NDAA Expands FMLA in New Mexico

February 11th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

Families of military personnel, including National Guard and Reserve, received an expansion of Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA) leave to up to 26 weeks on January 28, 2008. 

On that date, President George W. Bush signed HR 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law, which included the provision to expand FMLA leave. The U. S. Department of Labor is defining details of the policy and will submit the finalized regulations to the White House for approval. When the Secretary of Labor publishes the regulations, the NDAA is technically in effect.

The law, however, allows eligible families to take the expanded FMLA as of the signing date, January 28, 2008. Employers are encouraged by the U. S. Department of Labor to “in good faith” grant the new leave immediately. FMLA procedures that are already in place, including substitution of paid time and medical certification, are suggested as methods for companies to manage the expanded FMLA.

Under the NDAA, the expanded FMLA leave allows a spouse, parent, daughter or son to take FMLA leave the care for an injured soldier, and for a soldier currently under medical treatment. Military personnel undergoing physical or mental therapy, receiving treatments on an outpatient basis, and those recuperating are examples. Caring for soldier on temporary disability lists because of serious illness or injury also comes under the provisions of the expanded FMLA.

Included in the NDAA is a provision for expanded FMLA to families of military personnel on deployment. Parents, spouses, daughters and sons can take FMLA leave up to 26 weeks to take care of anyone in the soldier’s charge. For example, a National Guardsmen is called to active duty, and he needs someone to care for his children. FMLA allows for one of his family to take expanded FMLA for up to 6 months to take care of the kids.

This law will be enforced by the U. S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

FMLA doesn’t apply to all employers, but to those with 50 or more employees within a 75 radius. The employee must meet certain eligibility requirements as well, usually determined by the number of hours worked for that company over the previous 6-12 months.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 (NDAA) was recently enacted to expand the FMLA (Family Medical and Leave Act). The FMLA was enacted in 1993 and the recent passage of the NDAA is the first expansion since the Act was passed. 

The FMLA, a federal law, broke ground as the first law to require employers to provide unpaid, job-protected leave to workers with a serious health issue. Before FMLA, each company made its own decision regarding an employee with ill health, and often simply fired those employees if they missed more than 2 or 3 weeks of work.

Upon return from FMLA leave, the law guarantees that employee a job. If the same position isn’t available, then the employer must provide that worker with a position similar in wages, working conditions and benefits.

Eligible companies can provide, under FMLA, up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees for reasons other than the employee’s own health. Caring for a newborn, or a newly adopted child, or a newly fostered child is covered by FMLA. Also, the worker can charge leave to FMLA to care for an ill family member, defined as spouse, parent or child.

Over 10 states have enacted laws to expand FMLA coverage. Some provide FMLA to companies with fewer employees. Other states provide increased benefits. In some of these states, the definition of family member has been amended to include in-laws and grandparents.

How the recent passage of the NDAA 2008 will affect these parameters of the FMLA is still unclear. The U. S. Department of Labor is currently finalizing the regulations and will publish the results.

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New Mexico Employee Benefit

May 30th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

Many employers provide mental health coverage as a part of the healthcare plans for their employees, as New Mexico employee benefit. But there is also a great number of employees who do not. If an employer decides not to provide mental health coverage, it is his own personal choice since there is no law that obliges him to do so. But if an employer decides to provide it, he has to observe a number of regulations, particularly the Mental Health Parity Act or MHPA.

Before 1996, an employer who chose to provide mental health coverage to his employees as a part of their group insurance plans had the freedom to decide whatever amount he wanted to designate to this end. Suppose, the health plan had a provision for up to a hundred thousand dollars for surgery, it could have a total of a measly thousand dollars’ provision for mental health. But it all changed by enactment of MHPA.

The Mental Health Parity Act was passed in 1996 with a provision to expire on September 30, 2001. But it has been amended no less than 5 times, extending it further. In February 2007, it was extended up to December 31, 2007. One would be correct in thinking that this law would undergo further extensions and remain in effect for some time to come. The MHPA requires that mental health treatments must receive parity with other types of treatment. In simpler terms, this law requires that any group health insurance plan that funds mental health treatment, cover it at the same level as other medical treatments, including surgery.

A large number of American citizens with insurance are covered by employee benefit plans. The federal government has a dedicated agency to enforce the laws regarding employee benefits and pension plans. It is known as the Employee Benefits Security Administration, or EBSA. More than 150 million workers are covered under EBSA plans. The current name reflects the reality that the agency now handles as many violations of law concerning health care as pensions.

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New Mexico FMLA

May 24th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

While some states have chosen to create their own FMLA plan, sometimes slightly different, versions of the Family and Medical Leave Act, New Mexico abides by the federal FMLA program.

The New Mexico Family and Medical Leave Act is designed for just those occasions when family circumstances become overwhelming. It may be because there’s been an accident or serious health problem in the immediate family. Perhaps there’s a birth, or an adoption. Maybe a foster child is coming into the home.

In the season of Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day it’s natural to think about family. It’s also a good time to think again about the New Mexico FMLA law. The New Mexico Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is designed to help you when you need to turn your focus away from work for a while and direct your attention to the needs of your loved ones.

Under the conditions in the New Mexico and New Mexico program, a worker may get up to 12 weeks a year of unpaid leave. But in order to make it happen, both the employer and the employee have certain obligations they must fulfill. For example, the employer is urged to notify an employee immediately regarding leave status and describe exactly how that worker may go about keeping in touch with the workplace to insure the security of the job. The employee, on the other hand, must follow up on the employer’s instructions and abide by deadlines. It’s important to maintain an ongoing relationship with the employer.

Workplace medical coverage premiums are paid by payroll deductions. What happen when a worker is on unpaid leave? The employer pays the premium and declares it an advance on the worker’s future paychecks. When returning to work, the payroll deductions during the unpaid leave are taken from the paycheck.

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New Mexico Employee Benefit

May 24th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

New Mexico employee benefit plans have been impacted by a recent ruling. This ruling extends the Mental Health Parity Act, also know as MHPA, through the end of 2007. Originally, the MHPA bill, which was signed into law in 1996, was supposed to end on September 30, 2001. Instead of expiring, this bill has been extended 5 times over the years.

MHPA says that under group health insurance coverage, mental health coverage cannot have a lower payment limit than that one used for medical treatments and surgery.  The reason this law is important is that in the past, an insurance company might set a limit for mental health treatments of $15,000 while setting the surgery benefit limit at $250,000.

Because of MHPA, lifetime and annual benefit caps cannot be lower for mental health treatments than they are for other types of medical treatments and surgery. The covered mental health treatments may include visits to licensed therapists, psychiatrists, and psychologists. If necessary, a stay in a rehab facility to treat drug or alcohol dependency also should be covered. In addition, in the case of schizophrenia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments, a stay in a mental hospital should be covered.

Not all group health insurance plans cover mental health treatments, and this law does not require them to do so. Instead, this law states that if mental health treatments are covered by the group health insurance plan, then the plan should have the same limit for mental health treatments that it has for other treatments.

Employers need to be aware of the ruling regarding MHPA. This ruling was made by the US Employee Benefits Security Administration, also known as EBSA. EBSA is the federal agency in charge of making sure businesses comply with pension and health insurance laws. Most US businesses are covered by the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

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New Mexico Employee Benefit

May 9th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

A law with an enormous impact on New Mexico employee benefit plans, has been extended through December 31, 2007.The Mental Health Parity Act has just received a new lease on life. The MHPA is a law requiring that benefit limits on mental health care coverage must equal the limits on benefits for medical and surgical procedures.

The ruling by the EBSA or Employee Benefits Security Administration involves about 150 million employees throughout the U.S. The EBSA covers a significant majority of businesses nationwide. Its job is to monitor group health insurance plans and guarantee that they comply with any laws covering health insurance and pensions.

The law does not demand that employers’ health plans must cover mental health – only that if a plan has mental health coverage, it should be on a par with surgical or other medical treatments. The payment limits must be the same.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration, or EBSA, issued the ruling. The agency is the watchdog group guaranteeing adherence to health insurance and pension law compliance.

The law was originally enacted in 1996, and through a “sunset clause” expired on September 31 of 2001. Five amendments have extended that expiration date since then. The new ruling received little attention when it was released recently.

Annual caps on benefit amounts must be equal. In other words, mental health coverage must be the same as the limits – whether lifetime or annual – of other treatments. The coverage may not put a lower lid on mental health coverage. For example, before the advent of the law, a plan could clamp a lifetime benefit limit of a quarter of a million dollars for medical/surgical treatment, but just $15,000 for mental health care. Under the MHPA, however, any plan putting a $250,000 lid on medical care must put the same among on mental health treatment.

The law puts the same restrictions on annual caps of benefits. In short, mental health coverage must equal the lifetime or annual caps for treatment such as surgery or other medical work.

2 Comments >> Posted in Employee Benefits,Insurance Benefits,Medical,New Mexico

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