PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Round of COVID-19 Relief Expands Assistance for Employers
Nowhere to spend child care FSA funds
COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition; New Opportunities for Health Flexible Spending Arrangements and Cafeteria Plans
As a reminder, the deadline for submitting Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fees is July 31. Employers who sponsor self-insured group health plans should report and pay PCORI fees using the most recently...more
Recently HHS issued a memorandum announcing the maximum annual limitation on cost sharing (a/k/a out-of-pocket maximum) for 2026 and the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2024-40 announcing the cost-of-living adjustments to certain...more
The IRS recently issued Notices 2024-71 and 2024-75, which expand the list of “preventive care” benefits permitted to be provided by a high deductible health plan (HDHP) without a deductible and the list of benefits...more
Open enrollment season can put a spotlight on the many complex rules applicable to employer-sponsored health and welfare plans. As you announce your benefit offerings for the upcoming plan year and tirelessly work to inform...more
Yesterday the IRS released Notice 2021-26, which clarifies that if eligible dependent care benefits would have been excluded from income if used during either the prior tax year (2020 or 2021), these benefits remain...more
The form of a corporate transaction sets the stage for the employee benefits and executive compensation (EBEC) strategy – in the scope of due diligence and purchase agreement negotiations and post-closing activity. The charts...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is an enormous and intricate piece of legislation that has direct consequence for employers. Signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, ARPA mandates several important...more
The IRS recently issued Notice 2021-15 to provide guidance on certain provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 (the "CAA") affecting the administration of flexible spending accounts ("FSAs"). The CAA changes...more
Earlier this year, Bret Busacker explained the FSA relief enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) in a blog post titled “Bridge Over Troubled Water: 2021 Flexible Spending Account Relief in the...more
The Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021 was signed into law on December 27, 2020 and is an impressive 5,593 pages. According to the Senate Historical Office, the Act is the longest bill ever passed by Congress. Buried...more
Much of the previous relief that had been granted to cafeteria plans during the COVID-19 pandemic was set to expire after 2020. In late December, though, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), which...more
Following up on changes to flexible spending accounts (FSAs) implemented by the December 2020 budget bill (the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021), the IRS provided interpretative guidance of its own in Notice 2021-15. ...more
In Notice 2021-15, the IRS provides many answers to questions regarding the temporary special rules introduced as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) for health flexible spending accounts (health FSAs) and...more
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...more
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...more
The president has signed into law the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, which includes several temporary special rules aimed at minimizing forfeitures and increasing the utility of health and dependent...more
The IRS has announced the 2021 dollar limits impacting retirement plans and IRAs. The agency also issued welfare plan limits, as well as ACA penalties. The chart below summarizes these 2021 figures along with the...more
On May 12, the IRS issued Notice 2020-29 “COVID-19 Guidance Under Section 125 Cafeteria Plans and Related to High Deductible Health Plans” and Notice 2020-33 “Section 125 Cafeteria Plans – Modification of Permissive Carryover...more
Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton are producing a series of podcasts to discuss employee benefits, executive compensation, and labor and employment issues that employers are confronting in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,...more
On the latest episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt discusses new opportunities that the IRS and COVID-19 legislative relief have created for health flexible spending and cafeteria plans....more
New guidance issued by the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Health and Human Services requires group health plans to disregard certain timeframes and deadlines related to...more
IRS Notice 2020-29 gives employers new opportunities to help employees who participate in Section 125 plans deal with COVID-19. Under Notice 2020-29, employers can allow participants and eligible employees of their Section...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued two important notices allowing employer-plan sponsors to amend their §125 cafeteria plans to provide employees with increased flexibility for elected benefits and account...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-29 and Notice 2020-33 on May 12, 2020, to provide relief from the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19) for taxpayers participating in Section 125 cafeteria plans. The provisions...more
As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to impact employers, the IRS has been looking for ways to provide some additional flexibility to employer-sponsored benefit plans. In the past week, the IRS released two notices aimed...more