Benefits - General

The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, enacted late in 2020, imposes a new requirement on group health plans to ensure compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Unlike many of the other provisions of the CAA that affect group health plans, the MHPAEA requi

Employers will now have additional options to address participants’ unspent contributions to dependent care or health flexible spending accounts (FSAs) resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R. 133, P.L. 116-260), signed into law on December 27, 2020, prov

Beginning in 2022, employer-sponsored health plans will be required to pay providers certain emergency and out-of-network charges that would have otherwise been balance billed to participants.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, generally provides the annual funding for the federal government and, in almost 5,600 pages, contains several important rules giving further COVID-19 relief, including the expansion of eligibility for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Employee Reten

The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, which was signed into law December 27, 2020, includes provisions designed to increase transparency in employee health benefit plans in four key areas.

The Internal Revenue Code is famously complicated, and changes to discrete parts of the code—such as those adopted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA)—have a notorious history of leading to unpredictable and unintended consequences. One such consequence may require prompt action by publicly-

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has announced that it has adopted a rule to limit a registered person from being named a customer’s beneficiary, executor, or trustee or from holding a power of attorney or similar position of trust on behalf of a customer. The new rule becomes eff

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced cost-of-living adjustments that affect limitations on qualified retirement plans and health plans. The increases take effect on January 1, 2021, and are modest when compared to prior years.

On May 12, 2020, the IRS issued guidance temporarily suspending long-standing federal regulations that limit when an employee can make mid-year changes to employer-sponsored health coverage. Under the normal IRS rules, employees elect health coverage before each plan year during open enrollment, and

In accordance with emergency powers granted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance temporarily extending a number of benefit plan-related deadlines and providing other relief for participants and plan sponsor

The IRS has changed its position and will allow employers to receive a tax credit for paying health care plan premiums for employees on furlough.

On February 26, 2020, the IRS published proposed regulations implementing changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) regarding the elimination of deductions for entertainment and the limitation on food and beverage expenses. The regulations largely track prior IRS guidance, Notice 2018

In late December 2019, President Trump signed appropriations bill H.R. 1865, which includes tax and retirement plan provisions from the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act, the Act). Most observers felt that the Act had little chance to pass in 2019, but it was atta

Employers that sponsor group health plans (medical, dental, vision, HFSA) are used to negotiating detailed administrative services agreements with vendors that provide services to those plans. Many also are familiar with “business associate agreements” required under HIPAA that must be in place with

On December 19, 2019, the Senate passed, as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2020 (Public Law No. 116-94), the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act (Division O pg. H.R. 1865-604). It is touted as the most significant retirement act since the Pension P

Has DOL Put Final Nail In Coffin of ‘Substantial Compliance’ Doctrine for Disability Claims?

Tax season soon will soon be upon us and many not-so-eager taxpayers will share sensitive personal information about themselves, their dependents, their employees, and others with their trusted professional tax preparers for processing.

As imagined by plan sponsors of closed defined benefit pension plans, the IRS issued Notice 201-49, the fifth extension for an additional year of the temporary nondiscrimination relief for “closed” defined benefit pension plans originally announced by the IRS during 2014. The extended relief applies

Many employers have contacted us over the years asking whether they may offer an “employer–payment plan” rather than offer a traditional group health insurance plan. An employer-payment plan is a type of account-based plan that provides an employee reimbursement for all or a portion of the premium e

The aging of the baby boomer generation has increased the level of scrutiny with which the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) will review the efforts of pension plans to locate missing plan participants who did not receive reported benefits. The focus of the EBSA