As noted in our previous blog post, The New Disability Claims Regulations: They Don’t Only Apply to Disability Plans, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued regulations that revise the ERISA claims procedure regulations for all employee benefit plans that provide disability benefits (the “New Regulations”). These rules can impact not only short-term and long-term disability […]
In our 2017 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 4) Qualified Plans, we suggested that sponsors of all qualified retirement plans should be on the lookout for the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) 2017 Required Amendments List (“RA List”). The IRS recently published Notice 2017-72, which contains the 2017 RA List, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-17-72.pdf. […]
It’s that time of year when boys and girls start making their lists for the holidays, but we in the employee benefits world make a very different kind of list. In the rapidly changing world of employee benefits and executive compensation law, checklists can be particularly helpful to make sure important issues do not fall […]
On November 2, 2017, the IRS issued guidance regarding the enforcement of Employer Shared Responsibility payments, otherwise known as the Section 4980H penalty. Questions 55-58 of the IRS Questions and Answers on Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions Under the Affordable Care Act indicate that the IRS is moving forward with assessing penalties on Applicable Large Employers […]
This post has been updated as of June 7, 2018, to reflect the revised maximum annual HSA contribution limit for family coverage set out in Revenue Procedures 2018-18 and 2018-27. The IRS recently announced cost-of-living adjustments for 2018 in Notice 2017-64 and related guidance. The key dollar limits for qualified retirement plans and health and welfare plans […]
In the most recent updates to the AARP v. EEOC wellness case (AARP v. EEOC, D.D.C., No. 1:16-cv-02113), the District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) to review the wellness regulations related to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) with […]
Introduction The Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued regulations that revise the ERISA claims procedure regulations for employee benefit plans that provide disability benefits (the “New Disability Claims Regulations” or “New Regulations”). They are based on the Affordable Care Act’s (the “ACA”) enhanced claims and appeals regulations for group health plans (the “ACA Enhanced Regulations”). The […]
In a series of tweets published on July 26, 2017, President Trump announced a ban on transgender service in the armed forces. In the wake of this reversal of government policy, employers may question the current state of transgender benefits and whether additional changes are forthcoming. On May 18, 2016, the Department of Health and […]
On the morning of July 28, 2017, another effort to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) failed in a 49-51 Senate vote when three Republican senators voted against the bill. Attempts to pass even a trimmed down “skinny” version of the bill were unsuccessful. Following this dramatic vote, the path forward for health […]
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”) generally requires that the financial requirements and treatment limitations that apply to mental health and substance use disorder (“MH/SUD”) benefits cannot be more restrictive than the financial requirements and treatment limitations that apply to medical and surgical (“M/S”) benefits. Financial requirements include, for example, […]
