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Congress Giveth and They Taketh Away — Recent Health Plan Changes

In enacting the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, (the “Act”), Congress, among other changes, enacted the following key changes affecting employer group health plans: Repeal of the Cadillac Tax:  Most notably, and a huge relief to most employers, Congress repealed the Cadillac tax.   The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) added a requirement requiring employers to pay […]

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NC

IRS Letters 226J: Having the Right Section 4980H Records Can Be Worth a Small Fortune

As reported in our 2018 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 1) Health & Welfare, the Section 4980H penalties are still in effect and the IRS is enforcing them.  Employers continue to receive Letters 226J, which the IRS uses to propose employer shared responsibility payments. During the Letter 226J process, the IRS […]

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NC

Texas Judge Declares the Affordable Care Act Unconstitutional – What’s Next?

As reported in our “2018 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 1) Health & Welfare,” the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act repealed the individual mandate, which spawned a lawsuit challenging the whole of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”).  The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Texas in February 2018 by the […]

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NC

Congress Kicks the Can Down the Road Again – Cadillac Tax On High Cost Employer Health Coverage Delayed to 2022

Section 4980I, which was added to the Internal Revenue Code by the Affordable Care Act, was originally supposed to take effect in 2018.  This tax is commonly called the “Cadillac tax” because it imposes a 40% excise tax on high cost employer sponsored health coverage. The Consolidated Appropriations Act signed into law on December 18, […]

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NC

New Disability Claims Regulations Take Effect for All Plans April 1, 2018

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 […]

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IRS to Begin Enforcing 4980H Penalties on Large Employers Before End of 2017

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 […]

KP
Former Associate

Transgender Benefits Revisited?

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 […]

Recent Mental Health Parity Guidance — A Good Reminder to Review Your Health Plan for Compliance

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, […]

Full Steam Ahead: IRS Moves Forward to Collect Affordable Care Act Penalties

As efforts to reform the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) stall in Congress, a recent government report suggests that the Internal Revenue Service is preparing to identify and collect employer shared responsibility penalties. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration issued the report, Affordable Care Act: Assessment of Efforts to Implement the Employer Shared Responsibility […]

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A Deeper Dive: Employers Receiving Federal Funding May Be Subject to ACA’s Nondiscrimination Rule and Need to Cover Transgender Benefits

In recent months, we have written a fair amount about providing transgender benefits in light of the nondiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Our blogs of March 30, 2016 and June 22, 2016 highlight the key contours of the nondiscrimination rule.  In our June 22 post, we mention in passing that the final nondiscrimination […]