Understanding Employee Benefits and key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. MORE

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On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) into law. Under ARPA, certain employees and their dependents who lost group health coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the employee’s involuntary termination (other than for gross misconduct) or reduction of hours are allowed to temporarily receive fully-subsidized COBRA…

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”) into law.  Many of the provisions in this sweeping legislation bring changes to the employee benefits world of which employers should take note and which are summarized below.

Subsidized COBRA

The ARPA contains several new rules which impact COBRA…

On February 18, 2021, the IRS issued Notice 2021-15, clarifying temporary special rules for cafeteria plans, health flexible spending accounts (“FSAs”), and dependent care assistance programs (“DCAPs”) that were included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (“CAA”), enacted on December 27, 2020.  The Notice also adds temporary opportunities to make changes in health plan coverage under…

On October 26, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2020-79, which sets forth the 2021 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the dollar limitation for employee salary reductions for contributions to health flexible spending arrangements in Revenue Procedure 2020-45. The…

On November 6, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2019-59, which sets forth the 2020 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP) annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense adjustments earlier this year…

On June 13, 2019 the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor and Department of the Treasury released final regulations that create new healthcare coverage options for employers and employees. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/06/20/2019-12571/health-reimbursement-arrangements-and-other-account-based-group-health-plans

The new coverage options come in the form of two new types of health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”), one which allows employers to…

HHS Announces Significant Settlement Agreements for Noncompliance

On December 4 and December 11, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued press releases announcing two settlements with health care providers for violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) privacy and security rules. Specifically, the…

On June 19, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule that offers new options for associations to sponsor health plans for their members.   These new options allow more small businesses to come together to create large employer plans free from many of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates applicable to individual and…

On October 12, 2017 President Trump issued an Executive Order concerning a number of health plan market initiatives. One of the items included in the Executive Order was a directive to the Secretary of Labor to issue proposed regulations or guidance within 60 days from the date of the Order, “to expand access to …