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About this Blog
Welcome to the Snell & Wilmer Benefits Blog. We will be posting about current employee benefits and executive compensation topics and issues. We invite you to contact the authors with your thoughts or questions.Blog Contributors
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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employer group health plans: Repeal of the Cadillac Tax: Most notably, and a huge relief to most employers, Congress repealed … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged ACA, Affordable Care Act, Cadillac tax, Congress, PCORI
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged 4980H, ACA, Affordable Care Act, Form 1094-C, Form 1095-c, IRS, letter 226j, recordkeeper, vendor
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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As reported in our “2018 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 1) Health & Welfare,” the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act repealed the individual mandate, which spawned a lawsuit challenging the whole of the Affordable Care Act … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged 226J, 4980H, ACA, Affordable Care Act, repeal
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ACA, Affordable Care Act, Cadillac tax, Consolidated Appropriations Act, delay
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ACA, Affordable Care Act, claims, disability, DOL, EBSA, ERISA, regulations
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged 4980H, ACA, Affordable Care Act, employer shared responsibility, health care reform, health plans, IRS, large employer penalties, minimum essential coverage
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ACA, Affordable Care Act, benefits, franciscan alliance, HHS, nondiscrimination, section 1557, transgender
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ACA, Affordable Care Act, Cures Act, disclosure, DOL, investigation, Mental Health Parity, MHPAEA
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ACA, Affordable Care Act, Form 1095-c, IRS, large employer penalties, penalties, reform
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged 1557, ACA, Affordable Care Act, covered entity, EGWP, employer group waiver program, federal financial assistance, FFA, health benefit programs, HHS, nondiscrimination, Notice
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