At EBS Capstone we will help you stay compliant with government regulations as they relate to welfare benefit plans.

Many of our clients are small and mid-sized businesses that need employees to be multi-functional. In the small business environment, human resource functions are often handled by managers, financial executives, and others who may have limited training in issues related to employee benefits. Few have spare time to master the ocean of information necessary to an understanding of how to administer employee benefits in compliance with state and federal regulations.

We feel it is our job to provide support to our clients in all areas of compliance. We do this by staying abreast of regulatory issues as they relate to employee welfare benefits. These areas are primarily ERISA, COBRA. HIPAA, and Sec. 125.

EBS clients receive a compliance audit - a summary of the most important regulatory principles to observe, and a compliance checklist, which we review with you. If we find areas where your company needs to make adjustments, we help you with tools to make that happen.

We are also available to respond to your day to day questions. Often, employers have a basic understanding of the big picture ("I understand that under HIPAA, employers are not allowed access to health information"), but trip over the administrative details ("So how do I handle the medical information I need to administer short-term disability?").

Some of the questions we typically hear:

• I have a former employee who's on COBRA with his spouse. He's going to turn 65 next month. Can I terminate his COBRA coverage? What about the spouse's coverage?
• How do I impute income for group term life insurance? Do I have to impute income for health coverage for a domestic partner? How about for a same sex spouse?
• Do I need to complete a Form 5500? How do I do it?
• I have an employee who wants to drop his health coverage mid year and go on his wife's plan... is he allowed to do that?
• My business is in Massachusetts, but I have an employee in California who's going to terminate employment. Do I offer him 18 months of continuation as required by federal COBRA law or 36 months of continuation as required by Cal-COBRA law?

Such questions pop up all the time. Often the answers are readily available, if you know where to look. We understand that you don't have time to do regulatory research or a budget for an in-house legal department. Whenever possible, we do the research for you. We don't provide legal advice. Occasionally, legal advice is needed; when it is, we tell you.