As employers look toward open enrollment for their group health plans, now is a good time to review action items needed for those plans by year-end, as well as upcoming deadlines in the near future. While fully-insured health...more
As part of the No Surprises progeny of legislation seeking transparency in health care, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 prohibits the use of "gag clauses" in group health plan agreements. All group health plans...more
As employers are preparing for 2024 open enrollment, they should be aware that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) affordability safe harbors are going DOWN for 2024. The IRS has just released Revenue Procedure 2023-29, which...more
SECURE Act 2.0 made sweeping changes to retirement plans, including changes to the additional "catch-up" contributions. These catch-up contributions for participants age 50+ have long provided the opportunity for needed...more
On Monday, April 10, 2023, President Biden signed legislation ending the COVID-19 National Emergency immediately. This legislation ends the National Emergency one month earlier than the May 11 date previously announced by the...more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 was enacted as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law on December 29, 2022. It was the culmination of a multi-year, bicameral, bipartisan effort to follow up on...more
In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, employers are questioning what impact, if any, this decision will have on their group health plans. In the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court...more
Seeking to improve transparency in the cost of health services, federal actions in the past few years have led to new federal rules and regulations for health systems, benefit administrators, and health plan sponsors. The...more
As a reminder to employers, the COBRA premium assistance provided under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) is coming to an end for all assistance eligible individuals (AEIs) on September 30, 2021....more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) includes a subsidy structure that is designed to fully subsidize COBRA for employees and family members losing group health plan coverage due to an involuntary termination of...more
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) into law. Included among the many pandemic relief provisions in ARPA is a COBRA subsidy structure that is now designed to fully subsidize...more
The President's Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster, dated August 12, 2020 (Order), directs the Secretary of the Treasury "to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment"...more
On August 8, 2020, President Trump issued the Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster (Order). The Order directs the Secretary of Treasury to defer the "withholding, deposit,...more
On May 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the first updates to its model COBRA notices since 2014. The models are for (i) the initial notice (provided to employees and covered spouses within the first 90...more
Executive compensation is fraught with complicated regulatory and tax issues that can surprise even seasoned executives. This article summarizes five frequently encountered traps and discusses some ways to avoid them...more
The IRS just announced an increase in the maximum permitted employee contribution percentages in 2019 for the purpose of determining the affordability of an employer's health plan under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)....more
While primarily focused on individual and business tax cuts and reform, the final Republican tax cut bill includes several provisions expected to impact health care coverage and expenses. First, the bill effectively repeals...more
12/26/2017
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Affordable Care Act ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Employee Benefits ,
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Health Insurance ,
Income Taxes ,
Individual Mandate ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Deferral ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
In response to Hurricane Harvey and the catastrophic flooding in Texas, the IRS and U.S. Department of Labor have announced relief for those individuals and businesses in the affected disaster areas. The "covered disaster...more
The Ninth Circuit has ruled that employer payments of cash in lieu of benefits will be included in an employee's "regular rate of pay" for purposes of overtime calculations. The California City of San Gabriel has been held in...more
In a recent Omnibus appropriations package, Congress extended the effective date for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) "Cadillac Tax" by two years, from plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, to plan years beginning on...more
Two big decisions in two days from the Supreme Court. Read on for details. Same-Sex Marriage is a Go! Today, the United States Supreme Court issued a monumental decision in Obergefell, et al. v. Hodges, et al.; Case No....more
6/29/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Harassment ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Exchanges ,
King v Burwell ,
Marriage ,
Marriage Equality ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Public Health Insurance Marketplace ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
State Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Subsidies ,
Tax Credits
In addition to her credits as attorney and author, Baker Donelson Labor and Employment Chair and Birmingham Shareholder Jenna Bedsole can now add filmmaker to her list of accomplishments. Jenna is the executive producer and...more
On November 6, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL) published Technical Release 2014-01, which provides technical guidance to States concerning stop-loss insurance. Stop-loss...more
On Friday, August 9, 2013, the Department of Labor (DOL) updated its Fact Sheet on Qualifying Reasons for Leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)....more