| Guest blog content provided to Q4iNetwork Consultants by the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) |
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Ask anyone to choose a root canal or an IRS audit and the choice will be no surprise – root canal. Many employers would choose a root canal over a Department of Labor (DOL) health plan audit, too.
A DOL health plan audit can be triggered by a complaint or luck! In any event, notice of a DOL health plan audit calls for immediate attention from the employer.
The scope of documents that the DOL can review is broad, in large part due to the DOL’s responsibility to enforce a number of complex laws including:
- ERISA
- COBRA
- HIPAA
- PPACA
In fact, the appendix to one DOL audit request listed 26 items for the employer to provide. Employers generally have 30 days to assemble the documentation requested for the audit.
If this information sounds like a really bad dream, the DOL has provided a lifeline.
This lifeline is the self-compliance tool that is intended to help employers assess whether their plans are in compliance with the various laws. As importantly, assembling the documentation called for by the compliance tool would go a long way to making a health plan audit request more manageable.
Warning, this tool is comprehensive with 68 pages covering 93 questions!
Which brings back the idea of choices. Which is preferable, assembling the documents called for in the self audit over a period of weeks or months or scrambling when a DOL auditor is knocking on the door?
Photo by nms-enns0
