Seminar on PPACA Assessable Payments From New England Employee Benefits Council, Dec. 20, Boston, Features Longfellow Benefits and Mintz Levin Experts

WALTHAM, MA--(Marketwire - Dec 9, 2011) - A seminar, "Employer Responsibility: Doing the Math on Assessable Payments Under PPACA," will be held in Boston December 20. It is sponsored by the New England Employee Benefits Council (NEEBC), which advances knowledge and education in employee benefits.

Alden Bianchi, chair of the compensation and benefits practice at the law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., and Patrick Haraden, a principal in the Boston-based employee benefits consulting firm Longfellow Benefits, will lead the discussion.

One of the most important provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the 2014 mandate -- referred to as "employer shared responsibility rules" -- under which large employers whose low-income employees are eligible for premium tax subsidies from state-based insurance exchanges are subject to penalties (or "assessable payments").

Following a brief explanation of how the employer shared responsibility rules work, the program will examine common scenarios to determine what strategies are more favorable and under what circumstances. Will PPACA cause employers to drop their group health plans -- as some have suggested -- thereby overburdening state-based health insurance exchanges? Or will employer-based plans remain the norm? What do the numbers say? And what other forces will drive the decision?

The results will surprise many.

The program will be held at Mintz Levin, 38th Floor, One Financial Center, Boston, noon to 2 p.m. More information and registration is available at http://neebc.org/programs/dec2011.php.

Serving organizations in New England and nationally, Longfellow Benefits provides employee benefits, retirement plans and executive benefits. The firm's technical depth, breadth of expertise, infrastructure, nimbleness, and service delivery help employers optimize each benefits dollar. Longfellow Benefits has been named to Boston Business Journal's Best Places to Work six years in a row. For more information, visit www.lf-ben.com or call 617-351-6000.

NEEBC, Waltham, Mass., is a nonprofit with 1,400 members, including employers and providers of benefits consulting and services throughout New England. NEEBC's monthly educational programs include presentations by guest speakers on topics of interest to the benefits community. Members have the opportunity to discuss ideas, become informed about new developments in the field and network with peers. Web: www.neebc.org.