The No Surprises Act (the NSA) bans “gag clauses” that prevent disclosure of price or quality information in agreements between health plans and certain service providers. In addition, the NSA requires plan sponsors to attest...more
3/28/2023
/ Attestation Requirements ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Contract Terms ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Gag Clauses ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
New Guidance ,
No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
U.S. Treasury
The 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) established new transparency requirements for group health plans to report specific information about prescription drugs and health care spending to the Centers of Medicaid and...more
On June 3, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a new pilot program aimed at qualified retirement plan compliance. Pursuant to the program, the IRS will issue a letter to the plan administrator which provides a...more
Each year, employers are faced with a number of year end deadlines related to employee benefits as well as new requirements facing them in the coming year. This article is meant to provide a brief summary of those issues....more
11/24/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
IRS ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Virus Testing ,
Year-End Planning
As we previously reported, the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) includes a six-month COBRA premium subsidy whereby the federal government subsidizes 100% of the COBRA premium during the period of April...more
4/13/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Relief Measures
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion dollar stimulus package, known as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), into law. In order to assist employees with the cost of health coverage, ARPA includes...more
3/17/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Stimulus ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
Relief Measures ,
Subsidies
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2021-15 to clarify certain aspects of the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (the Act), and to extend cafeteria plan election flexibility in 2021...more
Embracing 21st century technology, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently published a final rule that provides a new safe harbor for electronic distribution of disclosures to retirement plan participants and...more
Pursuant to authority granted under the CARES Act, the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued joint guidance on April 28, 2020, extending a number of election periods and deadlines prescribed...more
A number of changes and new legislation will be impacting your company’s employee benefit plans in 2020. Here is a summary of the highlights of what is to come in the new year....more
12/27/2019
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Amended Legislation ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health Insurance ,
HRA ,
New Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
As previously reported in the Fast Laner, a number of large employers were hit by a wave of class action lawsuits in 2016 involving claims related to deficient COBRA notices. In the case involving Wal-Mart, a federal judge in...more
In December 2018, class action lawsuits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) were filed against several large single-employer defined benefit plans. The suits focus on the calculation of joint and...more