Under the Health Care Reform Act, health flexible spending arrangements under cafeteria plans are limited to $2,500 in salary reduction contributions beginning in 2013. Employers with plan years that were not calendar years have been wondering how the limit would be applied. The IRS has now issued guidance in the form of Notice 2012-40 with
Understanding Employee Benefits and key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. MORE
Health Care Reform
FAQs Issued on the Summary of Benefits in Coverage
By Stinson LLP on
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury have jointly issued another set of FAQs on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the health care reform law. These are part nine of FAQs issued on different PPACA topics. This particular set discusses the Summary of Benefits and Coverage or SBC, about …
IRS Issues Guidance on W-2 Reporting of Health Care Coverage
By Stinson LLP on
The IRS issued recently FAQs relating to W-2 reporting of employer-provided health care coverage, a health care reform requirement that employers must first meet for the 2012 calendar year. We have previously discussed these requirements [Link to earlier health care reform posts]. These FAQs largely restate prior guidance.
The IRS also released an article on …
How to Pay the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund Fee
By Stinson LLP on
In previous blogs here, here and here, I discussed generally the recently published proposed regulations on which taxpayers may rely regarding the new fee imposed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund. The fee is considered an excise tax but is not reported …
Counting Average Number of Participants for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund Fee
By Stinson LLP on
As noted in my two earlier blogs here and here, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) imposes a new fee to fund a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute that will research effective medical treatments. The fee is paid by insurance companies for fully insured plans and by plan sponsors for self-funded plans. The …
Which Employer Plans are Required to Pay the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund Fee?
By Stinson LLP on
This is the second blog post discussing the recently proposed regulations (on which taxpayers can rely) on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund fee. The first post is here. This new fee, required to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, is imposed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on most health …
IRS Issues Guidance on New Health Care Reform Fee
By Stinson LLP on
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) issuers of certain health insurance policies and plan sponsors of certain self-funded health plans must pay a fee to fund a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund. This trust fund will be used to allow the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to conduct research on the clinical effectiveness …
Health Care Reform Challenges – Oral Arguments at the Supreme Court
By Stinson LLP on
On Monday March 26th, almost exactly two years after its enactment on March 23, 2010, the United States Supreme Court will begin the first of three days of oral arguments relating to the health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (“PPACA”). The Supreme Court agreed to hear six hours …
A Quirk in the Effective Date for the New Summary of Benefits and Coverage
By Stinson LLP on
This is one of several posts we intend to make on the recently issued guidance on the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC). This is the four (double sided, so actually eight) page uniform summary that will be required for group health plans, as well as for individual insurance policies. It is intended to provide …
March 2011 Developments – Delay of Federal Enforcement of Claims Procedures and Change in State Income Taxation of Health Benefits in Minnesota
By Stinson LLP on
This is the twelfth in a series of articles about health care reform.
One year after the enactment of the health care reform legislation on March 23, 2010, changes are still being made on both the federal and state levels. This article addresses one recent federal policy and one state law change from the State…