The Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the US Department of Health and Human Services recently released a final rule (“Final Rule”) to update the HIPAA Privacy Rules for reproductive health care information. The Final Rule...more
The IRS has announced inflation-adjusted limits for retirement plans in Notice 2023-75.
...more
Many people, for one reason or another, are unable to start or expand a family. Some people look to assisted reproductive technologies (“ARTs”) to conceive a child. These ART treatments include in vitro fertilization...more
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June, employers have been evaluating ways to protect reproductive health care rights for their employees in those states which ban or...more
Since the Dobbs decision, employers and health plan sponsors have been scrambling to determine how they can assist employees and health plan participants in states that currently or will soon be restricting access to...more
Federal regulators recently released FAQs providing that health plans are now required to cover over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests for all participants through the remaining duration of the pandemic, without requiring an...more
Section 202 of Title II of Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”) added new ERISA Section 408(b)(2)(B) to be effective as of December 27, 2021. The new section requires persons who provide...more
Medicare Tax -
The regular Medicare tax rate of 1.45% remains unchanged and applies to all income without a limitation for both the employee and employer portion. The Affordable Care Act additional Medicare tax of 0.9%...more
On Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) released guidance (Notice 2021-58) clarifying certain deadlines relating to COBRA continuation coverage in connection with the ongoing...more
Last week we discussed on our ERISA Blog that the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) has become a top agenda item for plan sponsors in 2021. In this next post we will discuss the next steps that...more
Since the passage of the original mental health parity requirements over two decades ago, mental health parity can be described as riding a porpoise as it dives in and out of the waters of compliance. However, with the...more
Today, the Internal Revenue Service announced increases to the health savings account contribution limits for 2022. HSA contributions increased from $3,600 to $3,650 for 2022 self-only coverage, and from $7,200 to $7,300 for...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) includes a provision amending the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) to provide COBRA premium assistance to eligible individuals. The ARPA COBRA...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) increases the dependent care flexible spending arrangement (“DCFSA”) annual limit from $5,000 to $10,500. The increase only applies to the 2021 calendar year. Employers are not...more
In May 2020, the Department of Labor jointly with the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Agencies”) released guidance delaying and extending many common deadlines for employee benefit plans. In...more
The COVID-relief bill , which included year-end government funding provisions, was signed by President Trump last night. The President signed the law by utilizing the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, and he redlined a number...more
For calendar year 2021, the Health FSA contribution limit and the parking and transit limits remain the same. Other limits increase only slightly....more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2020-76 on October 2, 2020, announcing a delay in the deadline for distribution of Forms 1095-B and Forms 1095-C to participants by employers, health insurers and other...more
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) posted new model notices on its website which employers may use to satisfy notice obligations under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (“COBRA”), along with a short...more
The Department of Labor in connection with other agencies (the “Agencies”) have released guidance delaying and extending many common deadlines for employee benefit plans. In EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01, the DOL...more
Updated from a Previous Post -
Early Saturday morning, the House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, H.R. 6201 (the “Bill”). As currently drafted the Bill provides a number of COVID-19...more
In April 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requested information from the public on how the DOL could structure a new safe harbor for electronic disclosures under ERISA. The DOL received hundreds of comments from...more
As employers have noticed, there is a growing wave of COBRA notice class action lawsuits filed against large employers with at least six cases being filed in 2019 alone.
In each of the cases, the plaintiffs allege that the...more