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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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Health Plans – A Pain to Administer But Appreciated by Employees
Administering health plans is not the easiest task. Such plans are subject to an alphabet soup of laws, including but not limited to ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, COBRA, HIPAA, GINA, Mental Health Parity, the ADA, the ADEA, and Title VII. However, a November 2017 American Benefits Council survey may make employers feel better about the time, energy, and resources they spend administering their health plans.
The November 2017 survey shows that employees prefer high quality benefit programs over additional pay by a nearly 2‑to‑1 margin. This is surprising because many people assume “cash-is-king.” The survey demonstrates otherwise and highlights how important employer-provided health benefits are to employees. Read More ›
Posted in Health & Welfare Plans
| Tagged ACA, COBRA, halth care, nondiscrimination, Section 125
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Wellness Incentives Under Scrutiny After District Court Decision
In the most recent updates to the AARP v. EEOC wellness case (AARP v. EEOC, D.D.C., No. 1:16-cv-02113), the District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) to review the wellness regulations related to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) with respect to the amount of incentives that an employer may provide under a wellness program.
The ADA and GINA both permit the collection of certain health information by an employer so long as the disclosure is “voluntary.” However, neither the ADA nor GINA provides a definition of what is considered “voluntary.” In May of 2016, the ADA and GINA wellness regulations were finalized and provide, in relevant part, that a wellness program can offer incentives or penalties of up to 30% of the cost of self-only coverage. Read More ›
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged AARP, ADA, EEOC, GINA, nondiscrimination, wellness
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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 and whether additional changes are forthcoming.
On May 18, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued final regulations implementing the nondiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“Section 1557”), which prohibit, in part, the categorical refusal of coverage to transgender participants and require that individuals be treated consistent with their self-selected gender identity. As a result of these changes, many employer group health plans started covering an array of transgender benefits ranging from mental health counseling to gender reassignment surgery. Read More ›
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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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 rule applies to any health program or activity, any part of which receives funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”). This blog provides additional clarity on what it means for a group health plan or an employer to receive federal financial assistance (“FFA”) and, by consequence, become subject to the nondiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Read More ›
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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Transitioning to Coverage: Three Things to Know About the New Transgender Healthcare Regulations
On May 18, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued final regulations implementing the nondiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act. As we discussed in our March 30, 2016 blog, the rule prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity in the provision of health programs. In application, the final regulations prohibit the categorical refusal of coverage to transgender participants and require that individuals be treated consistent with their self-selected gender identity.
- When are the final regulations effective?
The final rule generally is effective July 18, 2016. However, group health plans and health insurance need not be modified to comply with the new nondiscrimination rules until the first day of the first plan year (in the individual market, policy year) beginning on or after January 1, 2017. Read More ›
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged 1557, ACA, Affordable Care Act, benefits, final regulations, health care reform, HHS, Ninth Circuit, nondiscrimination, regulations, Title VII, transgender, transition benefits
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“A Trap for the Unwary” – Does Your Self-Funded Health Plan Provide Transgender Benefits? It Might Need to Soon.
Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi recently offered informal guidance on the broad scope of nondiscrimination regulations proposed under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. During her remarks at the ABA Labor Section Employee Benefits Committee Meeting in February, Ms. Borzi indicated that the proposed regulations would apply to any health plan that receives federal funds, including a self-funded plan that uses a third party administrator that receives federal funds. Ms. Borzi characterized the proposed regulations as a “trap for the unwary,” noting that many self-funded plans assume that the nondiscrimination rules will not apply to them. In light of Ms. Read More ›
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ACA, Affordable Care Act, health care reform, health plans, nondiscrimination, proposed regulations, transgender
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IRS Issues Relief for Certain “Closed” Defined Benefit Plans
In Notice 2014-5, the IRS provided temporary relief from the Code’s nondiscrimination rules for certain defined benefit plans that are closed to new participants. (This is sometimes referred to as a “soft freeze.”).
The temporary relief allows employers who sponsor a closed defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan to comply with Code’s nondiscrimination requirements by aggregating the defined benefit and defined contribution plans and testing the plan on the basis of equivalent benefits, even if the plan would not otherwise satisfy the requirements to be tested on an equivalent benefits basis under the current regulations.
This temporary relief is available for plan years beginning before January 1, 2016 if the defined benefit was closed to new participants prior to December 31, 2013. Read More ›
Posted in Employee Benefits, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged defined benefit plans, frozen plan, IRS, nondiscrimination, qualified retirement plans
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