Employers often target benefit offerings to specific groups of workers—think dependent care accounts or student loan repayment matching contributions—so maybe it was inevitable....more
Many employers with at least fifty employees in the six-county Chicago area will have to provide their full-time employees with pre-tax public transit benefits starting January 1, 2024, under a new Illinois law....more
9/13/2023
/ Commuting ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Municipalities ,
New Legislation ,
Payroll Deductions ,
Public Transit ,
Public Transportation ,
Reimbursements
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
2/8/2023
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
IRS ,
Joint Statements ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Relief Measures ,
Time Extensions
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
Qualified retirement plans will experience unusually sharp increases to compensation and contribution limitations for 2023 compared to adjustments in recent years. On October 21, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)...more
The Biden administration announced several student loan debt relief measures on August 24, 2022, including an extended loan repayment moratorium through December 31, 2022, and debt cancellation that will be available...more
9/19/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Federal Grants ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Private Letter Rulings ,
SECURE Act ,
Student Loans
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
The new 100 percent premium subsidy applies to individuals eligible for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) coverage due to either a reduction in hours or an involuntary termination of employment, and it...more
4/28/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
New Guidance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits
Less than a month after the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law, new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) guidance and model forms are clearing up a number of employer concerns about the 100 percent COBRA...more
4/12/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Premiums ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits
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
4/1/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
New Guidance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Relief Measures ,
Time Extensions
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), which became law on March 11, 2021, provides a 100 percent subsidy of premiums under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) beginning on April 1, 2021, through...more
3/18/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Medicare ,
Notice Requirements ,
Popular ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) contained temporary relief measures aimed at addressing unused contributions to health flexible spending accounts (FSA) and dependent care assistance programs (DCAP).
On...more
3/11/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cafeteria Plans ,
CARES Act ,
Carry-Over Basis ,
COBRA ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deductibles ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
IRS ,
Relief Measures
Employers are facing uncertainty as to the expiration of the COVID-19 relief the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued in a joint guidance on May 4, 2020. The joint guidance requires...more
Beginning in 2022, employer-sponsored health plans will be required to pay providers certain emergency and out-of-network charges that would have otherwise been balance billed to participants.
That is the centerpiece of...more
On October 26, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) updated various dollar limitations that apply to tax-qualified retirement plans for 2021. The new amounts, published in Notice 2020-79, are annually adjusted for cost of...more
10/30/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Contribution Limits ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Small Employer Plans (SEPs)
In late December, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, the most sweeping retirement legislation since the Pension Protection Act of...more
1/16/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Beneficiary Designations ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
New Legislation ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Planning
Starting in 2020, employers will be able to offer health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) that work in conjunction with individual coverage or Medicare without running afoul of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) market reform...more