COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
The May Monthly Minute highlights litigation wins for plan fiduciaries in a 401(k) fee case and a wilderness therapy exclusion case, and also sets out the 2025 HSA, HDHP, and excepted benefit HRA COLA adjustments....more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced (see Revenue Procedure 2024-25) cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and...more
After nearly three years of emergency measures related to COVID-19, the U.S. government acted this spring to officially end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and the National Emergency. Accordingly, the Departments of...more
The Biden administration has announced its intent to end the COVID-19 National Emergency (NE) and the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023 (read our prior article for more information). In response to the...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (2023 CAA) further extends the HSA safe harbor allowing high deductible health plans (HDHPs) to offer first dollar coverage of telehealth services without ruining HDHP members’...more
As we enter the fourth quarter of 2022, sponsors and administrators of employee benefit plans have a lot to juggle. From open enrollment and required notices to plan document deadlines, it is a busy time of year. Yet, there...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, signed into law on March 15, 2022, extended relief first made available at the start of the pandemic which allowed first dollar coverage for telehealth services under a high...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (the Act), was passed by the U.S. House and Senate on March 9th and 10th, 2022, and signed into law by the President on March 15, 2022. The Act extends certain telehealth...more
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the over $2 trillion omnibus appropriations and COVID-19 relief package, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“Act”). The Act includes provisions funding the government...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS announced the new rate for calculating the PCORI fee and provided some transition relief, but did not extend the deadline of July 31st for paying the fee. In May, the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2020-32...more
In addition to serving as a viable option to reduce health care costs, a Health Savings Account (HSA) can positively affect your estate plan because its funds grow on a tax-deferred basis. An HSA is similar to a traditional...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans for 2021. Some of the dollar limits currently in effect...more
On May 20, 2020, in Revenue Procedure 2020-32, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the annual contribution limits for 2021 for health savings accounts (HSA). The IRS also announced the 2021 definitional limits per...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2020-29, allowing §125 cafeteria plans and high-deductible health plan (HDHP) changes during the remainder of 2020....more
On May 12, the IRS released Notices 2020-29 and 2020-33, which collectively provide various forms of relief under the existing IRC Section 125/129 rules in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. ...more
On March 27, the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act” or “Act”), which contains a number of tax- and employee benefit-related provisions that are intended to provide economic...more
Health and welfare benefit plans and insurers are affected by various provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) passed on March 27, 2020....more
To encourage individuals to seek prompt medical attention for the coronavirus (COVID-19), a number of states have taken, or are considering, action to eliminate the costs associated with testing and treating the virus and to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: One of many COVID-19 benefits-related concerns focused on the ability of individuals covered under High Deductible Health Plans to have services to diagnose or treat the coronavirus covered before their...more
DOL Personnel Moves. While we all wait to see how and when the confirmation process for secretary of labor nominee Eugene Scalia may play out, the front office shake-up at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continued this...more
In an Executive Order issued on June 24, 2019, President Trump directed several agencies to address a number of health care related matters through regulation. This post discusses Section 6 of the Executive Order, which takes...more
Annually, the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation adjust for cost-of-living increases certain limitations that impact employee benefit plans. These...more
I previously blogged about how unusual it was for the IRS to implement a retroactive change to a previously announced limit. As you may remember, the $6,900 limit on HSA contributions for a taxpayer eligible for a family high...more
On March 5, 2018, the IRS announced a reduction in the amount that an individual with family coverage under a high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) can contribute to a health savings account (“HSA”) for 2018. The lowering of...more
On November 27, 2017, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that it is adjusting the maximum earnings subject to the Social Security tax for 2018 to $128,400. As we have previously posted, the SSA had announced...more