Recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced (See Revenue Procedure 2021-25) cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and...more
Two days before the one-year anniversary of the official start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a last-minute notice clarifying its prior guidance that relaxed the deadlines for the Employee...more
3/4/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enrollment ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance
On January 7, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued proposed guidance regarding employer-sponsored wellness programs and the level of incentives employers may offer employees who participate in these...more
1/18/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Title I ,
Title II ,
Wellness Programs
On June 23, 2020, the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury issued tri-agency FAQs (Part 43) that clarify important health and welfare provisions under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act...more
6/26/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Clinical Laboratory Testing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Telehealth ,
Third-Party Agents ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virus Testing
The SECURE Act, signed into law on December 20, 2019, is the broadest piece of retirement legislation passed in 13 years. It aims to enhance and expand retirement security for more Americans, in part, by encouraging plan...more
1/15/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SECURE Act ,
Webinars
The SECURE Act—the most significant piece of retirement plan legislation in more than a decade—is now law. Plan sponsors should immediately start considering how changes included in the SECURE Act could impact their...more
1/8/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act
An employer learned the full cost of ambiguity when a Connecticut federal district court agreed with an employee’s widow that the word “maximum” was ambiguous in the company’s life insurance plan, thus making the widow...more
9/12/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Beneficiaries ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Death Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equitable Interests ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Life Insurance ,
Summary Judgment ,
Widows
The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services have released final rules removing the prohibition on pairing HRAs with individual health policies. The final rules also allow certain HRAs and other...more
7/30/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
HRA ,
Pay or Play ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
U.S. Treasury
On May 10, 2018, the IRS announced cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans for 2019. Many of the limits will change for 2019....more