Mercer Select US - Ohio mandates cafeteria plan offer; delays for federal approval

Using "Acting as"

The "Acting as" feature on Mercer Select allows Mercer employees to see Select in the same way as Mercer clients and contacts who are members of one or more of the Select offerings. Simply use the pulldown menu on the top of every Mercer Select page, choose which of the common membership roles you want to play, and view the content in the same way as a member of that offering (or group of offerings).

Like some Mercer Select members, you may encounter content that is available only to certain membership offerings. In this case, you will be directed to a screen with a message explaining what steps you can take to view the content. As a Mercer employee, all you'll have to do is switch your role back to the Acting as Consultant role to see the content.

If your clients and contacts encounter Select content they can't access, you may be able to give them access by making them members of additional Select membership offerings. Please contact Select customer service for help.

You can gain access to all Mercer Select content - including internal-only content - by setting your "Acting as" role to "Consultant."

For an overview of Mercer Select and its membership offerings, go to our Overview.

Ohio mandates cafeteria plan offer; delays for federal approval

Ohio employers with 10 or more employees will be required to offer uninsured employees the opportunity to purchase coverage on a pre-tax basis through a section 125 cafeteria plan under a new law (HB 1). The mandate will take effect incrementally, beginning Jan. 1, 2011, for employers with 500 or more employees; July 1, 2011, for employers with 150-500 employees; and Jan. 1, 2012, for employers with fewer employees, but these effective dates will be delayed if regulations aren't issued by July 1, 2010. Further, the Ohio Department of Insurance can't issue regulations until it receives approval from federal regulators and confirmation that the mandate and any related rules won't conflict with ERISA, HIPAA or COBRA. The law doesn't require employers to provide benefits to employees or specify what plans employees could purchase. It also doesn't address the employer's role in remitting premiums for a number of disparate individual policies. State regulators provided a consumer FAQ, but didn't clarify this issue. (Select News, 10 Aug 2009)

Ohio mandates cafeteria plan offer; delays for federal approval

Mercer Offerings