MARY E. POWELL and ELIZABETH LOH, January 6, 2021 In December, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), which combines COVID-19 stimulus relief with a number of year-end appropriations bills. The CAA contains numerous provisions that will impact health and welfare plans. The provisions of the CAA that need immediate attention are the […]
Health and Welfare Plans
JAHIZ NOEL AGARD, November 24, 2020 2020 has presented several issues requiring urgent attention for employers who sponsor group health plans, including a need to update the notices required under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA), in particular the general (or initial) notice and the continuation coverage election (or enrollment) notice. This […]
SARAH KANTER, October 8, 2020 A new proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”), released by the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (HHS) (the “Departments”) on July 10, 2020, would permit grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage (“grandfathered plans”) to make greater increases to certain types of cost-sharing requirements […]
GISUE MEHDI and BRIANA B. DESCH, July 9, 2020 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-29 and Notice 2020-33 (the “Notices”) on May 12, 2020. Notice 2020-29 provides increased flexibility for participants to make mid-year health plan, health flexible spending account (“Health […]
ELIZABETH LOH, May 7, 2020 On April 28, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury Department”), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), issued several pieces of guidance providing relief to plan participants, COBRA-qualified beneficiaries, claimants, and plan sponsors who are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance includes the following: […]
JENNIFER D. TRUONG, May 7, 2020 Under IRS Notice 2020-23, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has provided additional relief due to the coronavirus pandemic by extending the deadlines for the time-sensitive actions set forth in Revenue Procedure 2018-58.1 Specifically, the Notice extends the deadlines for filings and other actions that would otherwise be due […]
MARY E. POWELL and LINDSAY R. DOCTO, April, 2020 The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) was signed into law on March 27, 2020. The CARES Act makes emergency supplemental appropriations and other changes to law to help the U.S. respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article discusses: (1) the […]
MARY E. POWELL and LINDSAY R. DOCTO, March, 2020 Due to the urgent crisis the United States is facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the President has declared a national emergency, as well as declaring major disasters in California, Washington, New York, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas and Florida. Federal and state governments have passed legislation and […]
GISUE MEHDI and CATHERINE L. REAGAN, February, 2020 1. Thought You Were in the Clear? CA’s Individual Mandate Replaces the ACA Individual Mandate for CA Taxpayers Although the federal government effectively removed the individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act by setting the penalty to zero (effective January 1, 2019 under the Tax Cuts […]
SARAH KANTER, September, 2019 This article is part one of a two-part article examining many of the issues that employers and other plan sponsors may want to consider when deciding whether to offer employees an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA), which was created by final regulations (the “final regulations”) released on June 13, 2019 […]
MARY E. POWELL, September, 2019 In the last few months, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have issued rules that impact the cost that group health plans (GHPs) can charge participants for certain prescription drugs. This article explains those rules and also takes a critical […]
TIFFANY N. SANTOS, July, 2019 On June 13, 2019, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury (the “Departments”) released final regulations that will permit employers and other plan sponsors to offer employees two new types of health reimbursement arrangements or “HRAs” (see here for “FAQs”): (1) an Individual Coverage HRA […]
GISUE MEHDI and MARY E. POWELL, December, 2018 The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) gives participants and beneficiaries the right to have plan benefit denials reviewed in federal court. The court reviews a plan claims administrator’s benefit denial decision as “de novo” (looking at the facts anew and reaching its own decision, with no […]
MARY E. POWELL, November, 2018 On October 29, 2018, the U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Treasury (“Treasury”) and Health and Human Services (HHS) (together, the “Departments”) issued proposed regulations that would allow a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) to be used for the purchase of individual health insurance coverage and include an “excepted benefit” HRA that […]
SARAH KANTER, August, 2018 On June 21, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) published its highly anticipated and controversial final rule (the “final rule”) regarding Association Health Plans (AHPs). The final rule significantly expands the kinds of employer groups and associations that are permitted to establish an “employee welfare benefit plan” under the Employee Retirement […]
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