In the most recent sign that special COVID-19 benefit plan rules are drawing to a close, last Friday, the IRS issued Notice 2023-37, which clarifies the scope of COVID-19 testing and treatment that can be provided on a...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit approved the parties’ stipulated agreement to stay enforcement of the district court decision in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra until the appeal is resolved...more
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an administrative stay of enforcement of the district court decision in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra. Readers of our earlier blog (found here) will...more
“Didn’t we just do this?” might be the first question asked by many health plan sponsors and administrators when gearing up to complete 2022 prescription drug reporting by June 1, 2023. The answer to that question is both...more
The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) recently released guidance for group health plans on required preventive services coverage. The guidance was issued in response to a...more
4/26/2023
/ ACIP ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
HDHP ,
HRSA ,
SBC ,
U.S. Treasury
Last Friday, the United States Supreme Court stayed a federal district court order that suspended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug mifepristone, which is used as part of a two-drug regimen to...more
Important Update: Based on informal comments from the U.S. Department of Labor, it appears that the tolling of benefit plan deadlines will end on July 10, 2023, as described in our earlier blog on this subject,...more
Earlier this week, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) jointly issued guidance confirming that most COVID-19-related benefit coverage mandates, as well as the special tolling...more
On February 23, 2023, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) issued new guidance (in the form of FAQs) implementing the No Surprises Act’s prohibition on “gag clauses” in...more
SECURE 2.0 includes significant changes for retirement plan sponsors and employers, as discussed in our prior blog posts. If you are looking for a short summary organized by effective date, we have prepared a “pocket guide”...more
On the heels of several recent court decisions concerning gender-affirming care, a federal district court in Washington concluded that the denial of benefits for gender-affirming care by a third-party administrator (“TPA”)...more
As part of our ongoing series on SECURE 2.0, this post discusses three significant changes to corrections of common retirement plan errors: (1) New rules for correcting overpayments, (2) expansion of the Self-Correction...more
1/3/2023
/ Audits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EPCRS ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Rules ,
Overpayment ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
Self-Correction Programs
The wait is over for SECURE 2.0, a long-awaited (and debated) package of retirement plan reforms. Today, Congress passed the “SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022” as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act; President Biden is...more
12/26/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Contribution Limits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
New Legislation ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SECURE Act
Just three short days before the December 27th deadline for health plans and issuers to report prescription drug and health care spending information to the government, on December 23, 2022, the Departments of Labor,...more
On October 11, 2022, the IRS and the Treasury Department released final regulations relating to premium tax credit eligibility for families, along with companion cafeteria plan guidance in Notice 2022-41. The final...more
Employers and other group health plan sponsors are left with much to consider following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overruled the Supreme Court’s prior landmark...more
7/1/2022
/ Abortion ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Pregnancy ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination
Can group health plans continue to provide coverage for abortion-related expenses? In short, yes. Dobbs does not prohibit group health plans from covering abortion-related expenses. Instead, Dobbs eliminates federal...more
7/1/2022
/ Abortion ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Patient Access ,
Pregnancy ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination
Ever wished you could predict the future? Or at the very least, predict the timing of a retirement plan audit? Well, you may be in luck on your second wish.
Last Friday, the IRS Employee Plans division announced a new...more
A few short weeks ago we told you in a blog post that, with only four days’ notice, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and HHS (the Departments) required that, starting January 15, 2022, group health plans cover FDA-approved...more
2/7/2022
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
New Regulations ,
Over The Counter Drugs (OTC) ,
Safe Harbors ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Looking forward to the weekend? Many employers and plan administrators may also have been . . . up until yesterday, when the government issued new requirements that take effect on Saturday. ...more
1/11/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
New Regulations ,
Over The Counter Drugs (OTC) ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The IRS recently updated its “Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System” (EPCRS). By way of background, EPCRS is a correction program administered by the IRS for plan sponsors to correct certain retirement plan errors. ...more
Over the last few months, employers and plan administrators have concentrated on identifying qualifying individuals eligible for COBRA premium assistance under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”), sending out proper...more
On May 18, 2021, the IRS released Notice 2021-31, which provides implementation guidance on the COBRA premium subsidy available under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP). As discussed in our prior blog posts, ARP...more
Today, the Treasury Department and the IRS released detailed questions and answers providing guidance on various implementation issues related to the COBRA premium subsidy under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP)....more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) requires that plan administrators distribute new COBRA notices to individuals in connection with the COBRA premium subsidy...more