Last week the IRS announced that 401(k) plans and certain similar employer-sponsored retirement plans can make loans and hardship distributions to help victims of Hurricane Harvey....more
9/7/2017
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Unpaid Leave
In the last few weeks we have talked to hundreds of employers about the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which was proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 6. Many of you have asked about the AHCA, how it might...more
Last Friday, President Trump issued a memorandum for the U.S. Secretary of Labor that seems likely to result in the delay of key regulations issued under the Obama administration, which are currently set to become applicable...more
About a month ago, and just months before the reporting deadlines required under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were set to go into effect, the Internal Revenue Service gave us all a late Christmas present and announced that...more
On December 18th, Congress voted to approve an omnibus spending deal to fund the federal government. This spending package includes a two-year delay – from 2018 to 2020 – of the so-called “Cadillac tax,” which was enacted as...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in King v. Burwell and upheld the Affordable Care Act once again. In a 6-3 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court held that tax credits are...more
The insurance exchanges created under Affordable Care Act have facilitated increased competition. Old version managed care models implemented cost-savings measures like pre-authorizations for medical care, hospital length of...more
For several years now, employers have spent a great deal of time focusing on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) play-or-pay mandate. Numerous articles have been written and numerous educational seminars have been given...more
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has consumed us for the last four and a half years. As employers, we have spent so much time trying to figure out what the ACA requires, trying to hit the government’s moving regulatory targets,...more
The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a political hot button in the United States. Now that it has become law, though, the challenge has shifted to determining how the nuances of the ACA will play out in...more
Almost 40 years ago now, a young mother had the courage to give me up for adoption to my parents who could not themselves have children. All of my life, I have reaped the almost-unbelievable benefits of my biological mother’s...more
It is rumored that President Reagan once referred to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) as Every Ridiculous Idea Since Adam. ERISA serves important purposes in our society, but it also presents...more
Last September, three months after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in United States v. Windsor, the IRS issued some much-anticipated guidance regarding the treatment of same-sex spouses. For employers who...more
On February 11th, the Treasury Department issued its much-anticipated final regulations on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) so-called employer mandate, under which certain employers have to either (a) offer affordable,...more
On Monday, the Treasury Department finally issued its much-anticipated final regulations on the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, under which certain employers have to offer affordable, minimum-value health coverage to...more
In 1996, as states were beginning to consider the concept of same-sex marriage, and before any state had acted to permit it, Congress enacted the Defense of Marriage Act. Section 3 of DOMA defined the term “marriage” as “a...more
In perhaps the biggest healthcare reform news of the year, the Obama administration announced late Tuesday that it is delaying the so-called “play or pay” mandate for one year until 2015. ...more