Time Has Come Today…For Form 5500 Season

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By Benjamin Gibbons

Days are getting longer, temperatures are getting warmer, plants are looking greener, schools are letting out, Brood X cicadas are emerging…it can only mean one thing…5500 season is approaching.

However, unlike the cicadas and their 17-year cycle, the Form 5500 filing requirements arise every summer for calendar year-end ERISA covered retirement plans and health and welfare plans that cover at least 100 participants.  While it may be easy enough to file an extension and hit the snooze button until October, now is great time for plan sponsors to start thinking about their 5500 obligations. Read more

Baby, What a Big Surprise! Right Before My Very Eyes…

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by Becky Achten

The No Surprises Act (part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act introduced earlier this year) is poised to eliminate some of the surprises that group health plan participants encounter from unexpected charges.  One way the new legislation intends to accomplish this is with Advanced Explanation of Benefits (EOBs). Read more

Lean on Me . . . New Guidance on Federal COBRA Subsidy

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By Kevin Selzer

We posted on April 6th about the COBRA subsidy that was made available through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).  In short, the law gives certain individuals who are entitled to COBRA due to a reduction of hours or involuntary termination of employment a 100% subsidy for health coverage that is continued under COBRA or equivalent state laws. Read more

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match … Based on my Student Loan Repayments

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by Beth Nedrow

For the last several years, a hot topic for policymakers has been how to address the nation’s massive student loan debt. At the same time, the pressure remains to develop ways to encourage Americans to save for their own retirement. Legislation is in the works that proposes marrying those two goals.

Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee passed a bipartisan retirement reform bill, the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021 (or “SECURE 2.0,” to reflect its role in following in the footsteps of the SECURE Act passed in December 2019). Among other provisions, SECURE 2.0 would permit employers to make matching contributions under a 401(k) plan, 403(b) plan or SIMPLE IRA with respect to “qualified student loan payments.” Such arrangements have been touted as a way to make sure employees burdened with student loans don’t miss out on employer retirement contributions since they may be unable to afford both student loan repayments and elective deferrals to a retirement plan. Read more

Are You Ready to Provide Your MHPAEA Disclosure?

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DOL and HHS FAQs Provide Important Insights

by Bret F. Busacker

We previously blogged about the new Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) reporting and disclosure requirements established by the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 (CAA). As a refresher, employers and carriers that sponsor group health plans are now required to provide upon request a full analysis of the process followed by the plan in establishing non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) for the plan and the impact these NQTL’s have on mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits provided by the plan. This disclosure requirement went into effect on February 10, 2021. Read more

These Boots Are Made For Walking…But If You Quit, You Might Not Get the COBRA Subsidy

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by Brenda Berg

April 8 UPDATE: The COBRA subsidy model notices referenced in this article are now available: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-and-regulations/laws/cobra/premium-subsidy. Employers should be working with their COBRA administrator on how to notify eligible individuals about the subsidy.

The COBRA subsidy from the most recent COVID-19 stimulus bill – The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) – is now in effect. An assistance-eligible individual can have 100% of COBRA premiums subsidized for the periods beginning April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. All plan sponsors must offer the subsidy – it is not optional.

Eligible former employees and spouses/dependents (qualified beneficiaries) can receive the subsidy if they are already on COBRA. In addition, individuals who declined or dropped COBRA coverage can elect into COBRA under a “second bite at the apple” election process, if they are still in the remaining period of COBRA coverage that would have applied originally. Read more

Whoomp There It Is…The IRS Issues Further Flexible Spending Account Relief under Notice 2021-15

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By Benjamin Gibbons

Earlier this year, Bret Busacker explained the FSA relief enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) in a blog post titled “Bridge Over Troubled Water: 2021 Flexible Spending Account Relief in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.”  The FSA relief in the CAA essentially permits employers to eliminate the “use it or lose it rule” for 2020 and 2021 and to permit mid-year FSA changes to both health FSAs and dependent care FSAs.  The IRS recently issued additional guidance with respect to these FSA relief provisions in IRS Notice 2021-15 (the “Notice”). Read more

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot…Not If They Relate to the Affordable Care Act Reporting Requirements

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by Becky Achten

Should auld acquaintance be forgot…not if they relate to the Affordable Care Act reporting requirements. In the midst of the flurry of health and welfare changes coming from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, employers can’t forget about the “auld” Affordable Care Act. Since the 2015 tax year, large employers of self-insured health plans have been required to report to employees and the IRS information regarding the health insurance offered. Form 1095-C is used to report this information to employees. There have been a few changes to the Form 1095-C for the 2020 tax year that employers should keep in mind: Read more

I Would Walk 500 Miles … But Thankfully I Don’t Have To Since the IRS Will Still Permit E-Signature

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by Beth Nedrow

The Covid-19 pandemic has created numerous challenges for retirement plan administrators. One such challenge is how to comply with the requirement to obtain a participant’s written signature to get a distribution from a qualified plan. In plans subject to the QJSA rules, the participant must sign in the presence of a notary or a plan representative. The plain language of the IRS regulation – requiring physical presence – would preclude the use of remote notarization. In June 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-42 that provided temporary relief from the physical presence requirement. In December, the IRS extended that relief through June 30, 2021 in Notice 2021-3. Read more

Bridge Over Troubled Water: 2021 Flexible Spending Account Relief in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

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by Bret F. Busacker

On December 27, 2020 Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). The CAA provides relief for employees whose dependent care and health care FSA accounts were impacted by the pandemic. This relief will allow employers to amend their FSAs to essentially eliminate the so called “use it or lose rule” for FSA balances not used by the end of 2020 and 2021. This relief is accomplished by giving participants up to an additional year to use the unspent amounts in their FSA accounts. Please see a more detailed description of this relief here.

In addition, the CAA also permits employers to amend their dependent care and health care FSAs to permit contribution election changes (e.g., to start, stop, increase or decrease FSA elections) throughout 2021 for any reason. Please see a more detailed description of this relief here. Read more