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11/14/2024
What Are the Medicare Secondary Payer Reporting Requirements for Our Company’s Group Health Plans?
Are employer-provided health plans are subject to Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) mandatory reporting requirements?
11/14/2024
The IRS has announced the 2025 dollar limits and thresholds for retirement plans, which reflect the latest cost-of-living adjustments.
2025 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for a wide variety of tax-related items released.
11/14/2024
IRS Announces 2025 Retirement Plan Dollar Limits and Thresholds
IRS Notice 2024-80 (Nov. 1, 2024); IRS News Release IR-2024-285 (Nov. 1, 2024)
11/14/2024
Do Employer Contributions Count Toward the Contribution Limit That Applies to Health FSAs?
Often a cafeteria plan which includes a health FSA is funded solely by employee salary reductions. Employers can choose to add an employer contribution feature to the health FSA, such as a matching or seed contribution. Would these employer contributions count toward the limit that applies to health FSAs?
04/14/2023
Employee Benefit Acronyms Part 3 of 3
Everybody in the employee benefits field uses acronyms like ALE, MLR, and ACA, but what do these and other employee benefits acronyms stand for?
04/14/2023
Employee Benefit Acronyms Part 2 of 3
Everybody in the employee benefits field uses acronyms like ADA, MSP, and PHI, but what do these and other employee benefits acronyms stand for?
04/14/2023
Employee Benefit Acronyms Part 1 of 3
Everyone in the employee benefits field uses acronyms like CDHC, EAP, and VEBA, but what do they stand for?
04/14/2023
Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Expenses Related to Nutrition, Wellness, and General Health
The IRS has issued FAQs that explain when certain costs related to nutrition, wellness, and general health are medical expenses under Code § 213.
04/14/2023
The National Emergency Ends
A new wrinkle recently added a potential complication to calculating these deadlines.
04/14/2023
The National Emergency Ends
A new wrinkle recently added a potential complication to calculating these deadlines.
10/20/2022
Rev. Proc. 2022-38 (Oct. 18, 2022); IRS News Release IR-2022-182 (Oct. 18, 2022)
IRS Releases 2023 Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Health FSAs, Transportation Benefits, Adoption Assistance, and More
11/12/2021
Rev. Proc. 2021-45 (Nov. 10, 2021); IRS News Release IR-2021-219 (Nov. 10, 2021)
IRS Releases 2022 Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Health FSAs, Transportation Benefits, Adoption Assistance, and More
11/10/2021
2022 Annual Inflation Adjustments
Revenue Procedure 2021-45 provides details about these annual adjustments.
09/15/2021
IRS Notice 2021-26
IRS Issues Additional Guidance on the Tax Treatment of Dependent Care Benefits
08/19/2021
2022 IRS Limits
The IRS has released the 2022 cost-of-living adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), and excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements (EBHRAs).
06/04/2021
IRS Addresses Tax Treatment of DCAP Benefits Available Under Extended Claims Period or Carryover
Available at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-21-26.pdf
06/04/2021
IRS Announces Several 2022 Limits
Available at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-21-25.pdf
04/06/2021
IRS Announcement 2021-7 Provides Guidance on Covid-19 PPE
Amounts Paid for COVID-19-Related PPE Qualify as Medical Care Expenses
03/17/2021
Congress Passes Bill Increasing DCAP Maximum
Covid Relief Bill temporarily increases DCAP maximum, expands ACA premium tax credit, and extends tax credit for paid leave.
03/17/2021
Expansion of Covid-Related Relief for Cafeteria Plans
The IRS has issued a notice clarifying the temporary relief for health FSAs and DCAPs (collectively, FSAs) that was enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.
05/14/2020
The IRS releases guidance for an increase in the FSA carryover amount.
The IRS explains that the guidance addresses unanticipated changes in expenses because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
05/14/2020
IRS Provides COVID-Related Cafeteria Plan Relief
Employers and advisors have been seeking cafeteria plan relief in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak and will appreciate being able to offer additional flexibility to employees.
04/03/2020
Stimulus Package Impacts Employer Benefit Plans
Included in the Act is a provision reauthorizing the ability of participants in health care FSAs, certain Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), and health savings accounts (HSAs) to have over-the-counter medications as items eligible for reimbursement without the necessity of a prescription.
12/03/2019
2020 Limits for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
The IRS has released the 2020 cost-of-living adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high-deductible health plans (HDHPs).
12/03/2019
The New ICHRA and EBHRA Expand Health Coverage
The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and HHS jointly issued a final rule to expand the flexibility and use of HRAs.
12/03/2019
2020 Welfare Benefit Plan Limits
The IRS has released the 2020 cost-of-living adjustments
06/12/2018
2019 HSA Limits Rise, IRS Says
Contribution limits to HSAs have been announced for 2019, the IRS says.
12/07/2017
IRS Announces Employee Benefit Plan Limits for 2018
Recently the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits on various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans and the Social Security wage base for 2018
05/02/2017
Bill headed to Senate would provide ‘safety blanket’ for benefit plans
Nearly half of all employees are covered by a self-insured group health plan. Many companies that offer these plans have separate stop-loss insurance policies to protect them against the risk of catastrophically high claims. Some states and the Obama administration have attempted to regulate stop-loss insurance; a move the Self-Insurance Institute of America says would render it unaffordable.
01/19/2017
DOL Announces Annual Adjustments to Many Employee Benefit Plan Penalties
The DOL has issued the first annual adjustment of civil monetary penalties for a wide range of benefit-related violations.
11/29/2016
Should ERISA exemption be sought for voluntary?
As an ever-changing healthcare market continues to drive up demand for voluntary benefits, employers face a strategic compliance choice on which brokers and advisers can help them decide.
09/12/2016
Cybersecurity and the role of ERISA fiduciaries
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended protects plan participant benefits and account balances by imposing high standards of care on the plan’s fiduciaries. Fiduciaries who do not follow these standards—most notably, the protection of participant personal and plan information—may be personally liable to restore losses to the plan.
08/10/2016
DOL Significantly Increases Certain ERISA Civil Penalties Effective August 2, 2016
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has significantly increased a number of civil monetary penalty amounts (CMPs) that may be assessed by the DOL\'s Employee Benefits Security Administration for violations of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
07/13/2016
Department Of Labor
US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ANNOUNCES NEW RULES TO ADJUST CIVIL PENALTY AMOUNTS
05/19/2016
IRS Releases 2017 Health Savings Account Limits
The IRS released the 2017 cost of living adjustments relating to health savings accounts. For 2017, the HDHP annual deductible limits and out-of-pocket limits remain unchanged from 2016 limits; only the individual contribution limit increased slightly.
03/03/2016
An Employee Benefit Plan Compliance Reminder
With all of the energy being spent on the Affordable Care Act, it is possible that some rules and requirements slip through the cracks. It is as important as ever to make sure employers sponsoring group health plans continue to satisfy all plan obligations.
01/06/2016
5 Health Insurance Resolutions to Consider for 2016
Health insurance may not be the sexiest New Year's resolutions subject, but thinking about it could be just as important as vowing to drop a few pounds or quit smoking.
12/31/2015
2016 Will be the Year of the Healthcare Consumer (Again)
2016 may well be the year of the consumer in healthcare.
10/22/2015
2015 Health IT Leadership Summit
2015 Health IT Leadership Summit to Focus on Consumer-Driven Healthcare in a Digital Age
08/05/2015
IRS issues first taste of Cadillac tax implementation
Who is Responsible for Paying the Cadillac Tax?
07/24/2015
Small businesses remain in ACA delay limbo
Changes are Coming for Small-Size Businesses with Large Plans
06/24/2015
Who Will Be Affected if SCOTUS Rules Against Obamacare?
The Supreme Court tackles the Affordable Care Act again.
08/20/2014
ECFC EMPLOYER ALERT
Individual Medical Policy May Result in Significant Excise Tax Liability
05/27/2014
New Law Signed by President Obama Eliminates Deductible Limits for Small Employer Market Health Plans
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation Heralds Repeal a Huge Victory for Consumer-Based Healthcare and Benefit Accounts
05/15/2014
ECFC Alert
IRS releases 2014 inflation-adjusted amounts for HSAs and proposed regulations