The Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) recently released Notice 2013-84, which contains the 2013 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements (the “2013 Cumulative List”) described in Section 4 of Revenue Procedure 2007-44. The 2013 Cumulative List is to be used by plan sponsors and practitioners submitting determination letter applications for plans during the […]
Author: Trucker Huss
On December 24, 2013, the Department of Labor, the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) issued a welcome set of proposed regulations regarding the treatment of certain “excepted benefits” under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Excepted benefits are benefits that are exempt or excepted from the requirements of […]
We’ve come a long way since March 23, 2010, the date President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. So far, in fact, that the tri-agency series of FAQ guidance has reached the age of majority in this latest FAQ XVIII. This seems appropriate, given that the law has now […]
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that the Defense of Marriage Act’s (“DOMA”) restriction on marriage to opposite-sex spouses for purposes of federal law is unconstitutional, the IRS issued initial guidance on how the ruling affects employee benefit plans in Revenue Ruling 2013-17 [see United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013)] (see our […]
On December 2, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published new proposed rules addressing the transitional reinsurance fee program (the “Reinsurance Program”) established under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) that will affect self-insured plans and health insurance issuers. The proposed rules would: exempt self-insured plans that do not use a third party […]
A recent district court decision may leave many religious affiliated organizations uncertain as to whether their employee benefit plans are subject to the demands of ERISA. ERISA exempts “church plans” from its requirements, allowing plans established and maintained for the benefit of church employees, or the employees of church affiliated organizations, to operate outside the […]
On December 16, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., — S. Ct. —, 2013 WL 6569594 that a limitations period for bringing suit that is written into an employee benefit plan document, even a limitations period that starts to run before a cause of action accrues, is […]
The Internal Revenue Service has announced the annual cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for pension plans and other items for Tax Year 2014. Many of the pension plan limitations were increased, as the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment. Some limitations, for instance those governing 401(k) plans […]
On November 14, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued final regulations relating to the suspension or reduction of employer safe harbor contributions to certain cash or deferred arrangements (“CODAs”) under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) section 401(k). Following proposed regulations issued in 2009, the final regulations provide guidance on permissible mid-year reductions or suspensions in […]
BRIAN GILMORE, November 2013 — Plan sponsors and participants have reason to rejoice. The IRS has relaxed Code section 125’s rigid use-it-or-lose-it rule for health flexible spending accounts (“Health FSAs”) by allowing up to $500 of unused contributions to carry over into the following plan year. For plan sponsors, this will help address the administrative […]
On November 8, 2013, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury (the “Departments”) issued Final Rules implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”) and a set of Frequently Asked Questions as part of the series of FAQs implementing the Affordable […]
As reported in our August 1, 2013 newsletter, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on June 4, 2013 reinstated an ERISA class action in Harris v. Amgen, Inc., 717 F.3d 1042 (9th Cir. 2013), alleging that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by continuing to offer company stock in two company-sponsored plans […]
In a decision that comes as welcome news to some employers, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that an employer that incurred withdrawal liability to a multiemployer pension plan had not become a plan fiduciary by failing to pay the withdrawal liability, and could discharge that liability in bankruptcy. In the case, Carpenters […]
In September, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and U.S. Department of Treasury issued Notice 2013-61, which provides special streamlined administrative procedures that employers may use to claim a refund or credit for the overpayment of income and employment taxes on account of same-sex spousal benefits for 2013 and prior calendar years open under the statute […]
The Supreme Court yet again has the opportunity to opine on whether the terms of an employee benefit plan are enforceable as written — this time in the context of a plan’s deadline for participants to bring a lawsuit on a denied benefit claim. On October 15, 2013, the nine justices will hear oral argument […]
San Francisco
135 Main Street
9th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105-1815
T: 415-788-3111
F: 415-421-2017
Los Angeles
15760 Ventura Boulevard,
Suite 910
Los Angeles, CA 91436-3019
Portland
329 NE Couch Street,
Suite 200
Portland, OR 97232-1332
