To state the obvious, there has been some uncertainty regarding how the Trump Administration will affect federal agency enforcement efforts. However, at least, in regard to HIPAA Privacy and Security, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), appears to be unchanging in its previous course. In the first […]
As efforts to reform the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) stall in Congress, a recent government report suggests that the Internal Revenue Service is preparing to identify and collect employer shared responsibility penalties. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration issued the report, Affordable Care Act: Assessment of Efforts to Implement the Employer Shared Responsibility […]
On April 7, 2017, the DOL published a final rule, officially delaying the applicability of the Fiduciary Rule for 60 days, until June 9, 2017. The DOL noted that a full review of the Fiduciary Rule and its impact is likely to take longer than 60 days. However, the DOL expressed reservations about providing a […]
The IRS has recently warned employers of another scam targeting employee information. The IRS has learned that scammers are posing as internal executives and are requesting Forms W-2 and Social Security Numbers from payroll or human resources departments. The scammers may even initiate contact with a “Hi, are you in today” message before requesting the […]
As we previously reported in our February 16, 2017 blog post, “A Rule Deferred: Department of Labor Delays Implementation of Fiduciary Rule,” the DOL anticipated delaying the effective date of the fiduciary rule by 180 days. However, on March 1, 2017, the DOL proposed to delay the fiduciary rule by 60 days, citing the potentially […]
Although it is not a new requirement, it is important and therefore worth a reminder: HIPAA requires covered entities to establish and implement written policies and procedures that are consistent with its Privacy and Security Rules. As discussed in an earlier blog, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) […]
In a previous blog, we addressed an issue of Employee Plans News in which the IRS took the position that 401(k) plan administrators must maintain hardship distribution records and should not rely on electronic participant self-certification for hardship distributions. On February 23, 2017, the IRS issued a memorandum to its Employee Plans Examiners that sets […]
As we previously discussed in our May 19, 2016 SW Benefits Update, the Department of Labor (the “Department”) previously issued final regulations on fiduciary conflicts of interest in retirement programs. The rules, which focus on curbing self-interested advice to retirement plan and IRA participants, were slated to become effective April 10, 2017. However, the Department […]
On January 20, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal,” hereinafter referred to as the “Order”) relating to the future of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The stated goal is to direct the agencies (IRS, HHS, and DOL) to waive or […]
In a previous blog, we discussed the IRS’ elimination of its five year staggered determination letter cycle for individually designed plans. The IRS recently provided guidance to help sponsors of individually designed plans keep their plans in compliance with applicable law. Notice 2016-80 contains the first Required Amendments List (the “RA List”) for individually designed […]
