One of the many benefits-related provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 prohibits the use of “gag clauses” in group health plan agreements. Before this law, medical plan service agreements would often include provisions preventing the employer from sharing data like pricing and health plan outcomes available to another party. Hopefully employers have worked to make sure that there are no such clauses in their agreements. But there’s one more step on the compliance ladder. Beginning in 2023, plans must annually attest to their compliance with the gag clause prohibition. Read more
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00Becky Achtenhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngBecky Achten2023-12-04 09:52:122023-12-04 10:33:19Signed, Sealed, Delivered … Have You Completed Your Plan’s “No Gag Clauses” Attestation?
Employers try to provide a benefits package that employees appreciate and understand. Beyond the traditional offerings like 401(k), match, medical and dental, employers often try to be responsive to employees’ requests for other programs and features they would find useful (example – fertility benefits). One of the current requests employers may be hearing from their employees is request for assistance with student loan debt. Congress has been hearing those pleas, as well, and has provided employers with two potential avenues for giving relief to their employees. Read more
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00Beth Nedrowhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngBeth Nedrow2023-10-11 12:37:582023-10-11 12:37:58Don’t Know Much About History … But I Do Know How Employers Can Help Their Employees With Student Loan Debt!
The time may have come to add a welfare plan committee to your company’s governance of employee benefit plans. New legal obligations and other developments impose fiduciary risks for welfare plans similar to what already exist for retirement plans.
Most employers that sponsor a 401(k) plan or other retirement plan set up a committee to administer and oversee the plan. This is generally a best practice to ensure that the plan is properly administered in compliance with employee benefits laws and, for plans subject to the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), to have a process for following ERISA fiduciary duties. Fiduciary duties include acting prudently and in the best interests of participants, such as in overseeing service providers and monitoring plan fees. Read more
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00Brenda Berghttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngBrenda Berg2023-09-28 13:04:152023-09-28 13:04:15The Time Has Come, A Fact’s A Fact: Consider Adding a Welfare Plan Committee
I have heard from a couple of clients recently who have received a penalty notice from the IRS for purportedly filing a late or incomplete 2022 Form 8955-SSA (the IRS form that plan sponsors use to report terminated participants with vested benefits), despite having timely filed Form 8955-SSA earlier this summer. While initially causing some concern, the IRS recently announced that due to a programming error, the IRS’s system automatically sent out Form 8955-SSA penalty notices to those plan sponsors who had already timely filed their 2022 Form 8955-SSA. Read more
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00Benjamin Gibbonshttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngBenjamin Gibbons2023-09-15 09:27:212023-09-26 14:29:50Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right to Ignore That Late Form 8955-SSA Notice
You don’t have to be a connoisseur of 1980s pop (we see you, Hall & Oates fans!) to appreciate the relief the IRS granted the retirement industry. In Notice 2023-62, the IRS announced a two-year delay on the Roth catch-up requirements for those earning more than $145,000. All eligible participants – regardless of income – may make catch-up contributions on a pre-tax basis (or Roth basis, at participant election but not required) until January 1, 2026. Read more
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00Beth Nedrowhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngBeth Nedrow2023-08-28 10:03:542023-09-26 14:29:59You Make My Dreams Come True! IRS Delays Roth Catch-Ups
The Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Treasury (collectively, the Departments) recently issued proposed Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) regulations and their second joint report to Congress regarding their MHPAEA enforcement activities as required under the MHPAEA and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA).
In addition, the DOL issued Technical Release 2023-01P, requesting comments on potential data requirements related to non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) and network composition. The proposed regulations and Technical Release indicate that employers can expect increased compliance obligations related to NQTLs and the NQTL comparative analysis reporting and disclosure requirements established by the CAA. For additional information about the CAA’s MHPAEA NQTL comparative analysis reporting and disclosure requirements, please see our blog posts from 2022 and 2021. Read more
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00Alex Smithhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngAlex Smith2023-08-10 12:20:552023-09-26 14:30:20Better Hide the Wine … Employer Considerations as the DOL Doubles Down on Mental Health Parity Compliance in New Proposed Regulations
Many aspects of benefits and executive compensation require coordination between a company’s benefits, HR, finance and securities compliance personnel. One topic currently responsible for many such “all hands” planning sessions is the SEC’s new clawback rule. This rule has been a long time in the making, and the final compliance deadline of December 1, 2023 is now fast approaching.
In 2010, the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act required the SEC and U.S. securities exchanges to require listed companies to implement clawback policies. After delays, proposed rules and other preliminary actions, in October 2022 the SEC issued its final rule (called “Rule 10D-1”) laying out the requirements for clawback policies. The NYSE and Nasdaq followed up by developing listing standards in line with Rule 10D-1. The SEC approved those listing standards on June 9, 2023. Public companies now have their marching orders – the rules are effective October 2, 2023 and listed companies must have clawback policies in place no later than December 1, 2023. Read more
https://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.png00Beth Nedrowhttps://www.employeebenefitslawblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/logo_vertical-v2.pngBeth Nedrow2023-07-27 09:38:172023-09-26 14:30:30With a Little Help From My Friends … New Clawback Rule Requires Coordination of Finance, Securities, HR, and Benefits Personnel
Signed, Sealed, Delivered … Have You Completed Your Plan’s “No Gag Clauses” Attestation?
/in Health & Welfare Plansby Becky Achten
One of the many benefits-related provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 prohibits the use of “gag clauses” in group health plan agreements. Before this law, medical plan service agreements would often include provisions preventing the employer from sharing data like pricing and health plan outcomes available to another party. Hopefully employers have worked to make sure that there are no such clauses in their agreements. But there’s one more step on the compliance ladder. Beginning in 2023, plans must annually attest to their compliance with the gag clause prohibition. Read more
Don’t Know Much About History … But I Do Know How Employers Can Help Their Employees With Student Loan Debt!
/in 401(k) Plans, Fringe Benefitsby Elizabeth Nedrow
Employers try to provide a benefits package that employees appreciate and understand. Beyond the traditional offerings like 401(k), match, medical and dental, employers often try to be responsive to employees’ requests for other programs and features they would find useful (example – fertility benefits). One of the current requests employers may be hearing from their employees is request for assistance with student loan debt. Congress has been hearing those pleas, as well, and has provided employers with two potential avenues for giving relief to their employees. Read more
The Time Has Come, A Fact’s A Fact: Consider Adding a Welfare Plan Committee
/in Cafeteria Plans, Corporate Governance in Benefits, DOL, ERISA, Fees, Fiduciary Duties, Fringe Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Legislation, Litigationby Brenda Berg
The time may have come to add a welfare plan committee to your company’s governance of employee benefit plans. New legal obligations and other developments impose fiduciary risks for welfare plans similar to what already exist for retirement plans.
Most employers that sponsor a 401(k) plan or other retirement plan set up a committee to administer and oversee the plan. This is generally a best practice to ensure that the plan is properly administered in compliance with employee benefits laws and, for plans subject to the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), to have a process for following ERISA fiduciary duties. Fiduciary duties include acting prudently and in the best interests of participants, such as in overseeing service providers and monitoring plan fees. Read more
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right to Ignore That Late Form 8955-SSA Notice
/in 401(k) Plans, IRS, Retirement Plansby Benjamin Gibbons
I have heard from a couple of clients recently who have received a penalty notice from the IRS for purportedly filing a late or incomplete 2022 Form 8955-SSA (the IRS form that plan sponsors use to report terminated participants with vested benefits), despite having timely filed Form 8955-SSA earlier this summer. While initially causing some concern, the IRS recently announced that due to a programming error, the IRS’s system automatically sent out Form 8955-SSA penalty notices to those plan sponsors who had already timely filed their 2022 Form 8955-SSA. Read more
You Make My Dreams Come True! IRS Delays Roth Catch-Ups
/in IRS, Retirement Plansby Elizabeth Nedrow
You don’t have to be a connoisseur of 1980s pop (we see you, Hall & Oates fans!) to appreciate the relief the IRS granted the retirement industry. In Notice 2023-62, the IRS announced a two-year delay on the Roth catch-up requirements for those earning more than $145,000. All eligible participants – regardless of income – may make catch-up contributions on a pre-tax basis (or Roth basis, at participant election but not required) until January 1, 2026. Read more
Better Hide the Wine … Employer Considerations as the DOL Doubles Down on Mental Health Parity Compliance in New Proposed Regulations
/in Benefits Plan Creation, Corporate Governance in Benefits, DOL, ERISA, Fiduciary Duties, Health & Welfare Plans, Legislation, Litigationby Alex Smith
The Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Treasury (collectively, the Departments) recently issued proposed Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) regulations and their second joint report to Congress regarding their MHPAEA enforcement activities as required under the MHPAEA and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA).
In addition, the DOL issued Technical Release 2023-01P, requesting comments on potential data requirements related to non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) and network composition. The proposed regulations and Technical Release indicate that employers can expect increased compliance obligations related to NQTLs and the NQTL comparative analysis reporting and disclosure requirements established by the CAA. For additional information about the CAA’s MHPAEA NQTL comparative analysis reporting and disclosure requirements, please see our blog posts from 2022 and 2021. Read more
With a Little Help From My Friends … New Clawback Rule Requires Coordination of Finance, Securities, HR, and Benefits Personnel
/in Executive Compensationby Elizabeth Nedrow
Many aspects of benefits and executive compensation require coordination between a company’s benefits, HR, finance and securities compliance personnel. One topic currently responsible for many such “all hands” planning sessions is the SEC’s new clawback rule. This rule has been a long time in the making, and the final compliance deadline of December 1, 2023 is now fast approaching.
In 2010, the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act required the SEC and U.S. securities exchanges to require listed companies to implement clawback policies. After delays, proposed rules and other preliminary actions, in October 2022 the SEC issued its final rule (called “Rule 10D-1”) laying out the requirements for clawback policies. The NYSE and Nasdaq followed up by developing listing standards in line with Rule 10D-1. The SEC approved those listing standards on June 9, 2023. Public companies now have their marching orders – the rules are effective October 2, 2023 and listed companies must have clawback policies in place no later than December 1, 2023. Read more