On July 15, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) updated its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”) by issuing Revenue Procedure 2021-30 (PDF). The EPCRS changes and revisions, which generally became...more
As we previously reported, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”), a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, into law on March 11, 2021, which, among other things, mandates that employers provide 100...more
5/21/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits
Unemployment Insurance (“UI”) fraud has exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in billions of dollars’ worth of fraudulent claims being filed across the United States. We have previously outlined steps that...more
As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), signed into law on March 11, 2021, employers will be required to provide, on a tax-free basis, a subsidy to employees and their qualified beneficiaries to pay 100% of...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, and as states race to keep up with unprecedented volumes of claims for unemployment insurance (“UI”) benefits and relax certain requirements, like waiting periods, scam artists and criminals...more
We previously discussed the EEOC’s proposed new wellness program incentive rules under the ADA and GINA in our post, How Big Can the Carrot Be? The proposed rules were to replace the EEOC’s previous “health-contingent”...more
Many employers have established wellness programs to promote employee health and, in doing so, help counter the ever increasing costs associated with employer-sponsored health benefit plans. Often employers want to establish...more
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the over $2 trillion omnibus appropriations and COVID-19 relief package, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“Act”). The Act includes provisions funding the government...more
Please join us for our live Hot Topics and Trends in Employee Benefits for 2021 webinar on Thursday, December 3, 2020. Attorneys from our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice will provide insights on current...more
11/16/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Final Rules ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Investors ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proxy Voting ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Webinars
On August 28, 2020, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Notice 2020-65 to provide guidance (“Agency Guidance”) implementing the employee payroll tax deferral directed...more
Treasury guidance on implementation is expected imminently. We will be monitoring for new developments. Check back for updates to this Act Now Advisory....more
On Friday, June 5, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (the “Act”), which relaxes various rules under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’s (the...more
The economic downturn caused by COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented number of layoffs, furloughs, and reduced hours. Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“COBRA”)...more
As the COVID-19 state of emergency continues, businesses are implementing and considering a variety of employee-related measures to manage the impact of the crisis. While some businesses may avail themselves of payroll...more
Numerous media reports concern the shortage of medical resources, personal protective equipment, and qualified professionals during the growing COVID-19 medical emergency. ...more
In Part I of our Act Now Advisory on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act” or “Act”), we addressed numerous aspects of the Act, including provisions on (i) paid sick and family leave; (ii) the...more
4/1/2020
/ Affiliated-Business Arrangements ,
Board of Directors ,
Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans ,
Employee Retention ,
Executive Compensation ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Health Insurance ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Shareholders ,
Small Business ,
Stocks ,
Tax Relief
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel recently issued a memo which, in a surprise to many, concluded that the filing of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) Forms 1094-C and 1095-C (“C Forms”) does not start the statute of limitations...more
3/9/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Form 1094 ,
Form 1095 ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tax Code ,
Tax Planning
Sponsors of health plans have long known that the only constant in life is change. In 2020, that is surely to remain true....more
1/20/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Deregulation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HRA ,
New Legislation ,
PCORI ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning
From year to year (and sometimes week to week), there never seems to be a shortage of issues and questions for employee benefit plan sponsors and fiduciaries, as well as compensation committees, to address in order to...more
1/15/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Choice-of-Law ,
COBRA ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Cybersecurity ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Tribunals ,
Executive Compensation ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning
As summer winds down, the challenges impacting health care employers in 2019 continue to heat up. These challenges include ongoing developments regarding marijuana legalization, employee resistance to vaccination mandates,...more
8/30/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Individual Mandate ,
Marijuana ,
OSHA ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
On March 1, 2019, when Governor Phil Murphy signed into law Senate Bill No. 1567, “An Act concerning pre-tax transportation fringe benefits” (“NJ Transit Benefits Law” or “Law”), New Jersey became the first state to require...more
4/2/2019
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Transit Benefits ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
On October 22, 2018, in perhaps the most significant guidance resulting from President Trump’s 2017 Executive Order 13813, “Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States” (“2017 Executive Order”), the...more
1/10/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Insurance ,
HRA ,
IRS ,
Medicare ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
TRICARE ,
Trump Administration
In an unexpectedly broad ruling issued December 14, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas declared the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) as unconstitutional in its entirety. This decision, if ultimately...more
12/19/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Appointments Clause ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biosimilars ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HRA ,
Individual Mandate ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Kathleen Sebelius ,
Medicaid ,
Medicaid Expansion ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
New Jersey’s Out-of-Network Consumer Protection, Transparency, Cost Containment and Accountability Act (“NJ Law”) creates a statutory framework that attempts to protect consumers from medical bills for out-of-network services...more
Earlier this year, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the Out-of-Network Consumer Protection, Transparency, Cost Containment and Accountability Act (“Law”), creating a statutory framework attempting to protect...more