September 25, 2020
Late Payments & Cancellations in the Time of COVID-19 A Survival Guide – by Emily Saunders With the onset of the COVID pandemic, we have all experienced delays with the mail. Made worse by an increase in shipping as people begin adapting to working from home, mail workers increasingly off the job due …
September 3, 2020
Executive Order Directs IRS to Defer Certain Payroll Tax Obligations September 2020 Human Resources Bulletin On August 8, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive memorandum that directs the U.S. Department of the Treasury to defer certain payroll tax obligations for employees in order to lighten their financial burden during this ongoing …
August 28, 2020
Medicare Part D Notice of Creditable (or Non-Creditable) Coverage September 2020 Benefits Brief Plan sponsors of group health plans providing prescription drug coverage to individuals who are eligible for Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage are required to satisfy certain notice requirements. Background Individuals must enroll in Medicare Part D prescription drug …
August 21, 2020
Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance issuers to spend a minimum percentage of premium dollars on medical care and health care quality improvement, which is intended to lower the cost of care. This percentage is known as “medical loss ratio” (MLR). In the large group insurance market, the …
August 13, 2020
Voluntary Plans: A Safe Harbor from ERISA’s Application August 2020 Benefits Brief Commonly, the term “voluntary plan” is used to refer to insurance coverage that is offered to employees on a voluntary basis with employees covering the full cost of the premium. Voluntary plans may involve group insurance coverage, such as dental insurance, …
August 12, 2020
Increased ACA Affordability Percentages for 2021 July 21, 2020 Last week, on July 21, 2020, the IRS released Rev. Proc. 2020-36, which announced the 2021 indexing adjustments for two important percentages under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Affordability Percentage Increased to 9.83%. Under the employer shared responsibility provisions (ESRP) of the ACA, …
June 19, 2020
California Paid Family Leave (PFL) Extended On June 27, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed California’s 2019-20 state budget, which included an expansion of the state’s family temporary disability insurance program administered through the Employment Development Department (EDD). Senate Bill (SB) 83 provides certain workers with up to eight weeks, up from six weeks, …
June 19, 2020
PCORI Fee Deadline Just Around the Corner The Affordable Care Act requires health insurers and sponsors of self-funded group health plans (including health reimbursement arrangements) to pay a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee. Originally, the law provided that the PCORI fee would not be assessed for plan years ending after September 30, …
May 29, 2020
2021 HSA and HDHP Limits The IRS recently released Revenue Procedure 2020-32 issuing the new inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and qualified high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2021. The limits are as follows: Key HSA Issues There are several issues to address in offering a qualified high deductible health …
May 19, 2020
Increase to Health FSA Carryover Limit The IRS announced on May 12, 2020, an increase to the carryover limit permitted of Health Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs). This increase is not provided in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, nor is it a temporary adjustment. Employer-sponsors may adopt the increase beginning with FSA …
