage statements.

  • The COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave must be denoted separately from regular paid sick days. 

For employees that have part-time and variable schedules (making their leave entitlements variable), the new law specifies that the employer satisfy the wage statement obligation by doing an initial calculation of leave available and indicating “variable” next to it on the initial and subsequent wage statements. The calculation must be updated when leave is taken.

In-Home Health-Care Providers and Firefighters

A separate section in SB 95 outlines similar leave requirements for providers of in-home health care and supportive services firefighters.

Compliance Recommendations

 Employers are encouraged to take these steps to ensure compliance with the new law.

  • Educate and train human resources and payroll employees about the new supplemental paid sick leave requirements. Employers might want to include in the training the new law’s impact on Cal/OSHA’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) exclusion pay, as well as the requirement that the employer replenish vacation, sick leave, and PTO banks for leave taken since Jan. 1, 2021 for a covered reason.

  • Direct payroll employees to create or reinstate a separate COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave designation on wage statements.

  • Watch for and post and/or electronically distribute the COVID-19 supplemental sick leave model notice the labor commissioner issues.

Be sure to check out part I of this blog to get all the details on the SB 95 bill.

Part I: COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave for California Employers (SB 95)

COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave

COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave

COVID-19 Sick LeaveCalifornia Employers Must Provide 80 Hours of Paid COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave

The law places new paid leave requirements on most California employers, and it requires their immediate attention. In this first part of this two-part blog, we’ll be addressing the following points for SB 95:

  • The past bill: Assembly Bill 1867 was enacted in California to provide supplemental paid sick leave to employees
  • The new bill: SB 95 provides supplemental sick leave hours (and other requirements)

Gov. Newsom explained the reason for the new law: “Paid sick leave gives workers the time they need to care for themselves and loved ones while keeping their co-workers, families, and community safe.”

The law takes effect immediately but includes a 10-day grace period for employers to start providing sick leave. Employers must begin providing the leave on March 29, 2021.

The new law applied retroactively to Jan. 1, 2021, and will remain in effect until Sept. 30, 2021. It’s enforced by the California Labor Commissioner.

Prior Supplemental Sick Leave Laws Applicable to California Employers

Last year, Assembly Bill 1867 was enacted in California to provide supplemental paid sick leave to employees at businesses with 500 or more workers. It was intended to fill the gaps for employees not covered by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which applied to all employers with a workforce up to 500 employees.

AB 1867 and the FFCRA expired on Dec. 31, 2020. Note: SB 95 does not extend either piece of legislation, but creates an entirely new mandate with a new required “bank” of available paid sick leave. So even if California employers paid out supplemental paid sick leave in 2020, they must create new leave banks for eligible employees in 2021.

  • Covered Employers — The new law applies to all California employers with more than 25 employees.

  • Eligible Employees — Employees who are not able to work or telework for any of the reasons detailed in the legislation qualify for the paid leave. No length of service is required to be eligible for leave. Employees may request the leave orally or in writing.

  • Qualifying for Leave — The first two qualifying reasons for leave (below) were included in the original California and FFCRA paid sick leave laws. SB 95 adds five more. Qualifying reasons for SB 95 leave are:

    • The employee is subject to a quarantine or isolation period related to COVID-19 as defined by an order or guideline of the state Department of Public Health, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or a local health officer with jurisdiction over the workplace.

    • The employee has been advised by a health-care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.

    • The employee is attending an appointment to receive a vaccine for protection against COVID-19.

    • The employee is experiencing symptoms related to a COVID-19 vaccine that prevents him or her from being able to work or telework.

    • The employee is experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19 and is seeking medical diagnosis.

    • The employee is caring for a family member who is subject to a quarantine for isolation order or has been advised to self-quarantine.
    • The employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed or otherwise unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.

Employees Are Eligible for Up to 80 Hours of Leave for Full-Time Employees

Full-time is defined as an employee classified as full-time by the employer, or who was scheduled to work, on average, 40 hours or more per week in the two weeks preceding the date on which leave is taken.

Full-time employees are entitled to 80 hours of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. If an employee is not considered full time, his or her schedule and length of employment will determine the amount of leave entitlement as follows:

  • An employee with a regular schedule is entitled to the total number of hours he or she normally is scheduled to work for the employer over two weeks.

  • An employee with a variable schedule is entitled to 14 times the average number of hours he or she worked each day for the employer in the six months preceding the leave.

  • An employee with a variable schedule who has worked for the employer for 14 days or fewer is entitled to the total number of hours he or she has worked for the employer.

  • Nonexempt employees’ pay is calculated as the highest of:

    • the employee’s regular rate of pay for the work week in which he or she uses the leave;

    • a formula dividing the covered employee’s total wages not including overtime by his or her total hours worked in the full pay period of the previous 90 days of employment;

    • the state minimum wage;

    • the local minimum wage to which the employee is entitled.

Exempt employees should be paid at the rate the employer calculates wages for other forms of paid leave time.

Currently, the amount paid for supplemental paid sick leave is capped at $511 per day, and an aggregate $5,110.

Employees who reach the maximum supplemental leave payout may use other available paid leave including vacation, paid time off (PTO), or other sick leave to supplement their salary so that they earn up to 100% of their regular salary.

Stay tuned for part II of this blog, where we continue this discussion and address other aspects of SB 95.

A peek inside the 2021 healthcare reform plan

Healthcare Reform

Health insurance in coloradoTaking a look at the nation’s healthcare agenda for 2021 

New healthcare plans are underway as we inch into completing the first quarter of 2021. An executive order was recently signed that will direct the federal government to open a special enrollment period from February 15 to May 15 for Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges that serve 36 states.

 According to Forbes, this measure is designed to boost coverage for people who are uninsured. The goal of the upcoming healthcare agenda is to improve people’s access to health insurance.

 The key pillars of the 2021 healthcare agenda include:

  • Fortifying the ACA, which includes augmenting the law with a public option;

  • Expanding ACA for lower-income Americans in non-Medicaid expansion states;

  • Introducing legislation on Medicare for More;

  • Revitalizing public health.

 More details about efforts to support the ACA can be found here.

Why the ACA is still significant to us, and why it’s still under attack today.

On March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, allowing over 100 million people to not have to worry that an insurance company will deny coverage or charge higher premiums just because they have a pre-existing condition – whether cancer or diabetes or heart disease or a mental health challenge.

 While over the last decade, the Affordable Care Act has been under relentless attack for various reasons, efforts are being made to protect the Affordable Care Act from these continued attacks in the following ways:

  • Fortifying the ACA, which includes augmenting the law with a public option.

 Instead of starting from scratch and getting rid of private insurance, the plan is to build on the Affordable Care Act by giving Americans more choice, reducing health care costs, and making our health care system less complex to navigate

  • Expanding ACA for lower-income Americans in non-Medicaid expansion states.

 The prospect that health protections could extend to millions of uninsured Americans is being raised. As the Covid-19 pandemic saps state budgets and strains safety nets, the opportunity arises. The goal is to break the Medicaid deadlock in the 12 states that have rejected federal funding made available by the Affordable Care Act.

 While this is not an overnight procedure, there are significant opportunities for the remaining states to embrace the Medicaid expansion.

 Key to these potential compromises will likely be federal sign off on conservative versions of Medicaid expansion, such as limits on who qualifies for the program or more federal funding.

 Read more about the efforts that are being made to expand Medicaid here.

  • Introducing legislation on Medicare for More.

 Unlike the Medicare for All approach that would abolish private health insurance and provide universal access to all Americans, regardless of age, Medicare for More builds incrementally on the existing framework of both Medicare and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and aims to close current gaps in access to healthcare insurance.

 This version of Medicare for More is narrower, as it would permit people aged 60 to 64 to enroll in Medicare. Premium and cost-sharing subsidies would be offered to lower-income beneficiaries. As a result, approximately 20 million more Americans would be eligible for Medicare. Enrolling in Medicare would be voluntary. Employers would be prohibited from dropping newly Medicare-eligible persons from their plans.

 There is an increased likelihood for a pragmatic approach that combines Medicare for More, introduction of a public option, and reinforcement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Learn more about the Medicare approach here.

  • Revitalizing public health.

 In January, the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness was released. The plan builds on the previously announced vaccine distribution plan and the American Rescue Plan, and is organized across seven goals, namely, efforts to get the pandemic under control so Americans can inch into a safer future moving forward.

 Some of those goals are listed below:

  1. Mount a safe, effective, and comprehensive vaccination campaign;

  2. Mitigate spread through expanding masking, testing, treatments, data, healthcare workforce, and clear public health standards;

  3. Safely reopen schools, businesses, and travel while protecting workers;

 For a more comprehensive list on the plan to revitalize public health, read here.

COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave for California Employers (SB 95) — Mar. 29 until Sept. 30, 2021

Supplemental Sick Leave

California Employers Must Provide 80 Hours of Paid COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave

Health and medical insuranceOn March 19, 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 95, which extends and expands the requirement for employers to provide supplemental paid sick leave to employees affected by COVID-19. 

The law places new paid leave requirements on most California employers, and it requires their immediate attention. 

Gov. Newsom explained the reason for the new law: “Paid sick leave gives workers the time they need to care for themselves and loved ones while keeping their co-workers, families, and community safe.” 

The law takes effect immediately, but includes a 10-day grace period for employers to start providing sick leave. Employers must begin providing the leave on March 29, 2021.

The new law applies retroactively to Jan. 1, 2021, and will remain in effect until Sept. 30, 2021. It’s enforced by the California Labor Commissioner. 

The Michael Sullivan & Associates online e-book, Navigating COVID-19: A Legal Guide For California Employers, has been updated with the salient provisions of SB 95. View it in context under California Enacts New Supplemental Sick Leave Mandate Effective March 19, 2021.

Prior Supplemental Sick Leave Laws Applicable to California Employers

Last year, Assembly Bill 1867 was enacted in California to provide supplemental paid sick leave to employees at businesses with 500 or more workers. It was intended to fill the gaps for employees not covered by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which applied to all employers with a workforce up to 500 employees.

AB 1867 and the FFCRA expired on Dec. 31, 2020. Note: SB 95 does not extend either piece of legislation, but creates an entirely new mandate with a new required “bank” of available paid sick leave. So even if California employers paid out supplemental paid sick leave in 2020, they must create new leave banks for eligible employees in 2021. 

  • Covered Employers — The new law applies to all California employers with more than 25 employees. 

  • Eligible Employees — Employees who are not able to work or telework for any of the reasons detailed in the legislation qualify for the paid leave. No length of service is required to be eligible for leave. Employees may request the leave orally or in writing. 

  • Qualifying for Leave — The first two qualifying reasons for leave (below) were included in the original California and FFCRA paid sick leave laws. SB 95 adds five more. Qualifying reasons for SB 95 leave are:

    • The employee is subject to a quarantine or isolation period related to COVID-19 as defined by an order or guideline of the state Department of Public Health, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or a local health officer with jurisdiction over the workplace.

    • The employee has been advised by a health-care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.

    • The employee is attending an appointment to receive a vaccine for protection against COVID-19.

    • The employee is experiencing symptoms related to a COVID-19 vaccine that prevents him or her from being able to work or telework.

    • The employee is experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19 and is seeking medical diagnosis.

    • The employee is caring for a family member who is subject to a quarantine for isolation order or has been advised to self-quarantine.

The employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed or otherwise unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.

Employees Are Eligible for Up to 80 Hours of Leave

Full-time employees are entitled to 80 hours of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave.

Full-time is defined as an employee classified as full-time by the employer, or who was scheduled to work, on average, 40 hours or more per week in the two weeks preceding the date on which leave is taken.

If an employee is not considered full time, his or her schedule and length of employment will determine the amount of leave entitlement as follows: 

  • An employee with a regular schedule is entitled to the total number of hours he or she normally is scheduled to work for the employer over two weeks.

  • An employee with a variable schedule is entitled to 14 times the average number of hours he or she worked each day for the employer in the six months preceding the leave.

  • An employee with a variable schedule who has worked for the employer for 14 days or fewer is entitled to the total number of hours he or she has worked for the employer.

  • Nonexempt employees’ pay is calculated as the highest of:

    • the employee’s regular rate of pay for the work week in which he or she uses the leave;

    • a formula dividing the covered employee’s total wages not including overtime by his or her total hours worked in the full pay period of the previous 90 days of employment;

    • the state minimum wage;

    • the local minimum wage to which the employee is entitled.

Exempt employees should be paid at the rate the employer calculates wages for other forms of paid leave time.

Currently, the amount paid for supplemental paid sick leave is capped at $511 per day, and an aggregate $5,110.

Employees who reach the maximum supplemental leave payout may use other available paid leave including vacation, paid time off (PTO), or other sick leave to supplement their salary so that they earn up to 100% of their regular salary.

Interaction with Other Leave Laws

An employer may not require an employee to use other paid or unpaid time off before the employee uses SB 95 leave. 

California Sick Leave – The Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act

SB 95’s paid sick leave is in addition to any paid sick leave available pursuant to California’s sick leave law, known as the Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act of 2014, established in Labor Code section 246.

Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards Required Paid Leave

Late last year, Cal/OSHA enacted Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) that required employers, among other things, to prepare and implement a COVID-19 Prevention Program. Employers also had to provide “continued earnings” to employees who were excluded from the workplace because of work-related exposures or positive COVID-19 cases. SB 95 clarifies that employers may require an employee to exhaust supplemental paid sick leave under SB 95 before becoming eligible for “continue earnings” under the ETS.

If an employee took leave for an SB 95 qualifying reason after Jan. 1, 2021 pursuant to any federal, state, or local law, or employer-provided COVID-19 leave, it can be counted as leave provided under SB 95. The employer might be required to provide retroactive payment to the employee for the leave taken if it was unpaid or not paid at the level required by SB 95.

Retroactive Pay Requirement 

SB 95 supplemental sick leave is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021. The new law establishes these provisions for retroactive payments:

  • The employee took supplemental paid sick leave specific to COVID-19 on or after Jan. 1, 2021 (for example, a city-mandated leave for quarantine).

  • The leave was for one of the reasons covered by SB 95, as defined above.

  • The leave was either unpaid or paid at a lower rate than mandated by SB 95. 

If all of these conditions are met and the employee requests retroactive pay either orally or in writing, the employer must comply.

Once retroactive payments are made, employers may take credit for the leave hours previously provided.

Retroactive payments must be paid on or before the next full payroll period after the employee requests it. 

Employers might have to replenish the PTO, vacation, or other leave banks of employees who used them while on an SB 95 leave prior to its enactment.

Notice Requirements

Employers must provide employees with notice of the new law. The Labor Commissioner’s Office will release a model notice by the end of March. Employers may provide this notice electronically.

Pay Stub Requirements

  • The COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave balances must be included on itemized wage statements.

  • The COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave must be denoted separately from regular paid sick days.

For employees that have part-time and variable schedules (making their leave entitlements variable), the new law specifies that the employer satisfy the wage statement obligation by doing an initial calculation of leave available and indicating “variable” next to it on the initial and subsequent wage statements. The calculation must be updated when leave is taken. 

In-Home Health-Care Providers and Firefighters 

A separate section in SB 95 outlines similar leave requirements for providers of in-home health care and supportive services firefighters.

Compliance Recommendations 

Employers are encouraged to take these steps to ensure compliance with the new law. 

  • Educate and train human resources and payroll employees about the new supplemental paid sick leave requirements. Employers might want to include in the training the new law’s impact on Cal/OSHA’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) exclusion pay, as well as the requirement that the employer replenish vacation, sick leave, and PTO banks for leave taken since Jan. 1, 2021 for a covered reason.

  • Direct payroll employees to create or reinstate a separate COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave designation on wage statements.

Watch for and post and/or electronically distribute the COVID-19 supplemental sick leave model notice the labor commissioner issues.

How immigrants are being affected by the health care industry

Healthcare for immigrants

Health care for immigrants continues to be a unique challenge as we work to bring comprehensive health care options to immigrants throughout the country. 

Getting comprehensive health care options to immigrants throughout the country is a topic that is currently being addressed. Here are two key points regarding immigrant healthcare that we’ll be addressing in this article:

  • The impacts of Covid on the health care industry for immigrants

  • What the agenda is for immigration health care

According to the United Nations, in 2019, the United States had the largest number of immigrants of any country alongside Germany and Saudi Arabia.

One article addressed the issues of giving more health care options to immigrants in Connecticut. Undocumented immigrants don’t have access to state insurance. For one worker, not having proper health care means that he could potentially become sicker by having to wait in order to receive the treatment he needs (emergency dialysis).

Source: Connecticut immigrants deserve health insurance

The impacts of Covid on the health care industry for immigrants

 

Access to healthcare is especially vital now, as undocumented immigrants have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Approximately 75 percent of U.S. undocumented immigrants are Latino, a group which dies or falls ill from COVID-19 at much higher rates than the general population. This is due to medical barriers, such as shortages of testing in communities of color, as well as increased exposure to COVID-19 at work.

Regarding the immigrant communities in California, a study was released by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The study, based on data from the center’s 2019 California Health Interview Survey, shows that 1 in 4 low-income immigrant adults in the state have avoided accessing public assistance like health, food or housing programs at some point for fear of jeopardizing their own or a family member’s immigration status.

More than half of the individuals who participated in the study indicated they had shunned these programs in the time between the the proposed rule changes in 2018 and their implementation in 2020.

Immigrants’ avoidance of these public programs was linked to worse access to health care and higher food insecurity, the researchers say.

The researchers found that among California immigrants who had reported avoiding programs over the past year, 37 percent were uninsured and 54 percent were food insecure, compared with 16 percent and 36 percent of immigrants who didn’t avoid the programs.

The study data adds to the evidence of how the public charge rule, in particular, had a negative impact on immigrant communities and forced individuals to make tough choices about their health and well-being — choices made even more difficult by widespread uncertainty about which public assistance programs were included, who the rule applied to and how it might affect citizenship applications.

Read more about how immigration policies can harm health here.

The 2021 plan to address immigration health care

 

 Some states wisely chose to protect the immigrant community by using Emergency Medicaid funds to cover expenses associated with COVID-19 testing and treatment for residents who were excluded from Medicaid based on their immigration status. But more needs to be done.

Here are some other bills that are being passed throughout the country that will support better health care for immigrants:

  • IL: Immigrants over 65 can now receive health care benefits regardless of their immigration status. (Source)

  • MA: Immigrants who can’t show proof of lawful presence in the U.S. could apply for a license under the law to get to their workplaces and access businesses. (Source)

  • OR: Oregon lawmakers are pursuing legislation that would help legal immigrants get health care without worrying about feeling discouraged from going to hospitals or clinics. (Source)

On another note, immigrant families that were previously separated will soon be reuniting inside the U.S. This means that parents who were deported without their children will be given the option to reenter the U.S. and be reunified with their families. This also applies to families who want to be reunified in their countries of origin.

Read more about how migrant families will soon reunite inside U.S. here.

Human Resources for insurance agencies: Partnering with ThinkHR to minimize risk management for Bernardini & Donovan health insurance employees and offer HR expertise

Human Resources for insurance

In efforts to maximize our health insurance services, the Bernardini & Donovan team is excited to collaborate with ThinkHR, the industry-leading, end-to-end people risk management service that helps develop employees and ensure compliance

We are pleased to introduce to you the new Bernardini & Donovan human resources client service, ThinkHR! If you are involved with employee issues, this is a value-added benefit to save you time and money. ThinkHR was created to help businesses manage risk before, during, and after it is exposed and has since dealt with over 3.7 million issues and counting! More than 300,000 businesses have benefited from ThinkHR’s end-to-end people risk management solution (PRM), and the B&D team is excited to be part of that growing number.

The reality is that people risk is inevitable. However, just because it’s inevitable doesn’t mean nothing can be done to minimize it. As such, ThinkHR recognizes the significant risks centered around business employees and has thus introduced a comprehensive, end-to-end people risk management solution. With a combination of the best live advisors, innovative technology, and comprehensive and instructional content, ThinkHR is revolutionizing the world of human resources for businesses such as Bernadini & Donovan.

With a goal to help organizations address all potential people risks and help its partners strengthen their client relationships involving guidance on preparing for and managing those risks, we believe ThinkHR will benefit the Bernardini & Donovan team professionally and in other ways. The goal is to help us win more business through a comprehensive, all-inclusive, user-friendly PRM solution.

Understanding PRM: How having a human resources partner will benefit B&D as a health insurance company in the future

People Risk Management fills a critical need for businesses of all sizes by helping them build and maintain a strong culture, drive employee engagement and performance, and mitigate the numerous people-centric compliance risks that exist in every organization.

Bernardini & Donovan will now be able to ensure an effective PRM solution by integrating the 3 primary critical components into our day-to-day relations: content; technology; live advisors. We now have access to regulatory updates to handbook policies and interactive and engaging training along with guidance on preparing for and managing those risks; a handbook builder for easy creation and maintenance, a learning management system with powerful training content, and key deployment technologies to create a great user experience; live expertise and guidance that HR and business leaders need when more is needed to solve a difficult employee situation than content and technology.

The scope of HR topics handled by the ThinkHR live team, and more

HR professionals use ThinkHR tools to be more effective in their roles, while all employers benefitting from the crisis averted with the end-to-end PRM solution. We also have access to ThinkHR Live, where a team of HR experts is standing by to answer employee questions and provide advice. This phone-based support service is available from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. central time each business day so employees can utilize this tool at their convenience.

The B&D team will also have access to ThinkHR Comply, an online resource center for all of workforce questions and issues. Additionally, we’ll have access to ThinkHR Learn, an online training platform to develop employees and help ensure compliance!

With so many components making up the PRM solution, we’re excited to partner with ThinkHR to ensure our future HR needs are addressed and handled accordingly. For more information on the ThinkHR PRM solution, visit their website at https://www.thinkhr.com/

Small Business Health Insurance Options in California: Covered California SHOP Exchange

Covered California SHOP Exchange

California shop exchange

COVID-19 is making health care critical now more than ever. If you are a small business, do you know all the small business health insurance options available to you in California?

Bernardini & Donovan is here to help you with all your insurance needs, including any options you have to receive small business health insurance options in California via the Covered California SHOP (Small Business Health Options Program) Exchange. Appropriately educating you on the best health small business insurance options means we take into consideration all of your small business needs, from your employees to your affordability.

As a health insurance company, Bernardini & Donovan recognizes that insurance plans change just as much as client needs change. That’s why our team thoughtfully advises our clients to switch plans and sometimes companies in order to better have their needs met. We prioritize your needs…no matter where life takes you. Because every ebb and flow of life can redirect one’s insurance requirements and necessities, and we see this especially now with the unanticipated effects of COVID-19.

For this reason, the Bernardini & Donovan team will be revisiting this topic when it comes to small business health insurance options in California: the Covered California SHOP Exchange program. We will explain what benefits small businesses and employers alike can experience if they utilize the SHOP Exchange program, how the SHOP Exchange program works, and what to do if you run a small business located in California and have questions about small business health insurance options.

 

What is the Covered California SHOP Exchange and what are the benefits for small businesses. Created through the Affordable Care Act, the SHOP Exchange initially started off as a healthcare insurance option in every state. The Covered California SHOP Exchange provides two major benefits to small employers—access and administrative relief by relieving small businesses of the burden of finding and administering health plans for their employees. 

In California, small businesses that are struggling to provide health care coverage for their employees now have hope. This has been a concern for small businesses for years, but with the pandemic hitting the economy at new levels, small businesses have even more concern now when it comes to handling certain obligations that require finances, such as providing health insurance to their employees. The Covered California SHOP Exchange is beneficial because it provides a greater selection of group health insurance coverage—selections that were previously only offered to businesses with larger numbers of employees. Small business owners who are interested in joining the Covered California SHOP Exchange can do so just as long as they have less than 50 employees.

The SHOP program handles enrollment, eligibility, adds, changes, and terminations and provides small businesses with the necessary reports to integrate employee premium deductions into their payroll system. The employer writes just one check and the Covered California platform sends the premiums to each health insurance carrier.

California’s hundreds of thousands of small businesses that earn an average annual wage of less than $50,000 qualify for an additional benefit of being eligible for a 50 percent federal small-business tax credit when they purchase coverage through SHOP!

 

How the Covered California SHOP Exchange Works: Then and Now

Each participant enrolled in the Covered California SHOP Exchange completes a profile and receives a group ID. The employee of the business enters the SHOP program and they are then issued an ID of their own. In order for the business to access their plan, they are also issued a password. Once enrolled in the plan, the employee enrolls in the specific health plan that they need for themselves. Once the employee has made their selections, the employer then verifies that they work there. All information is taken care of by the SHOP program and then from there it is given over to the insurance carriers.

Some states that operate their own exchanges no longer offer SHOP coverage due to lack of insurer participation which was due, in part, to lackluster enrollment early on, as well as some changes made in 2016. Still, eleven states, including California, still use the Covered California SHOP Exchange platforms for small businesses, although some states have switched to a direct-to-carrier enrollment model, instead of maintaining an enrollment portal that small businesses can use.

Businesses that purchase SHOP coverage are eligible for a small-business health care tax credit. However, the tax credit is only available for up to two years.

The availability of the tax credit is limited if a business is in an area where there are no longer any SHOP plans available. Businesses that had a SHOP-certified plan during the first year of their two-year tax-credit eligibility window can continue to receive the tax credit for a non-SHOP plan if SHOP plans are no longer available during the second year. But businesses in areas without SHOP plans cannot newly enroll in a non-SHOP plan and claim the tax credit.

 

The Best Health Insurance Company to Help With Your Covered California Needs

 

Now, more than ever before, the issue of healthcare has been thrust into our everyday lives.

This pandemic has caused many small businesses to change their entire process; for small businesses that are still operating, having health insurance plans available to employees is critical now more than ever! But it is equally just as important to make sure that the options you are offering benefit you as a small business, as well. The SHOP program is a small business’s one-stop solution to their health insurance needs.

For a lot of people, the more you hear about the issue of healthcare, the more complicated it appears to be. With more than thirty years of experience in the health insurance field, our licensed health insurance agents are proud to have established long lasting and trusted relationships with all of the major carriers throughout California and beyond. Whether you need coverage for employees, families, individuals, temporary or short term coverage, or coverage for travel or abroad, Bernardini & Donovan Insurance Services has the answers to any questions you may have.

Here at Bernardini & Donovan, we offer additional information regarding the Covered California SHOP Exchange. If you would like assistance in determining if you are eligible or how to be a part of the SHOP program, contact us today.

B&D: Expanding Our Health Insurance Services to Colorado

Health Insurance Services to Colorado

Health insurance in colorado“Without the many years of loyal support from our thousands of clients in California, this opportunity to expand into the Colorado Health Insurance market wouldn’t be possible.”—Adrian Donovan, B&D Co-owner

Bernardini & Donovan Health Insurance Services is excited to announce that we will be expanding our services from California into Colorado with a second B&D office! This second office will be located in Douglas County in a town called Parker, an outlying district of the city of Denver.

“The California and Colorado health insurance markets are very similar,” says B&D Co-owner, Michael Bernardini.

We know this expanding our health insurance services into Colorado will naturally pose several questions from our clients, so the B&D team has compiled a brief list of potential questions and answers for your convenience!

What can our B&D Colorado clients expect in our new office? You can expect to receive the same great service on the same products from group and business health insurance plans to individual family health insurance plans to Medicare coverage—except now we are providing all of these services to the people of Colorado.

Why expand the B&D business into Colorado? With any business, company, or service, the goal is always to increase client retention, customer satisfaction, and services process. By moving to Colorado, the Bernardini team believes we will be able to focus on the growth of Bernardini & Donovan, including the new opportunities that come with serving a new market and reaching new clientele. Plus, Colorado is beautiful!

How was this expansion made possible? “This is a huge opportunity for our company and I’m excited to be taking it,” Adrian Donovan says. “Michael and I have consistently looked at ways to expand our services.” So, with careful thought and consideration, we have decided that exploring the Colorado health insurance market is the right move to make! B&D co-owner Adrian Donovan will be moving to Colorado; he will be heading up to the Colorado office at the beginning of August and will be opening operations there. He will work out of both offices so that he will be able to continue to serve his clients in California while growing the new office in Colorado.

Who do we contact for details? All contact details for Bernardini & Donovan team members will remain the same!

“It has been an exciting challenge to learn the differences between California and Colorado and to acquire a license to become a health insurance agent in Colorado.”—Michael Bernardini

Bernardini & Donovan is forever grateful to our clients who have made this growth possible during these uncertain times as we navigate through COVID-19! If you know businesses, individuals, or families seeking healthcare coverage in the state of Colorado, the B&D team welcomes all! Parker has easy access to the Denver metropolitan area and is known for its unique Western-Victorian downtown and its hometown feel and, now, high-quality B&D Colorado health insurance services! But the unique downtown and hometown environments are not the only reasons Bernardini & Donovan have expanded into Colorado.

“The B&D team will always remain thankful to those who support us. Now, we hope to earn an opportunity to help the friends and family in Colorado, too.”—Bernardini & Donovan

B&D: Expanding Our Health Insurance Services to Colorado

Health and medical insurance“Without the many years of loyal support from our thousands of clients in California, this opportunity to expand into the Colorado Health Insurance market wouldn’t be possible.”—Adrian Donovan, B&D Co-owner

Bernardini & Donovan Health Insurance Services is excited to announce that we will be expanding our services from California into Colorado with a second B&D office! This second office will be located in Douglas County in a town called Parker, an outlying district of the city of Denver.

“The California and Colorado health insurance markets are very similar,” says B&D Co-owner, Michael Bernardini.

We know this expanding our health insurance services into Colorado will naturally pose several questions from our clients, so the B&D team has compiled a brief list of potential questions and answers for your convenience!

What can our B&D Colorado clients expect in our new office?

You can expect to receive the same great service on the same products from group and business health insurance plans to individual family health insurance plans to Medicare coverage—except now we are providing all of these services to the people of Colorado.

Why expand the B&D business into Colorado?

With any business, company, or service, the goal is always to increase client retention, customer satisfaction, and services process. By moving to Colorado, the Bernardini team believes we will be able to focus on the growth of Bernardini & Donovan, including the new opportunities that come with serving a new market and reaching new clientele. Plus, Colorado is beautiful!

How was this expansion made possible?

“This is a huge opportunity for our company and I’m excited to be taking it,” Adrian Donovan says. “Michael and I have consistently looked at ways to expand our services.” So, with careful thought and consideration, we have decided that exploring the Colorado health insurance market is the right move to make! B&D co-owner Adrian Donovan will be moving to Colorado; he will be heading up to the Colorado office at the beginning of August and will be opening operations there. He will work out of both offices so that he will be able to continue to serve his clients in California while growing the new office in Colorado.

Who do we contact for details?

All contact details for Bernardini & Donovan team members will remain the same!

“It has been an exciting challenge to learn the differences between California and Colorado and to acquire a license to become a health insurance agent in Colorado.”—Michael Bernardini

Bernardini & Donovan is forever grateful to our clients who have made this growth possible during these uncertain times as we navigate through COVID-19! If you know businesses, individuals, or families seeking healthcare coverage in the state of Colorado, the B&D team welcomes all! Parker has easy access to the Denver metropolitan area and is known for its unique Western-Victorian downtown and its hometown feel and, now, high-quality B&D Colorado health insurance services! But the unique downtown and hometown environments are not the only reasons Bernardini & Donovan have expanded into Colorado.

“The B&D team will always remain thankful to those who support us. Now, we hope to earn an opportunity to help the friends and family in Colorado, too.”—Bernardini & Donovan

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