PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - DOL’s Guidance on Continued COVID-19 Timeframe Relief
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Deadline Extensions Impacting HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA
What's Next for the Paycheck Protection Program? by Lindsey Berwick and John Wittenberg
Enacted in 2022, the Maryland Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program covers all employers with Maryland employees and will eventually provide most of those employees with up to twelve weeks of paid family and...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2024-73, which provides much-needed guidance on long-term, part-time (“LTPT”) employees in ERISA-governed 403(b) retirement plans. Following passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act, an employee is...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) provided welcome relief for administrators of plans offering catch-up contributions. Notice 2023-62, issued on August 25, essentially delays the effective date of a provision under the...more
On August 25, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2023-62 to address certain industry concerns over implementation of Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act. Section 603 relevantly provides that, beginning in 2024, participants eligible...more
With the pandemic winding down, deadlines for employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will be resuming. Two different emergencies affect employer-sponsored group health plans:...more
On January 30, 2023, President Biden announced the Administration’s plan to extend the current declarations of the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) through May 11, 2023, and end both emergencies...more
Employers have a reprieve from the challenging December 27, 2022, deadline for reporting 2020 and 2021 prescription drug cost information to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ...more
Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2022-23, which extended the deadline to make certain amendments pursuant to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019,...more
2022 Plan Amendment Extensions: On Aug. 3, 2022, the IRS issued Notice 2022-33 which extends the deadlines for certain plan sponsors to adopt amendments pursuant to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement...more
The IRS has extended additional deadlines for required retirement plan amendments, similar to the extensions we discussed last month found here. Notice 2022-45 extends the deadline for amending qualified retirement plans to...more
While many in the U.S. have attempted to resume a sense of normalcy despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, for employer-sponsored health plans, special “emergency” pandemic rules and extensions remain in effect. As previously...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2022-27, providing a six-month extension of the temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for certain plan elections (including spousal consents) required to be witnessed by a plan...more
The IRS has issued a notice extending the deadline for retirement plan sponsors to make certain amendments required by recently passed legislation. Notice 2022-33 extends the deadline for amending qualified retirement plans...more
On May 13, 2022, the IRS issued Notice 2022-27 (available here), which further extends, by six months, from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, the IRS’s previously-granted temporary relief from the “physical presence...more
On December 17, 2021, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, and House Speaker Laurie Jinkins released a joint statement announcing that the premium assessment under the Washington Cares Fund...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently released a host of changes to Form 1095-C reporting required under the Affordable Care Act. This is welcome relief for large employers who struggle to deliver these forms to employees by...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued some much-needed guidance surrounding the application of deadline extensions that the IRS and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) previously issued for initial elections under...more
On September 29, 2021, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law an extension to the Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave (“EPSL”) program. As we wrote about in detail..., the EPSL program requires...more
As we previously reported in 2020, the IRS granted temporary relief from the physical presence requirement under regulations governing participant elections and spousal consents for certain retirement plans. Generally, those...more
Certain elections made by participants and spouses under retirement plans must be signed “in the physical presence of a plan representative or a notary public.” The IRS provided relief from this physical presence requirement...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2021-40, providing a one-year extension through June 30, 2022, of the temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for certain plan elections (including spousal consents) required to...more
On May 18, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued much-anticipated Notice 2021-31 (the Notice) regarding the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) premium subsidy provisions of the American Rescue...more
On May 18, 2021, the IRS released Notice 2021-31, a lengthy series of FAQs clarifying many aspects of the new COBRA subsidy made available under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The FAQs address many of the issues...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 in the nick of time on February 26, 2021. EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 was released...more