Central Penn Benefits

Angela D. Mayhew
VP Marketing, Training & Business Development
2400 Pleasant Valley Rd, York PA 17402
717-840-4981 .240
717-801-4609 FAX

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Tell us about the history of your business. When did your company begin? How has the company changed and grown since its beginning?

Heritage Valley Federal Credit Union was originally chartered in 1935 to serve the employees of the York Ice and Machinery Company. Throughout the years, due to changes that enabled us to expand our field of membership, we began to offer our services to well over 200 York County companies, their employees and immediate family members. In recent years we made a strategic decision to change to a community charter. Needless to say we were very excited to move in this direction, this change literally opened the doors for us to begin offering our low cost deposit and loan products to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in York County!

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What is the primary mission for your company, clients, and community?

We certainly strive to stand by our mission to be a “progressive financial cooperative committed to the basic credit union philosophy: Not for profit, not for charity, but for service.”

We continue to enhance our full range of financial services while maintaining a constant awareness to our members changing financial needs. Our desire is to become the primary financial institution for our membership while promoting financial stability and growth.

We realize that we cover a large demographic area since Heritage Valley is positioned to serve anyone that lives, works, worships or goes to school in York County. Convenience is a high priority for our members that are looking for a primary financial institution that will meet their banking needs. Therefore, not only do we provide 24/7 services through our website, www.heritagevalleyfcu.org, we also have two current full-service locations. Our Kings Mill Road office is located on the west end of York right off Richland Avenue. The Pleasant Valley Road office is our Main Office and it is located on the east end of York close to the Galleria Mall, on what is often referred to as “Memory Lane Extended,” just beyond Whiteford Road. We are pleased to increase our presence in the community by opening our third location in early 2011; our Cape Horn Road office will be located in the southern end of York County next to the new Rutter’s Farm Store on Route 24.

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Are there any services that you offer which the community may not know about, but should? What are they?

Yes, at Heritage Valley we are always reevaluating our products to ensure they are meeting the needs of our members. A few specific services that come to mind would be our Instant Issue Debit Card. This service puts the convenience of our plastic card in the hands of our members instantly. There is no need to wait 7-10 days for your card to be delivered in the mail; you walk into the branch, request your PIN and walk out minutes later with your ATM or Debit Card in your wallet!

With the recent government changes to the student loan program, Heritage Valley felt it was important to provide a local avenue for those heading off to college. Many times scholarships and financial aid just aren’t enough, so that is where we come in. We can provide you with a line of credit to fill the gaps that federal funding can leave behind. Unlike for-profit lenders, Heritage Valley exists only to serve the best interests of our members. This allows us to offer lower rates and fees than other, more traditional “private” lenders. The most important differences that we can offer with our private student loans is zero origination fees, more flexible repayment terms and lower overall rates.

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How does your business give back to the community?

This year we are excited to be celebrating our 75th Anniversary of providing top-quality financial services to our members. Over the years Heritage Valley’s employees have always understood the importance of giving back to our community; this belief extends beyond the basic financial needs.

Due to our relationship and reputation with local businesses we were asked in 2009 to be the official sponsor of the York Revolution’s “Pink Jersey Days” and again in 2010 for the “Blue Jersey Days”, proceeds benefited the York Cancer Center and York SPCA respectfully. Our employees also make a donation each month to participate in our “Casual for a Cause” charity fundraiser, with Heritage Valley matching dollar for dollar. This program raises awareness and money for four local non-profit organizations each year. We also recognize the continued need for blood in our local community so we do our part by partnering with the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank during our annual blood drives in January and July.

During the past eight years I have had the rewarding opportunity of volunteering my time to teach financial literacy and be a positive role model to several of our elementary classrooms by participating with Junior Achievement. Over the years we’ve found that adult seminars are a terrific way for us to reach out to those in the community looking for answers to specific financial needs; we’ve offered seminars on protecting yourself against various forms of fraud, understanding the importance of managing your money to avoid getting in over your head with debt. As well as, seminars on clarifying the whole first-time home buying experience, which we realize can be quite overwhelming. We also offer advice on how to make your biggest investment; your home, work best for you. I’m happy to say these seminars are appreciated and well attended.

This is just a small sampling of Heritage Valley’s desire to reach out to the members and businesses of our community by sponsoring programs and making donations that reinforce our philosophy of creating ”a positive experience for you and your money”.

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When you are not working what do you like to do?

Relaxing and having a good time with family and friends is always a favorite way to pass the time! Going on vacation to Outer Banks, NC is something my two boys and I enjoy doing together each year. I am also very involved in my church and have had the privilege of being our Youth Director for the past eight years. Our youth are very dedicated and full of ambition; their positive energy gives us the ability to go on mission trips to various cities and small towns across the United States each year. It is a very fulfilling experience for the youth and leaders and has brought us closer to our faith and each other. It’s a way for us to give back to these communities, even if it’s only for one week. We realize we will probably never see these people ever again, yet we value the chance to touch the lives of many people and make a difference. It’s interesting how my professional and personal life have overlapped; the credit union’s philosophy is “people helping people”. I believe in taking action, however small, however insignificant you think it could be. We live in a world where one person, one business, can definitely have a positive impact, and many people, many businesses, doing their part can fuel hope, change minds and improve the world for all of us.

In June, IRS, EBSA and HHS issued a “grandfather” interim final rule that sharply limited benefit reductions or consumer cost increases that can be made to plans that existed before enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in order to be exempt from many of the law’s new requirements.

Under the original regulation, a plan could lose its grandfathered status if employers changed issuers, but self-funded plans could change third-party administrators without losing grandfathered status.

The new amendment to the interim final rule “allows all group health plans to switch insurance companies and shop for the same coverage at a lower cost while maintaining their grandfathered status, so long as the structure of the coverage doesn’t violate one of the other rules for maintaining grandfathered plan status,” it said.

A change of issuers in the individual market will still result in the loss of grandfathered status, the fact sheet said.

Under the amended rules, employers that offer the same level of coverage through a new issuer can remain grandfathered as long as the change does not result in significant cost increases, a reduction in benefits or other changes in the original rule.

  CongressDaily (10/13, McCarthy) reports, “The Obama administration today announced a one-year delay of a provision of the healthcare law requiring employers to report the cost of health insurance coverage on employees’ W-2 tax forms, saying the extra time is necessary to give employers time to prepare to comply with the requirement.” Notably, “instead of a mandatory reporting requirement, the IRS’ draft 2011 W-2 tax form includes an optional line for employers to report the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.” Stephanie Cutter, the White House’s communications leader on implementing the health law, said that Americans “will absolutely not pay taxes on these benefits,” even though “for months, opponents of health reform have falsely claimed that the Affordable Care Act would lead to the taxation of healthcare benefits.”

        The Hill (10/13, Heflin) says in its On The Money blog, “Employers were originally required next year to include on workers’ W2 forms what it cost to supply them healthcare coverage. That requirement is now optional in 2011, to give employers more time to adjust their payroll systems.” In a press release, the IRS stated, “Although reporting the cost of coverage will be optional with respect to 2011, the IRS continues to stress that the amounts reportable are not taxable.”

Due to the new regulations in which a carrier is not allowed to ask medical questions for a child under 19 years of age, some carriers are no longer offering child-only individual policies.  The following carriers are no longer offering child-only carriers – UnitedHealthOne, Capital Blue Cross (medically underwritten plans), Geisinger, Assurant and Aetna is discontinuing effective October 1, 2010.

Highmark and HealthAmericaOne are still offering child-only policies for now.  Please visit the individual tab on our website to obtain a quote.

Effective for plan years beginning on September 23, 2010 or at their first renewal after this date, employees will be able to receive certain preventive services without member cost-sharing, such as deductibles, copayments and coinsurance. This is in accordance with the requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA). This requirement applies to individual, group and self-funded plans that are not grandfathered. Grandfathered plans are exempt from this provision.

What’s covered?

Health plans must cover four categories of preventive services at no cost to members, when the services are received from a network provider. For a service such as a colonoscopy, related services such as operating room and anesthesia charges will also be covered at no cost.

Covered services include:

1. Evidence-based items or services rated A or B in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), including colon cancer tests, screening pregnant women for certain vitamin deficiencies, tests for diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure, and tobacco cessation counseling, plus recommendations regarding breast cancer screening, mammography and prevention issued in 2002.

2. Immunizations for children, adolescents and adults recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from childhood immunizations to tetanus boosters for adults.

3. Evidence-informed preventive care and screenings for infants, children and adolescents provided for in the comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), such as well baby visits, children’s vision and hearing tests and weight counseling.

4. Evidence-informed preventive care and screenings for women provided for in comprehensive guidelines supported by HRSA (not otherwise addressed by the recommendations of the USPSTF). Please consult http://www.healthcare.%20gov/ and search under Preventive Care for guidelines.

Employees can view a complete chart of covered preventive services on the Preventive Schedule by logging onto the Highmark member website, clicking on “Your Health,” “Learn About Preventive Care” and “Preventive Guidelines.”

Employees may still be subject to cost-sharing for:

• Goods and services needed to treat conditions identified by screenings

• Office visits that are billed separately from the required preventive item or service

•A recommended preventive service not billed or tracked separately from an office visit, when the primary purpose of the office visit is to deliver a health care item or service unrelated to a preventive service.

•A preventive service provided by an out-of network provider.

The Healthcare Reform Act includes temporary reimbursements to sponsors of employment based health plans for early retiree medical claims.  The early reinsurance program is effective for claims incurred beginning June 1, 2010 and ends no later than January 1, 2014 or sooner if the $5 million in federal funding runs out.  Reimbursements are available on a first come, first serve basis.

The application to participate in the reinsurance program is now available at http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/index.html. Read more »

Summary of the Early Implementation of Dependents to Age 26 Provision 

I am sure most of you are wondering how the new health reform laws affect you.  So, this newsletter will address the immediate impact on you for 2010 and the beginning of 2011.
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Small Business Health Care Tax Credit – You are eligible for a 35% tax credit on the health insurance premiums you pay on behalf of the employee if you have less than 10 full-time equivalent employees (FTE) for the tax year and average annual wages of less that $25,000 per FTE.  You can exclude owners and family members in the employee count and also the wages according to the IRS.gov website.  You will receive partial credit if you have more than 10 and less than 25 FTE or if your average annual wages is more than $25,000, but less than $50,000 per FTE.  Non-profit organizations receive a 25% tax credit versus 35%.
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The credit is capped based on the average premium for the small group market in the employer’s State – this will not be released until the end of April.
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Note – to receive the tax credit you must pay at least 50% of the single premium rate for the employee.
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Credit is claimed on employer’s annual income tax return.
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More information on the tax credit is available at www.irs.gov.
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The following items are to become effective “for plan years beginning on or after the date that is 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act”, generally plan years beginning October 1, 2010. They include:
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• Coverage for adult children up to age 26 (only if the adult child is not eligible to enroll in an employer-provided plan through their own employment),
• Eliminate preexisting condition exclusions for individuals under age 19,
• Eliminate lifetime limits and no restrictive annual limits (to be determined by the HHS Secretary),
• Apply the non-discrimination rules under Code section 105(h) regarding highly compensated employees to fully insured plans,
• Bar rescissions of health insurance coverage,
• Coverage of preventive health services,
• Distribute a uniform summary of benefits to participants for fully insured plans only (required within 12 months after date of enactment),
• Prohibition of discrimination based on salary,
• Inclusion of cost of employer sponsored health insurance coverage on W2

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Effective January 1, 2011 - Reimbursements from health flexible spending accounts (FSA), health savings accounts (HSA), and health reimbursement arrangements (HRA) for expenses incurred for a medicine or a drug will be treated as a tax-free reimbursement for medical expensesd only if the medicine or drug is a prescribed drug or is insulin.  Reimbursements for over-the-counter items that have not been prescribed by a physician will no longer be tax-free.  The other change in regards to HSA accounts is the penalty for withdrawing funds for non-eligible expenses is increasing from 10% to 20%.
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Due to the new taxes, mandates and regulations being put on insurance companies, we are seeing very high renewals as they are just passing the costs down to the insured.  Be prepared for your upcoming renewal.
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For our clients – We will keep you posted when we get more information from the carriers on how the above items will be implemented with your group health plan and how it will affect your premium rates.  Most of the changes will most likely occur at your renewal date.  We will develop the employee communication to help the employees understand the changes that will be occurring.