Your Wellness Benefits Team

No.  The Kingston Advantage plan is a self-funded overlay program, that supplements, not replaces, your existing traditional medical insurance plans.  The focus of Kingston Advantge is on providing proactive wellness benefits for each employee and their family members (including pets!).  Your employee can continue to use the same providers and receive the same medical care they already have in place with their traditional medical insurance.  The Kingston Plan provides options and potential cost savings, but employees are not required to take those options.  

Both employers and employees share responsibility for FICA and FUTA taxes on wages. When the Kingston Advantage program is funded with pre-tax dollars, taxable wages are reduced, lowering the FICA and FUTA taxes paid by both the employer and the employee. 

The employer should include the pre-tax premium totals paid in the W-2 for each employee in box 12.  The letter code is DD for employer-sponsored health coverage and the amount is not taxable and is for information purposes ony. 

Of note, the employer is also not responsible for any reporting of benefits or claim payments made to the employees. 

Like other pre-tax benefits such as HSAs and medical, dental, and vision coverage, the Kingston Advantage premium is paid through a Section 125 plan using pre-tax dollars. This reduces taxable wages and lowers the employee’s FICA and FUTA taxes.

Because Social Security benefits are based on multiple factors — including lifetime earnings and your 35 highest-earning years — the program generally has little to no impact on future benefits.

No, there is no reporting requirement for the employer.  Accident plan claims are made directly by the employee with the carrier.  Payment claims are sent directly to the employee.  No tax document is issued to the employee, and the IRS does not receive any information pertaining to the accident plan payments. The employer will not receive notice of a claim payment and is not required to report this on the W2.