Besides ensuring the federal government remains fully funded, President Biden’s signature Thursday on the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA 23) contains several provisions that will directly impact health and...more
1/3/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Excise Tax ,
Hardship Distributions ,
HDHP ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Telehealth
Applicable large employers must adhere to many Affordable Care Act (ACA) rules to remain compliant regarding group health plan offerings. We offer the following checklist of the five most helpful reminders you should take...more
9/15/2022
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Applicable Large Employers (ALE) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deadlines ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Form 1094 ,
Form 1095 ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
IRS ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Safe Harbors ,
Shared Responsibility Rule
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed legislation that will expand CalSavers, the state’s IRA-based retirement program, to cover virtually all California employers that do not sponsor their own qualified retirement...more
9/15/2022
/ California ,
CalSavers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EDD ,
Employee Benefits ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
New Legislation ,
Registration Requirement ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
State-Sponsored Retirement Plans
Employers likely have questions about abortion-related employment protections and healthcare benefits after Friday’s SCOTUS controversial decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Given the ruling, people in states with strict...more
6/27/2022
/ Abortion ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Unpaid Leave
The IRS recently issued Revenue Procedure 2022-24 which included the 2023 inflation-adjusted amounts for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). The Revenue Procedure details the maximum HSA...more
In late 2020, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (the Departments) released Transparency in Coverage (TiC) rules that put several new compliance burdens on group health plan sponsors. The next...more
The Department of Treasury recently issued proposed regulations to alter the rules for how individuals can get a premium tax credit (PTC) to help pay for Marketplace health coverage starting in 2023. The new rules would base...more
5/27/2022
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Comment Period ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Family Members ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Tax Credits ,
U.S. Treasury
Since 2015, federal agencies have been required to annually review the laws and regulations they enforce to adjust applicable penalties for inflation. The idea has been to provide increasingly greater incentives for plan...more
3/3/2022
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Failure to Notify ,
Failure-to-File ,
Form 5500 ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Penalties ,
SBC
Three federal Departments recently released FAQs to provide more details as to how employer group health plans may comply with the previously announced requirement to cover at-home OTC COVID-19 tests provided with no...more
The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) requires employers that offer prescription drug coverage to update the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the creditable...more
Most employers who offer plans that include prescription drug coverage are acutely aware of the requirement to notify individuals as to the creditable status of that coverage before October 15 each year. However, many are...more
A collection of federal agencies recently released guidance to assist group plan health sponsors navigate upcoming disclosure obligations. On November 17, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the...more
11/30/2021
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
IRS ,
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ,
Reporting Requirements
The Internal Revenue Service recently released final 2021 forms for Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting under relevant Internal Revenue Code sections – and while not much is changing in terms of information you’ll need to...more
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) just announced increased penalty amounts for entities who violate the privacy, security, and breach notification rules under the Health Insurance Portability and...more
11/30/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
HIPAA Violations ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Secondary Payer Act ,
Noncompliance ,
Penalties ,
SBC ,
Summary of Benefits and Coverage
Group health plan sponsors soon will face daunting new disclosure and transparency requirements under multiple laws including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the No Surprises Act (the Act) and the Consolidated Appropriations...more
9/7/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Deadlines ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Drug Pricing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Price Comparisons ,
Public Disclosure ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Transparency
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) mandates that group health plans that are subject to COBRA must provide coverage to certain assistance eligible individuals (AEI) at no cost for periods of coverage between April 1,...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently released a Notice to further explain its position on certain issues related to the COBRA premium assistance and corresponding tax credits available under the American Rescue Plan Act of...more
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides for 100% premium assistance to certain qualified beneficiaries for continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) for periods of...more
5/21/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Eligibility ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee's Childcare ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Tax ,
Federal Taxes ,
Former Employee ,
Furloughs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Involuntary Reduction in Force ,
IRS ,
Premium Assistance ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Reduction in Hours ,
Relief Measures ,
Resignation ,
Retirement ,
Self-Certification ,
Severance Agreements ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Returns ,
Termination for Cause ,
Workplace Safety