On September 27th, the Departments released FAQs about Affordable Care Act Implementation Part 61 (“FAQ 61”), announcing that the Departments are rescinding prior-issued enforcement relief for certain machine-readable file requirements under the Transparency in Coverage (the “TiC”) regulations. The final TiC regulations, published in the Federal Register on November 12, 2020, in part required group […]
Effective December 29, 2022, Section 305 of SECURE 2.0 expands the ability for plan sponsors to self-correct certain plan failures under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”). Section 305 of SECURE 2.0 generally permits the self-correction of certain “eligible inadvertent failures” under EPCRS, including certain plan loan failures, provided that: (1) the failure is […]
The Biden Administration recently announced its plan to end both the National Emergency and Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 (together, the “COVID-19 Emergencies”) on May 11, 2023. The end of the COVID-19 Emergencies will trigger (immediately or within specified timeframes) the end of various COVID-19 requirements and related relief for group health plans. As further […]
On August 26, 2022, the Governor of California signed Senate Bill No. 1126 (“S.B. 1126”) into law, amending California’s CalSavers Retirement Savings Program (“CalSavers”). In general terms, CalSavers automatically enrolls eligible California employees in ROTH Individual Retirement Accounts if their employer does not provide a qualified retirement plan. CalSavers requires eligible employers to facilitate the […]
The U.S. Supreme Court released their final opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24, 2022. Justice Alito’s opinion closely tracked the draft opinion that was leaked on May 2, 2022. The opinion holds: “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to […]
On March 15, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (the “2022 CAA”) was signed into law. Section 307 of the 2022 CAA extends the relief permitting high deductible health plans (“HDHPs”) to provide telehealth and other remote care services free of charge before a participant meets their required deductible, but there’s a catch. The CARES […]
On July 16, 2021, IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30 to update the Employee Plans Compliance Resolutions System (the “EPCRS”). The update in part expands the opportunities for plan sponsors to self-correct failures under the EPCRS by: (1) extending the self-correction period from two to three years; (2) expanding the ability for plan sponsors to correct […]
As detailed in our SW Benefits Update, “Ironing Out the Wrinkles – IRS Answers 86 Questions About COBRA Relief Under the American Rescue Plan Act,” the IRS recently released Notice 2021-31 (the “Notice”), providing welcome guidance on the COBRA election and subsidy requirements under the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”). As mentioned in that SW […]
Last month, we reported that Moderna was seeking FDA authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine and reminded readers about the immunization coverage requirements in Section 3202 of the CARES Act in our SW Benefits Blog, “Free COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing Update.” As of the date of this blog, the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines have been […]
Sponsors of safe harbor Section 401(k) plans should consider whether they are required to provide their annual safe harbor notice in 2020 for the upcoming 2021 plan year. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement (“SECURE”) Act, which was enacted on December 20, 2019, changed the annual notice requirements for some safe harbor Section 401(k) […]
