The IRS recently announced cost of living adjustments for 2015. The key dollar amounts for retirement plans (compared to the 2014 dollar limits) are noted below. Maximum Qualified Retirement Plan Dollar Limits 2015 2014 Limit on Section 401(k) deferrals (Section 402(g)) $18,000 $17,500 Dollar limitation for catch-up contributions (Section 414(v)(2)(B)(i)) $6,000 $5,500 […]
AM
Starting in 2016, Section 6055 of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), which was added by the Health Care Reform Act, requires all entities providing “minimum essential coverage” (“MEC”) to submit information to the IRS concerning each covered individual for the 2015 calendar year. Section 6055 also requires these entities to provide statements containing similar […]
NW
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”), a leading proxy advisory firm, recently proposed a new “scorecard” approach to evaluating public company equity plans (the “Equity Plan Scorecard”). Under the new approach, ISS will recommend a “for” or “against” vote based on a company’s Equity Plan Scorecard. Pursuant to the proposal, a company’s Equity Plan Scorecard score […]
GG
ERISA requires all pension and welfare benefit plans to be maintained in a written plan document. The DOL and several courts have taken a broad view of what constitutes a “written plan document,” and while pension plans are usually very well documented, many welfare plans consist of a loose, and often out-of-date, collection of insurance […]
KH
The Health Care Reform Act created the transitional reinsurance program, which requires most self-insured health plans to make contributions to HHS for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 calendar years. The contribution amount is determined by the number of covered lives under each plan. The number of covered lives must be calculated and submitted to HHS […]
NW
The abrupt departure of Bill Gross from PIMCO leaves many investors pondering their next move. Should an investor stay the course and see how PIMCO’s new investment team performs? Should an investor leave and follow Mr. Gross to Janus Funds? Should an investor rush to find a new bond fund manager? These questions are particularly important […]
TH
On September 18, 2014, the IRS released IRS Notice 2014-55, which now allows employees to make certain mid-year health coverage changes when they reduce below 30 hours of service or enroll in a qualified health plan through a Marketplace. Employers who want to permit either of these two new changes (which are explained in detail […]
NC
The IRS recently issued guidance on the use of longevity annuities in defined contribution plans and IRAs. These longevity annuities are known as “qualified longevity annuity contracts” or “QLACs.” A QLAC is a deferred annuity that begins at a specified age, but not later than age 85. This type of annuity allows individuals to have […]
AM
On January 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule under HIPAA making substantial changes to the rules for vendors that provide services to HIPAA-covered plans, such as third-party administrators, pharmacy benefit managers and certain brokers – known in the HIPAA world as “Business Associates.” Under this final […]
MS
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”), a leading proxy advisory firm, recently launched a new data verification portal to assist it in verifying the information it uses in evaluating public company equity compensation plans. Public companies that file their proxy statements after September 8, 2014 (and that have an equity plan proposal on their proxy ballot), […]
GG
