Health care reform is confusing. There are so many new terms and concepts. One concept that has been getting a lot of attention lately is MEC. MEC stands for “minimum essential coverage” and is a fancy name for basic health coverage. MEC is important for two main reasons — First, starting in 2014, individuals who don’t […]
The proposed regulations included many helpful transition rules. Although I hoped that the transition rules would be extended, I really didn’t think they would be. The good news is — I thought wrong. A package of limited transition rules that applied to 2014 under the proposed regulations has been extended to 2015, including: Special 6 […]
The IRS issued final regulations implementing the employer shared responsibility penalties on February 12, 2014. As promised in an earlier post, I have updated our Checklist for Employers to reflect the final regulations. Although the Checklist explains many of the transition rules, below is a summary of what I think are two of the most […]
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) recently unveiled his plan to improve the private retirement system. Senator Harkin’s proposal was the third recent proposal targeting retirement plan savings. President Obama introduced his myRA program during the State of the Union address and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced the Retirement Security Act of […]
In July 2013, Treasury announced that the large employer shared responsibility penalties would not take effect until 2015. This one-year delay was welcome news, but it unfortunately resulted in many employers pushing this issue to the back burner. With the IRS just having published final regulations on February 12, 2014, now is a great time […]
Snell & Wilmer is very pleased to announce our newest legal blog devoted to important developments in the areas of employee benefits and executive compensation. Our Employee Benefits and Compensation Group attorneys focus on a broad range of issues including qualified retirement plans, health care reform, and executive compensation and incentive programs. We hope this […]
In his State of the Union address on January 28, President Obama announced that he will use his executive authority to direct the Treasury Department to create “myRA”, a starter retirement savings account program. According to White House Fact Sheet, a myRA will be available to individuals who do not have access to workplace retirement […]
Last summer, the Supreme Court determined that the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor had the effect of extending many employee benefits to same-sex spouses. Employee benefit plans were significantly impacted by the ruling, and, as a result, the IRS and the Department of Labor […]
As reported in Part 1 of our End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists, employers that are adopting or amending equity-based compensation plans in 2014 should consider adding a separate annual limit on director equity awards. Including a separate sublimit for director equity awards appears to be a trend that continues to gain momentum […]
Late last year, the IRS announced that it was modifying the health flexible spending account (“health FSA”) “use-it-or-lose-it” rule. Prior to the change, employees had to use the full balance of their health FSA by the end of the plan year or the money would be forfeited. This rule sometimes forced employees to unnecessarily spend […]
