On December 30, 2004, the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and Department of Health and Human Services jointly issued final and proposed regulations governing the group health plan portability provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). Applicable to plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2005 (i.e., January […]
Author: Trucker Huss
The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) has issued proposed regulations under Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), as well as proposed and temporary regulations under related provisions of the Code. Code section 403(b) governs plans that involve retirement annuity contracts, mutual fund custodial accounts for employees of certain tax-exempt organizations and public […]
On October 21, 2004, President Bush signed into law the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. The Act created a new section of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), Section 409A, which contains new rules regarding nonqualified deferred compensation plans. See our October 2004 Hot Topics update for more information regarding the new deferred compensation rules […]
In October 2004, the Department of Labor issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2004–02 (the “Bulletin”) dealing with fiduciary duties with respect to missing participants in terminated defined contribution plans. The missing participant program of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation applies to defined benefit plans. Background and Applicable Law The problem of missing participants is particularly […]
This fall has seen two important developments in the area of veterans’ rights under employee benefit plans. On September 20, 2004, the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (“VETS”) of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued proposed regulations under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployments Rights Act of 1994, as amended (“USERRA”). (For more information about […]
On December 8, 2003, President Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (“the Act”). Among other things, the Act makes prescription drug coverage available to retirees through Medicare beginning in 2006. The new prescription drug coverage, termed Part D, is available to retirees eligible for Medicare Part A […]
On October 22, 2004, the President signed the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (the “Act”), a major piece of corporate tax legislation. The Act contains significant new rules for nonqualified deferred compensation plans which were analyzed in the October 2004 Trucker Huss Special Alert (“Deferred Compensation Update”). The Act also contains a number of […]
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 2005. The increases that will affect the most plans are the increase in limitations on deferrals and catch-up contributions, the increase in the maximum compensation limit and the increase in the limitation […]
The Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 (“the Act”) was signed into law on October 4, 2004. The Act provides a uniform definition of “child” that changes taxation of dependent coverage under health and accident plans effective January 1, 2005. This article provides a summary of some of the major changes impacting employee benefit […]
The Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a final regulation on September 28, 2004 that establishes a safe harbor pursuant to which a fiduciary of a retirement plan subject to Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) may meet its fiduciary responsibilities with respect to the automatic rollover of mandatory […]
Health Savings Accounts (“HSAs”) were introduced in December 2003 as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (the “Act”). We described the main features of HSAs in our January 2004 issue of Benefits Report, available at www.truckerhuss.com. Since HSAs were introduced, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the […]
The California Department of Insurance and a federal district court have both recently held that the use of so called “discretionary clauses” in disability insurance policies, including those issued to plans governed by ERISA, violates California law and that the state law in this regard is not preempted by ERISA. A discretionary clause in an […]
On June 23, 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law legislation repealing the Senior COBRA program in California. After January 1, 2005, terminating employees and their spouses will not be able to extend their health care coverage through Senior COBRA once federal or Cal-COBRA is exhausted. Older workers may instead be eligible for guaranteed individual health […]
New Program On June 15, 2004, the Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations under Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). Treasury Regulations section 1.401(a)(9)–6 provides guidance on the minimum distribution requirements for defined benefit plans, for annuity contracts purchased with account balances under defined contribution and individual retirement plans, and for annuity […]
For two decades IRS informal documents, including the Internal Revenue Manual, have allowed plans to make amendments that change the types of post-retirement employment that trigger the suspension of benefits, even when the amendments apply retroactively to accrued benefits. In addition, the IRS has endorsed this practice by issuing favorable determination letters to plans containing […]
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