If you lived during the Middle Ages and had a castle, you’d want to prevent invaders from breaking in, destroying your property, kidnapping your loved ones, etc. So what would you do? Build a moat, correct?

Now most, if not all of you, would pull out all the stops to create the deepest, most crocodile-filled moat imaginable. After all, it would be your only barrier for keeping invaders out. When creating passwords for your personal information you should use this exact same logic.

That’s because just like a moat is the only barrier keeping invaders out of a castle, your passwords are often your only barrier standing between personal information and identity thieves.

Just last Friday, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley released a report pinpointing the main driver of the Commonwealth’s rapidly spiraling health care costs—the market clout of highest paid providers. Simply stated, Massachusetts insurance companies are paying certain doctors and hospitals significantly more than others for the same patient care.

Coakley’s year-long investigation leading up to this report revealed that a small group of roughly 10 hospitals statewide commanded anywhere from 10 to 100 percent higher payments than their competitors for similar work.

The study also found no evidence that this higher pay was due to better quality of patient care or treatment of more complex cases. In fact, the study revealed that:& ...

Identity theft is a huge and costly problem. In fact, it has recently surpassed drug trafficking as the number one crime in the nation and claims one new victim every 3 seconds.

Identity theft can happen to anyone and its results are devastating: stolen funds, a tarnished credit rating and obligations to pay off debt that isn’t even your own.

To keep from becoming victims of identity theft, all individuals should:

• Keep sensitive personal information under wraps

Most U.S. employers with 100 or more workers don’t comply with ERISA regulations, which can result in some very steep federal fines that add up fast.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) has strict requirements for employers that sponsor 401(k), group life, medical, dental and disability plans to report certain financial information on these plans to the Department of Labor (DOL) using Form 5500.

However, public records reveal that of the approximately 110,000 businesses that employ 100+ individuals, roughly 60,000 (or 55%) have not ...

As many employers know, Massachusetts Regulation 201 CMR 17.00—enforceable as of March 1, 2010 requires all businesses that “own, license, store or maintain” personal information on Massachusetts residents to:

1. Digitally encrypt all records containing personal information
2. Create and implement a Written Information Security Plan (WISP) outlining administrative, technical and physical safeguards for personal information protection
3. Upda ...

Massachusetts requires all residents to have Minimum Credible health insurance Coverage or face a tax penalty. That’s why every year all employees covered on your health plan in the past year receive a 1099-HC.

Employees will get their 1099-HC forms in the mail this month and will use them to report their health insurance coverage on the Schedule HC form.

Since many Massachusetts employers will be entertaining employees’ questions on what to do with this “Important Tax Document Enclosed”, we’ve put together a few 1099-HC FAQs to help them out.

What is the 1099-HC form?

A new year is under way and companies everywhere are getting started with their 2010 resolutions. Given the rising health care costs that have plagued us all lately, it’s no surprise that improving employee wellness is a popular one.

Many employers are beginning to incorporate wellness programs and initiatives into their overall group health plan design. When implementing a wellness program, health risk assessments (HRAs) are a great tool employers can use to track employee progress and generate plan effectiveness metrics.

However, for employers that use HRAs in wellness programs, there are quite a few Federal rules to follow. Recent Federal laws such as the Americans with Disabili ...

Starting January 1, 2010, any Responsible Reporting Entity (RRE) that fails to comply with a new requirement for reporting Medicare payments to Medicare-eligible individuals for resolution of medical expense claims could face a steep penalty--$1,000 per-day the expenses go unreported.

Background on Medicare and reporting requirements:

As many of us know, Medicare is a government-funded health insurance program for individuals ages 65 and up but is not intended to be their primary health insurance (i.e. Medicare should be a “secondary payer”). In December of 2007, then President Bush signed into law the “Medicare, Me ...

And it can come from many different people, from a dishonest co-worker, to a temp working in HR, even a visitor to your office building. If you’re not careful, any of these people can have access to your personal information—and who knows what they’ll do if they get their hands on it.

To keep sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, here are 3 steps employers and employees both should take:

1. Keep your personal property in a safe place: Don’t leave your personal belongings such as purses, wallets and laptops unattended. Either have them on your person at all times or keep them ...

Nearly all of us like to kick of the new year with a resolution; get in shape, eat healthier, break a bad habit, manage your money better, the list goes on. The new year gives us all a clean slate and our resolutions motivate us to start the year off right.

For HR professionals, one of the many ways to start the year off right is to make sure all policies in your employee handbooks are up-to-date and compliant with the latest regulations. This will help you strengthen your case in the event that an employee (or former employee) sues you for any type of bias.

When updating your handbook for the new year, employers and HR professionals should look at the following 4 policies first: