Employers, have you reminded your employees to check that they are having the right amount of tax withheld from their paychecks? It's a good idea for everyone to check their payroll withholding every year, but it is particularly important this year due to the big changes Congress made to the federal tax rules for 2018. The law's changes do not affect every taxpaper the same way. Some workers may need to increase their withholding so they will not face a tax bill - and possible penalties - next April when their 2018 tax return is due. Many other workers, however, benefit from the law's changes and can take home more pay because the withholding amounts are less.

What is a "living" handbook? At Carolina Professional Consultants, we're passionate about people risk management and we believe the essential artifact for managing people risks is your employee handbook. A living handbook will communicate descriptions of culture, standards of behavior and compliance essentials to every employee. A living handbook will also tell you when legislative changes make updates necessary, so you can proactively mitigate risks in your workplace.

On October 16, 2018, the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a reminder for business owners that tax reform legislation passed last December affects nearly every business. The IRS is highlighting the following important information for small businesses and self-employed individuals to help them understand and meet their tax obligations.

To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Public Law 104-191, included Administrative Simplification provisions that required HHS to adopt national standards for electronic health care transactions and code sets, unique health identifiers, and security. At the same time, Congress recognized that advances in electronic technology could erode the privacy of health information. Consequently, Congress incorporated into HIPAA provisions that mandated the adoption of Federal privacy protections for individually identifiable health information.

At Carolina Professional Consultants, Inc., we are researching and using our best sources to provide you with as many updates regarding the Quality Payment Program Reporting. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time. Avoid Medicare payment penalties through basic reporting. According to the American Medical Association, this is the first year physicians will need to report on quality measures under the new Quality Payment Program (QPP) from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This will be the most significant change in Medicare physician payment policy in over 25 years.