The CARES Act gives employers a way to pay employees’ student loan debt on a pre-tax basis during a portion of 2020 through an educational assistance program under Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”). Overview of an Educational Assistance Program Under a Section 127 educational assistance program, an employer may pay or reimburse …
Benefits Briefs in the Time of COVID-19, Part 1: Federal Agencies Relax Summary of Benefits and Coverage (“SBC”) Disclosure Deadlines
Recent guidance from the Department of Labor (“DOL”), Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and Treasury (the “Departments”) provides limited enforcement relief from the summary of benefits and coverage (“SBC”) disclosure rules during the COVID-19 crisis for employers to comply with the CARES Act or to add other benefits to their group health plans. Dickinson Wright’s …
Summary of Employee Benefits Provisions in CARES Act (as passed by U.S. Senate)
On March 25, 2020, the Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, as a follow-up to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The Act contains a number of employee benefits related provisions to address the COVID-19 emergency. The House of Representatives intends to take up the legislation on March 27, 2020. …
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High Deductible Health Plans and Expenses related to COVID-19
Many of the nation’s largest insurers have announced that they will be waiving the deductible or other cost-sharing for testing or other expenses related to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19”). Plan sponsors that offer coverage to employees through a high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) asked whether this waiver would affect the health plan’s status as …
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In Surprising Memo, IRS Concludes There is No Statute of Limitations on Affordable Care Act “Pay or Play” Taxes: What Steps Employers Should Take Now
In an unexpected memo from the IRS, the Office of Chief Counsel has concluded that the filing of Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) returns does not start the statute of limitations on the Employer Shared Responsibility Payments (“ESRP”) that may be owed by employers with 50 or more full-time (or equivalent) employees. ESRP is also commonly …
The Affordable Care Act Reporting Requirements Still Loom: Last-Minute Compliance Tips for Paper and Electronic Filers
As we reminded employers back in December, the IRS has extended the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) deadline for health plan sponsors to furnish individuals IRS Forms 1095-B and 1095-C until March 2, 2020. However, it did not extend the due date for filing the 2019 Forms 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C, or 1095-C with the IRS. Those …
Changes Affecting Employer-Sponsored Health Plans in the 2020 Appropriations Act
The 2020 appropriations act, which was signed into law by the President on December 20, 2019, contains a mix of good and bad news for employer-sponsored health plans. On the good news side of the ledger, several taxes imposed by the Affordable Care Act have been repealed, as follows: To literally no one’s surprise, the …
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IRS Publishes 2019 Required Amendment List for Individually-Designed Retirement Plans
The IRS recently issued its “Required Amendment List,” which contains the annual list of amendments that must be adopted by certain individually-designed retirement plans. This year, the List includes the requirements imposed by the final hardship distribution regulations, and certain rules that apply to collectively-bargained cash balance / hybrid defined benefit plans. Sponsors of individually-designed …
The DOL Proposes New “Notice and Access” Electronic Disclosure Rules for Retirement Plans, but Numerous Questions and Issues Remain
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has proposed a new safe harbor to allow employers to furnish information to participants and beneficiaries subject to ERISA. While it is a welcome update to the DOL’s woefully outdated disclosure rules previously covered on our All Things HR Blog, there are numerous technical details and exceptions, which each employer …
Pay Attention to Requests for ERISA Plan Documents or Risk the Con$equence$
Every so often an employer sponsoring an ERISA employee benefit plan will receive a written request from a participant or beneficiary (or their legal counsel) to provide plan related documents. Sometimes the request asks for specific documents and sometimes the request is broader, asking for all instruments under which the plan is established or operated, …
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