Last week the Senate passed the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2023 (“CAA23”). The House of Representatives will likely consider the measure today, and President Biden is expected to sign the bipartisan measure into law...more
12/26/2022
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HSA ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Secondary Payer Act ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Telehealth
Yesterday, the Senate passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (the “CAA”) to fund the government through September 30, 2023. Division T of the legislation is the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”), which builds...more
This month, Vermont adopted the Vermont Family and Medical Leave Insurance Plan (“Vermont Program”), a voluntary paid family and medical leave program. The Vermont Program is substantially similar to the New Hampshire...more
For many years now, IRS and Treasury have jointly developed a list of areas in which they intend to release guidance – such as regulations, revenue rulings, notices and other published official authority – during the coming...more
The COBRA rules and Medicare rules are complex on their own. Navigating the interaction between the rules is even more complex and can lead to an inadvertent compliance issue. Given today’s highly litigious COBRA world and...more
The IRS recently announced that substantially all of the key retirement plan and health and welfare plan limits will increase next year – some significantly due to higher inflation. Notice 2022-55 (Oct. 21, 2022); Rev. Proc....more
On February 18, 2022, President Biden again formally extended the COVID-19 National Emergency, which was set to expire on March 1, 2022. As explained in detail in our previous alerts, this most recent extension means that...more
Illinois recently enacted the Consumer Coverage Disclosure Act (the “CCDA”), which requires that Illinois employers provide a disclosure to employees regarding how the employer’s group health plan compares with the essential...more
Upcoming deadline alert! Plan sponsors should prepare for these upcoming February 2022 deadlines to ensure federal compliance and avoid penalties....more
On November 22, 2021, the Department of Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations generally intended to provide Form 1095-B and 1095-C reporting relief. Under the statutory language of the ACA, reporting entities are...more
On October 6, 2021, the IRS released Notice 2021-58 (the “Notice”), which provides yet another round of guidance on the application of extended deadlines for COBRA elections and payments due to COVID-19. This guidance expands...more
On July 26, 2021, the IRS released Notice 2021-46 (the “Notice”), which provides new guidance on the 100% COBRA premium subsidies (the “Subsidies”) and the related tax credit under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (March...more
Since the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) was enacted in March 2021, employers and insurers have been diligently familiarizing themselves with the rules for administering the temporary 100% COBRA premium subsidy established...more
On May 18, 2021, the IRS released its highly anticipated guidance on the 100% COBRA premium subsidies (the “Subsidy”) and the related tax credit under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (March 11, 2021) (“ARPA”) in Notice...more
On April 7, 2021, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released initial guidance regarding the 100% COBRA premium subsidies under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”), and also issued model notices that can be used in...more
On March 10, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the version of the American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319, the “Act”) previously passed by the Senate on March 6. President Biden is expected to sign the legislation on...more
3/12/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
CARES Act ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Health Insurance ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Paid Leave ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Credits
On March 10, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319, the “Act”), sending it to President Biden for his signature later this week. The Act includes a number of significant health,...more
3/11/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Pensions ,
Relief Measures ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Planning ,
Webinars
On February 17th, we posted an alert that the COVID-19 extensions that the DOL and IRS had issued last year as part of their “Joint Notice” were set to expire at midnight on February 28th. For weeks, we have been asking DOL...more
On February 18, 2021, the IRS released Notice 2021-15 (the “Notice”) interpreting section 214 of the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (the “Act”), enacted as Division EE of the Consolidated...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to overwhelm the country last spring, the Departments of Labor (“DOL”) and Treasury (together, the “Departments”) became concerned that the disruption caused by the pandemic would create...more
On January 7, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) finally released proposed rules regarding wellness programs under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) (“ADA Proposed Rule”) and Title...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2020-46 that provides for a special leave donation program available for the COVID-19 pandemic. This brings the total to three tax-favored leave programs that are currently available to...more
On Monday, June 8, 2020, the Treasury Department (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Proposed Regulations addressing the tax treatment of amounts paid for two unique types of medical arrangements –...more
The House of Representatives recently passed a fourth round of legislation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill – called the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (the “HEROES Act” or the...more
6/1/2020
/ CARES Act ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pensions ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan
Recently, plaintiffs’ firms have filed a flurry of class action lawsuits against employers, alleging violations of COBRA’s election notice requirements and seeking statutory and other penalties. ...more