More than 400 businesses and organizations belong to the Chamber to receive benefits and support efforts to strengthen their businesses and our region. Increased membership allows us to offer additional programs and benefits, have a stronger voice in advocacy and be involved in more activities and initiatives in our communities. The Chamber welcomes its newest member, eXp Realty, to help us fulfill our mission.

eXp Realty was founded in 2009 as the first cloud-based real estate brokerage and currently has locations and agents in all 50 states as well as Canada. Locally, the first eXp Realty location was established earlier this year in Berwick by local veteran realtor Marc Nespoli, and has grown to a few handfuls of agents. eXp Realty – Central Susquehanna Valley is located at 106 East Front St., Berwick, and can be reached at 888-397-7352 or visit their Facebook page. 

Two meetings held recently in Bloomsburg were organized to bring people together to strengthen communities in the region. Representatives of the Town of Bloomsburg introduced themselves and explained their job responsibilities at a meeting held at the Fire Hall in an effort to improve the dialogue with residents and businesspeople. At a public meeting held at The Greenly Center downtown, an individual with two decades of experience as a professional engineer and land-use planner talked about the value of reinvesting in the heart of a community, rather than promote urban sprawl. Both meetings were held the evening of Nov. 7.

With a number of new people in positions with the Town, representatives felt it a good time to host a public meeting to meet with residents and businesspeople. Mayor Bill Kreisher introduced staff members from Town Hall, Public Works, the Fire Department, Police Department, and the Airport, as well as Town Council members. Following brief remarks by each individual, attendees had the opportunity to ask specific questions. A number of the Town’s representatives expressed a desire to make Bloomsburg more business friendly.

Charles Marohn, author of the book Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity, spoke about the value of reinvesting in communities recently at The Greenly Center in downtown Bloomsburg.

Later that evening, Charles Marohn spoke to a full room at The Greenly Center about the economic benefits of concentrating business and residential development within established towns and boroughs. Marohn, who recently wrote the book Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity, provided numerous examples from around the country where the centers of communities provide the highest economic benefit compared to surrounding areas with the lowest costs for public services. Following World War II, development expanded rapidly into suburban and rural areas, resulting in significantly higher costs for infrastructure including roads, water, and sewer service. He encourages communities to make it easier for entrepreneurs to establish and grow small businesses and for people to build affordable housing. Business and community leaders, including the Chamber, will be having follow up discussions on Marohn’s presentation to discuss applications in our area.

The meeting at The Greenly Center was organized by The Exchange and sponsored by DRIVE, Downtown Bloomsburg, Inc., the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation, the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau, the United Way of Columbia and Montour County, and Community Strategies Group.

From ChamberChoice & Smart Business 

For business owners today, the continual rise in group health insurance premiums has put a strain on their employee benefits budget, forcing them to explore less traditional means of cost containment.

“Most have already raised deductibles and cost-sharing, implemented high deductible plans and tax advantaged savings accounts and increased employee cost sharing. As a result, many insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs) have answered by creating new ways for groups of almost all sizes to take advantage of funding alternatives as a way to potentially reduce their benefits cost,” says Domenic Pascucci, consultant at JRG Advisors.

Smart Business spoke with Pascucci about the funding options that may be beneficial for you to consider, whether you own a business with 25, 250 or 2,500 employees.

What has caused the growth of funding alternatives?

Not too long ago, only the largest groups would stray from a fully funded insurance program to one that they self-funded.

If a company had fewer than 1,000 employees back in the 1970s, they probably wouldn’t even think about self-funding their medical insurance plan. But since then, and especially in the past several years with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, many funding options have emerged. This allows nearly any business owner with more than 10 to 25 employees to transition to an alternative funding arrangement, based on their financial capabilities, benefit objectives, employee demographics and utilization history.

What are these options and how do they work?

Group medical plan funding, in general, can either be fully insured or self-insured. A fully insured program provides insurance with the least amount of risk to the employer. With a fully insured program, the insurance company evaluates the risk and sets a premium level. The customer is not expected to pay the difference to make the carrier whole if its claims utilization is more than the carrier expected or get any refund of premiums paid if the claims utilization is less than expected.

At the other side of the risk spectrum are self-insured programs. A self-funded health care program is one where an employer assumes the financial risk for providing health care benefits to its employees. Conceptually, the employer utilizes a TPA and establishes a ‘bank account’ to pay each claim from its own funds as they are incurred. Other than paying the TPA a fee for its role in administering the claims adjudication, providing utilization reviews and for ‘renting’ the TPA’s negotiated discounts with a particular carrier, the employer’s risk is directly tied to the claims experience of the employees and their dependents. Large, unexpected ‘shock’ claims adversely affect such consistency, and for this, a group usually obtains stop-loss protection, limiting the impact of these large claims. The advantage of self-funding is more control over plan design, improved cash flow and the avoidance of certain taxes imposed on the employer.

In between fully insured and self-insured plans are level funding arrangements. Level funding is a variation of self-funding that addresses a chief concern for employers — the variability of cash flow from month to month that they might experience on a traditional self-funded arrangement. In level funding, the TPA’s underwriting department sets a fixed rate that the customer pays each month (along with any necessary administrative fees), greatly assisting the company in its budgeting effort since any monthly claim spikes are eliminated. Additionally, different insurance carriers and TPAs in different regions of the country have developed other variations of self-insured arrangements that may be appealing to individual businesses.

The decision to change funding to one of these arrangements should be evaluated carefully with assistance from an experienced benefits professional, as there are nuances among each variation that might work out to be an advantage or disadvantage for any particular customer. Although traditionally limited to larger groups, recent changes and safeguards have allowed groups with as few as 25 employees to consider self-insurance or one of its modified versions.

From PPL Electric Utilities

PPL Electric Utilities has received the 2019 Achievement Award from the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (AEIC) for its groundbreaking, innovative technology that safely and automatically cuts power to downed power lines.

The award was presented Friday, Oct. 11, at AEIC’s annual meeting.

“Downed power lines may ultimately be unavoidable for an electric utility, but PPL has developed and is implementing this innovative technology to substantially cut the odds that such an event will have tragic results for its employees and the public,” said PPL Electric Utilities President Greg Dudkin. “Nothing is more important than safety.”

During a windstorm in late February 2019, PPL recorded the first successful operation of the new system, powering off a line that came down in a remote, wooded area. By the end of this year, PPL expects to have the new technology in place in about 1,500 locations across its service territory, wherever protective relays are involved.

Police officers, firefighters and other first responders can often be the first to encounter downed lines after motor vehicle accidents or during storms. PPL’s new tool will greatly enhance the safety operations of the power grid, keeping those people and PPL line workers safer.

“This really is a game changer,” Dudkin said. “Without being able to detect a downed wire and quickly de-energize it, danger still exists. We’re extremely proud to have successfully implemented this system and of all those involved in its development.”

PPL was able to build upon Schweitzer Electric Laboratories ArcSense™ downed wire detection technology already on its system. PPL engineers developed an algorithm that worked with ArcSense to safely and automatically cut power to that downed wire. PPL is currently patenting the automatic power-cutting technology.

The AEIC Achievement Awards are presented annually to an individual or groups of individuals from AEIC member companies who have clearly provided significant contributions to advancing the operations of the electric energy industry.

From PA Chamber of Business & Industry

Two PA Chamber supported bills were advanced by the Senate Labor and Industry Committee last week.

House Bill 68 would extend the period of time Pennsylvania employers have to apply for relief from charges in the Unemployment Compensation system.  Under the current system, when a worker is eligible for UC benefits, their base-year employer is “charged” for those benefits.  These charges are then factored into an employer’s experience-based tax rate.  The law recognizes there are situations in which it may not be fair to charge an employer for benefits paid to a specific worker.  In these cases, employers are given a 15 day window to request relief from charges.  This legislation extends the window for an employer to request relief from charges from 15 to 21 days, giving the employer extra time to navigate the sometimes complex request process.  The bill was unanimously approved by the committee.

Another bill to be considered by the committee last week was S.B. 922, legislation that would clarify language in the Workers’ Compensation Act as it relates to subrogation rights.  A long-standing principle of workers’ compensation has been the right of employers to be reimbursed for certain expenses if a third party is found liable for the injury.  Courts have upheld so-called subrogation rights in order to hold negligent third-parties accountable, mitigate the impact on non-negligent employers and prevent double recovery by claimants.  Subrogation has included allowing employers to offset future wage-loss and medical costs if the third party recovery exceeds the compensation paid by employer. However, in the 2018 Whitmoyer decision, the PA Supreme Court found that the ability to offset future costs only applied to wage-loss benefits, not medical expenses.  This legislation makes a technical change to address the Court’s concern.  The bill was approved on a 6 to 4 party line vote. 

The PA Chamber sent a memo in support of both bills prior to the committee votes. 

• Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital offers its annual Veterans Day dinner to all U.S. veterans on tonight, Nov. 6 at the GBH dining room. This meal is complimentary for all veterans and one guest. Due to limited seating, however, reservations are required. There are four seatings at 3, 4, 5 and 6 p.m. To reserve your spot, call 570-387-2145. See the flyer for additional information and a menu. 

• LIFE Geisinger will hold its annual Open House on Tuesday, Nov. 12, from 3-6 p.m., at its location at 1100 Spruce St., Kulpmont. There will be light refreshments, door prizes and tours of the facility. LIFE Geisinger is a unique and innovative program for older adults designed to give them the support they need and continue living at home, and attendees will be able to learn more about the program, eligibility guidelines and see if it could be an option for them or a loved one. See the flyer for additional details and to RSVP. 

• For their service project this year, Life Skills students at Liberty Valley Intermediate School in the Danville Area School District will be making no-sew tie blankets and donating them to people in need. In support of this project, the program is looking for donations of fleece blanket fabric or money to purchase fabric. Any donation would be greatly appreciated and will go directly toward the student making blankets for the community. All donors will be recognized on a card that will be given to the community along with the blanket. If interested in donating for this project, please submit any donations by Friday, Nov. 15. Donations can be mailed to or dropped off at the school, located at 175 Liberty Valley Rd., Danville. Donations can also be picked up by calling Elise Truax at 570-271-3268, ext. 3675. For additional information, please see the letter. 

From PA Chamber of Business & Industry

Any employer potentially impacted by this proposal is encouraged to submit comments.  This may be your last opportunity to express concerns and influence the process.

Background

The PA Department of Labor and Industry is planning to advance a massive expansion to overtime eligibility by significantly increasing the salary for exempt status and imposing regular increases.  

The Department first released this proposal in 2018 and hundreds of employers submitted comments with concerns over cost increases and being forced to shift employees from salary to hourly in order to track hours and ensure they do not exceed 40 in a week.  Many predicted harm to employee morale and workplace culture if employees are required to clock in and out and lose the flexibility and stability that comes with earning a salary. The same concerns were raised in response to a similar proposal from President Obama, which a judge ultimately struck down.

The Independent Regulatory Review Commission is accepting comments through November 18 and will meet on November 21 to either approve or reject the proposal.

If you are concerned with this proposal, now may be the last opportunity to have your voice heard.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A LETTER TO IRRC

For more information or questions, contact Alex Halper at 717-720-5471 or email.

Attendees had an opportunity to take a tour of Berwick Hospital Center and see the various updates that have been made to the facility over the last year, as well as meet and talk with hospital administration, physicians and staff during October’s second Business After Hours, held on Oct. 23 at the hospital. 

Several members of the public also stopped in with their children to give them a chance to explore an ambulance, which parked outside during the event. Each child also went home with some candy, and with the event being held the same night as the Berwick Halloween parade, it provided a perfect activity for before the parade. 

Business After Hours provide regular opportunities to build business relationships while learning about the services offered by other Chamber members. The next Business After Hours, and the final one of 2019, will be held at Pretty Petals & Gifts by Susan, located at 158 East 9th St., Bloomsburg, on Wednesday, Nov. 20, from 4:30-6:30 p.m.   

From rabbittransit

• Plan Ahead: Extreme winter weather may cause delays in paratransit service, so please plan ahead and allow extra time for travel. This is especially important if you’re making a new trip or one you are not completely familiar with. If you need to update a standing ride or cancel a trip, call our Customer Call Center at 1-800-632-9063.
• Dress Warmly: Remember to dress for winter conditions. Vehicles will become cold during the loading and unloading process.
• Step Carefully: Bus floors and steps become slippery from snow & ice. Kick the snow from your shoes before stepping on board. Use the handrails and take your time. Always maintain three points of contact—one hand and two feet or two hands and one foot—when boarding the bus.
• Stay Informed: In case of inclement weather, rabbittransit may have delays. Sign up for Rider Alerts to receive an email or text message about unexpected service changes. Visit rabbittransit.org to sign up today.

From ChamberChoice 

Note: This is Part 2 of an article on medical loss ratios (MLR). See Part 1.

As a reminder, insurance carriers are required to satisfy certain medical loss ratio (“MLR”) thresholds. This generally means that for every dollar of premium a carrier collects with respect to a major medical plan, it should spend 85 cents in the large group market (80 cents in the small group market) on medical care and activities to improve health care quality.

If these thresholds are not satisfied, rebates are available to employers in the form of a premium credit or check. 

If a rebate is available, carriers were required to distribute MLR checks to employers by September 30, 2019. 

Importantly, employers must distribute any amounts attributed to employee contributions to employees and handle the tax consequences (if any).

This does not apply to self-funded plans.

The rules around rebates are complex and require careful review with ERISA counsel. Among other things, an employer receiving a rebate as a policy holder will need to determine:
• who receives a rebate (e.g., current participants v. former participants);
• the form of the rebate (e.g., premium reduction v. cash distribution);
• the tax impacts of any such rebate (on both the employer and participants receiving the rebate); and 
• what, if any, communication to provide participants regarding the rebate.

The following questions and answers summarize information regarding what employer action may be necessary.

When Do Rebates Need to Be Made to Participants?
As soon as possible following receipt and, in all cases, within 3 months of receipt.

What is the Form of Rebate to Participants?
There is no one way to determine this, but guidance has been provided to aid employers.

Reductions in future premiums for current participants is probably the best method.

If proceeds are to be paid to participants in cash, the DOL is likely to require that payments go to those who participated in the plan at the time the proceeds were “generated,” which may include former employees. An option that may be easier to administer is to keep the proceeds in the plan and provide a “premium holiday” (suspension of required premiums) or a reduction in the amount of employee-paid premiums.

The interim final regulations for non-ERISA governmental plans require that rebates be used to reduce premiums for all health plan options for subscribers covered when the rebate is received, to reduce premiums for current subscribers to the option receiving the rebate, or as a cash refund to current subscribers in the option receiving the rebate. In each case, the regulations allow the rebate to be allocated evenly or in proportion to actual contributions to premiums. Note that the rebate is to be used to reduce premiums for (or pay refunds to) employees enrolled during the year in which the rebate is actually paid (rather than the MLR reporting year on which the rebate was calculated).

To recap, here are some options to consider:
• Reduce future premiums for current plan participants. This is administratively easy with limited tax issues with respect to participants.
• Cash payments to current participants. This is administratively burdensome and results in tax consequences to participants.
• Cash payments to former participants. This is administratively burdensome and results in tax consequences to former participants.

The employer could also consider, with counsel, whether providing benefit enhancements or payment of reasonable plan expenses would be considered permissible.

What are the Federal Tax Implications to Employees?

Pre-Tax Premium Payments
When employees pay their portion of the premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage on a pre-tax basis under a cafeteria plan, MLR rebates will be subject to federal income tax and wages. Briefly:
• For rebates that are distributed as a reduction in premium (thus reducing an individual’s pre-tax premium payment during the year), there is a corresponding increase to the employee’s taxable salary that is also wages taxable for employment tax purposes.
• Rebates that are distributed as cash will result in an increase in taxable income that is also wages subject to employment taxes.

The result is the same regardless of whether the MLR rebates are provided only to employees participating in the plan both in the year employees paid the premiums being rebated and the year in which the MLR rebates are paid, or to all employees participating in the plan during the year the MLR rebates are paid (even if some employees did not participate in the plan during the year to which the rebate applies.)

After-Tax Premium Payments
When employees pay their portion of the premiums on an after-tax basis, MLR rebates generally are not subject to federal income tax or employment taxes. This applies when the rebate is provided as a reduction in premiums or as a cash. The result is the same regardless of whether the MLR rebates are provided only to employees participating in the plan both in the year employees paid the premiums being rebated and the year in which the MLR rebates are paid, or to all employees participating in the plan during the year the MLR rebates are paid (even if some employees did not participate in the plan during the year to which the rebate applies.)

What are the Tax Implications to Employers?
Employers should review the tax implications of a rebate with tax advisors. Generally, amounts used for benefits (e.g., to pay premiums with respect to insured plans) should not be taxable.

When Employees Pay Premiums on a Pre-Tax Basis, Does Reducing a Participant’s Premiums Mid-Year Allow Them to Make Election Changes?
Probably not.

If employee contributions are paid on a pre-tax basis and there is a mid-year rate change, the cafeteria plan must determine whether such a change is permitted under the Section 125 rules.

If the plan incorporates the permitted election change rules, the relevant issue is whether this change in cost is permitted under the regulations.
• If there is an insignificant decrease, there can be an automatic adjustment.
• If there is a significant decrease, employees may make a corresponding change including commencing participation in the cafeteria plan for the first time for the option with a decrease in cost.

Generally, MLR rebates are expected to be fairly low dollar amounts and may not rise to the level of a significant change. Employers should consider either taking the position that the cost change is insignificant or that the cost change is significant and the “corresponding change” is to simply allow the reduction or increase. The cafeteria plan document should be consistent with the employer’s position.