The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits on various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans and the Social...more
On December 27, 2020 Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). The CAA provides relief for employees whose dependent care and health care FSA accounts were impacted by the pandemic. This relief will...more
The IRS has announced the 2021 dollar limits impacting retirement plans and IRAs. The agency also issued welfare plan limits, as well as ACA penalties. The chart below summarizes these 2021 figures along with the...more
On March 27, 2020, the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which addresses the public economic and health crisis related to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)....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
The IRS has issued guidance on two issues affecting health flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs). The first provides guidance on how a health FSA that consists solely of amounts carried forward from the prior year...more
The following are the most significant employee benefits-related legal developments that occurred in December of 2013. At the beginning of 2013, after considering feedback from our clients and contacts who work in the...more
Following Hawaii’s enactment of legislation recognizing same-sex marriage as of and after December 2, 2013 a number of additional pieces of guidance were also issued. Internal Revenue Service’s Frequently Asked Questions...more
In its latest addition to guidance concerning the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has issued Notice 2014-1 to address certain issues relating to...more
Last week, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published Notice 2013-71, which provides guidance on the circumstances under which employers may amend their cafeteria plans to allow a carryover of up to $500 of unused amounts...more
New federal guidance makes health flexible spending arrangement (FSA) participation more attractive to employees. IRS Notice 2013-17 provides a new exception to the FSA “use it or lose it rule.”...more
The Affordable Care Act establishes a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute as a private nonprofit corporation to assist patients, clinicians, purchasers and policy makers in making informed health decisions using...more
Laws Providing Leaves of Absence - Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) - The FMLA, as relevant here, requires covered employers to provide eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave due to a serious...more
Last year's Health Reform Act prohibited tax-free reimbursement of over-the-counter medicines obtained without a prescription (other than insulin) by health care flexible spending accounts (FSA) and health care reimbursement...more