When you own a company, it’s tempting to ignore the boring paperwork in order to focus on the cool products or services that you produce. However, doing so could quickly get you into trouble that could shut down your business.
Employers are required to provide legally compliant notices and procedures to employees, protect any confidential employee information, and file timely paperwork with the federal government. These regulations ensure that your team is fully informed of their rights to continue to benefit from group coverage.
Our team can help you stay in compliance, and operating safely, by focusing specifically on keeping up to date on behalf of your company with the:
- Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (COBRA)
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
In COBRA Administration, landmines are the regulatory details that could put a company into court facing large fines. Non-compliance is costly and detrimental to an employer. It’s not uncommon for a lawsuit to cost thousands of dollars just for missing one of the many COBRA filing deadlines. Many businesses drown in the beginning years due to negligent fees that could have been avoided.
By outsourcing the administration of COBRA benefits and HIPAA regulation to our team at OnMarket Insurance Associates, we can guarantee your entire operation is not only protected by a comprehensive insurance plan, but also in full compliance with federal laws and regulations.
Any questions?
Is it more expensive to use your services to keep us compliant rather than using my own staff?
Actually quite the opposite, there is considerable cost savings in using our services over performing COBRA Administration in-house. There is a lot to track, file, post, and provide on behalf of your employees. Our COBRA service can help alleviate drains on a company’s internal resources caused by COBRA administration and recordkeeping.
What is an example of a HIPAA violation that we could be fined for?
Let’s say that someone in your HR department saw some medical information for one of your employees and knowingly went and told someone else in the company what they had learned. This abuse of information could cost your company tens of thousands of dollars in fines and your HR employee could be looking at jail time. Wouldn’t it just be best to avoid those risks?
Have there been a lot of HIPAA violations? What is the biggest fine ever given?
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, between 2003 and 2013 they received 91,000 complaints of HIPAA violations, in which 22,000 led to some sort of punishment. The most significant breach of protected information and other HIPAA violations goes to:
Largest fine of $4.3 million levied against Cignet Health of Maryland in 2010 for ignoring several patients’ requests to obtain copies of their own records and repeated ignoring of federal officials’ inquiries into their operations.
