Background Section 1102 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (“Act”) mandated establishment by the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) of the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (“Program”), a temporary program designed to address recent erosion in the number of employers providing health coverage to early retirees. On May 5, 2010, […]
Author: Trucker Huss
We have all been reading numerous articles on healthcare reform and are on the brink of information overload. This article is a short list of five things an employer should consider — now! Background After over a year of negotiations and debate on the future of health care in the United States, the House of […]
On February 26, 2010, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued proposed regulations regarding foreign bank account reporting on Form TD F 90–22.1 (the “FBAR”). As our June 2009 issue explains, employee benefit plans and those with authority over their investment activities may be required, like other investors, to file an FBAR if plan investments […]
After over a year of negotiations and debate on the future of health care in the United States, the House of Representatives (“House”) voted on March 21 to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) — legislation which was passed by the Senate on December 24, 2009 (“the Act”). On March 21 […]
On March 16, 2010, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued new COBRA model notices and a revised COBRA Premium Reduction Fact Sheet to reflect the changes that the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (“TEA”) made to the premium reduction available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”). ARRA generally requires plan sponsors […]
On January 14, 2010, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a final regulation (29 CFR 2510.3–102) (“Regulation”) which creates an optional safe harbor period for small plans for the timely deposit of participant contributions. During this period, amounts that an employer has received from employees or withheld from wages for contributions to contributory group welfare […]
On February 2, 2010, Interim Final Rules (the “Regulations”) under the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (the “Act”) were issued by the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services. These Regulations amend the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee […]
In this paper, we will discuss retirement plan fees and expenses to assist plan sponsors in achieving a greater understanding of their plan operations. Generally, retirement plan fees can be classified into three main categories, but the associated services can apply to multiple categories. For the purposes of this paper, we will categorize the fees […]
On January 5, 2010, the IRS issued a document correction program (“Notice 2010–6” or “Document Correction Program”) for nonqualified deferred compensation (“NQDC”) plans subject to Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Section 409A”). Previously, in Notice 2008–113 the IRS had provided correction procedures solely for unintentional operational errors under NQDC […]
The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) has released Notice 2009–98: the 2009 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements (the “2009 Cumulative List”). In general, the Cumulative List identifies the changes in qualification requirements that must be taken into account when an application for an opinion, advisory or determination letter is submitted and reviewed […]
Lawsuits filed against several major corporations asserting violations of ERISA based on claims of excessive fees in 401(k) plan investment options and failure to disclose revenue sharing arrangements have garnered much attention in the benefits community over the past couple of years. One of these lawsuits has recently settled, some are scheduled for trial in […]
It has been a busy year for plan sponsors and administrators trying to keep track of legislation and regulations affecting health and welfare plans. To help you stay on track, we have summarized a number of these laws and regulations in this year-end summary. Be sure to carefully review your plans and administrative procedures to […]
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has recently issued Proposed Guidance on Sound Incentive Compensation (“Proposed Guidance”). While the Federal Reserve’s Proposed Guidance is generally consistent with the principles in the other government initiatives regarding risk management and corporate governance of incentive compensation, the Proposed Guidance is more comprehensive and provides detailed […]
Title I of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (“GINA”) prohibits group health plans, health insurance issuers, and issuers of Medicare supplemental policies from discriminating against an individual based on his or her genetic information. On October 7, 2009, interim final regulations under Title I of GINA (“interim regulations”) were published jointly by the […]
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 2010. For the first time in over ten years, none of the major pension plan limitations have been increased, because the cost-of-living index for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 was less […]
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