Administering a retirement plan is a complicated task fraught with potential missteps. Fortunately, employers are now able to self-correct most errors and thereby avoid the considerable time and expense of filing an...more
Under the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021 (CAA), group health plans and health insurance issuers are prohibited from entering into agreements with service providers restricting certain information that the plan may...more
In light of the March 30 Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra decision, the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Treasury (the “departments”) have issued FAQ guidance on how the...more
4/21/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance ,
New Guidance ,
Preventive Health Care ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wellness Programs
With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) set to end on May 11, 2023, federal agencies have published FAQs explaining how the end of the PHE will affect previously extended deadlines relating to COBRA, HIPAA special...more
4/6/2023
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Public Health Emergency
In response to the continued proliferation of lawsuits against retirement plan fiduciaries, fiduciary liability insurers are raising rates, limiting coverage, and expanding their due diligence of fiduciary processes...more
In Notice 2021-31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides broad guidance in a question-and-answer format on the application of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) regarding premium assistance under the...more
6/2/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Termination Clauses
In response to ongoing pleas for guidance, the Department of Labor (DOL) has published an informal outline expressing its views on how retirement plan administrators should be addressing missing or unresponsive participants....more
The recently enacted COVID-19 Related Tax Relief Act of 2020 and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, both of which are part of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” includes the following...more
1/4/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration
The Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury have issued a proposed rule for grandfathered group health plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The proposed rule provides greater...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2020-50 to provide retirement plans with guidance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The extensive guidance provides helpful...more
6/24/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Certifications ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Repayment Options ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has finalized revisions to the regulations governing hardship distributions under 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The final regulations make some subtle but important changes to the regulations...more
9/25/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Natural Disasters ,
New Regulations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Tax Planning
In Revenue Procedure 2019-19, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) significantly expanded the availability of the Self-Correction Program (SCP) that plan sponsors may use to self-correct failures in their qualified retirement...more
4/30/2019
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPCRS ,
Filing Requirements ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Revenue Procedures ,
Tax Audits ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Voluntary Correction Program
As more fully described in our earlier newsletter, in Revenue Procedure 2016-37 the Internal Revenue System (IRS) made significant changes in the procedures governing the issuance of favorable determination letters to the...more
Last year, in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a special type of “church plan,” intended to be exempt from Title I of ERISA and many Internal Revenue Code requirements, does not...more
9/14/2018
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Church Plans ,
Churches ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Religious Institutions ,
Tax Exemptions
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a private letter ruling approving of an employer’s program to provide employees a retirement plan contribution conditioned on student loan repayments. Specifically, the IRS found...more