On February 18, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued clarifying guidance on the temporary special rules for health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) and dependent care assistance programs (DCAPs) under Internal...more
2/25/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carryover Basis ,
COBRA ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
IRS ,
Medical Expenses ,
Reporting Requirements
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans for 2021. Nearly all of the dollar limits...more
Under the final rule published by the US Department of Labor on May 21, 2020, retirement plan administrators can choose to deliver required disclosures electronically by complying with the conditions of a new safe harbor. The...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans for 2021. Some of the dollar limits currently in effect...more
In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, on May 12, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Code Section 125 (cafeteria plan) guidance (see IRS Notice 2020-29 and Notice 2020-33) that allows employers to...more
On May 1, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued updated Frequently Asked Questions and revised model notices under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). COBRA is a federal law that permits...more
Coronavirus (COVID-19) raises serious concerns for employers of all shapes and sizes, across all industries and in every business sector. As the impact of COVID-19 continues to grow, many employers are faced with new...more
A new IRS notice will allow individuals to receive testing and care for COVID-19 without jeopardizing their ability to contribute to a health savings account (HSA). The IRS issued the notice due to the public health threat...more
An increasing number of jurisdictions around the country, including parts of California, New Jersey and Washington, DC, are mandating that employers provide commuter benefit programs that allow employees to pay for commuting...more
The SECURE Act, signed into law on December 20, 2019, is the broadest piece of retirement legislation passed in 13 years. It aims to enhance and expand retirement security for more Americans, in part, by encouraging plan...more
1/15/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SECURE Act ,
Webinars
The IRS recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans for 2020. Nearly all of the dollar limits currently in effect for 2019 will...more
11/7/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Contribution Limits ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Summary Plan Description
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would expand its existing guidance and liberalize rules for electronic disclosure of retirement plan notices under ERISA. The proposed rule, which sets...more
10/31/2019
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Disclosure ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Notice Requirements ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors
The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services have released final rules removing the prohibition on pairing HRAs with individual health policies. The final rules also allow certain HRAs and other...more
7/30/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
HRA ,
Pay or Play ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
U.S. Treasury
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans for 2020. Nearly all of the dollar limits currently...more
The IRS recently released an updated version of EPCRS, the IRS’s program for correcting errors that occur under tax-qualified retirement plans. The latest version of EPCRS makes it easier for plan sponsors to self-correct...more
5/22/2019
/ Audits ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPCRS ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Retirement Plan ,
Revenue Procedures ,
Self-Correction Programs ,
Voluntary Correction Program
In an Information Letter dated February 27, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) clarified that an ERISA plan must include any procedures for designating authorized representatives in the plan’s claims procedure and summary...more
McDermott Will & Emery’s Benefits Emerging Leaders Working Group provides benefit professionals with tools to better serve employees in an ever-changing benefits landscape.
Our presentations will tackle the latest benefits...more
The IRS recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans for 2019. Although some of the dollar limits currently in effect for 2018...more
On Monday, November 27, 2017, the Social Security Administration announced that the it is lowering the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax for 2018 to $128,400. The Social Security Administration...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans for 2017. Although some of the dollar limits currently...more
In Depth -
On April 12, 2016, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Halo v. Yale Health Plan, 2016 WL 1426291 (2d Cir. Apr. 12, 2016), addressed various issues that could arise during a plan administrator’s...more
5/21/2016
/ Administrative Review ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Claim Procedures ,
Corporate Counsel ,
De Novo Standard of Review ,
Denial of Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Plan Administrators ,
Standard of Review
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2015-86, which provides some additional clarification, in the form of questions and answers, on the treatment of same-sex spouses under tax-qualified retirement plans...more
Recently 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...more
On June 26, 2015, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court of the United States determined that it is unconstitutional for a state to ban same-sex couples from exercising the fundamental right to marry. As a result of this...more
7/1/2015
/ Domestic Partnership ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Marriage ,
Marriage Equality ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Popular ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS
Recently 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...more