MARY E. POWELL, January 11, 2022 On January 10, 2022, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued FAQs Part 51 (FAQs) regarding the requirement for health plans to cover over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 diagnostic testing (“OTC COVID Tests”). This will be required effective with OTC COVID Tests purchased on and after […]
COVID-19
MARY E. POWELL, August 31, 2021 On August 20, 2021, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury (collectively, the Departments), issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the implementation of certain provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Fortunately, several of the most complicated […]
SARAH KANTER, July, 2021 After the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) and release of DOL model notices and FAQs on April 7, 2021, employers and other plan sponsors were still left with many open questions regarding the implementation of COBRA premium assistance. The IRS provided clarity to many of these […]
BRYAN J. CARD, June, 2021 On April 27, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published guidance in the form of five questions and answers (the “Q&A Guidance”) on the partial plan termination relief provided under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”), which was signed into law on December 27, 2020. This partial plan termination […]
ELIZABETH LOH, March 18, 2021 On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (the “Act”). This $1.9 trillion legislative package provides significant pandemic relief. This article focuses on the COBRA continuation coverage subsidy relief, as well as increased Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (“Dependent Care FSA”) relief provided under […]
MARY E. POWELL and SARAH KANTER, March 1, 2021 On February 26, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 (“2021 Relief Notice”)1, which explains how employee benefit plans must administer the end date of the tolling period for certain plan deadlines due to the COVID-19 national […]
MARY E. POWELL and SARAH KANTER, January 29, 2021 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the CAA) contains numerous provisions that impact group health plans. At a high level, these CAA provisions can be broken into three main categories: (1) reducing Out-of-Network (OON) costs for enrollees, (2) providing transparency regarding costs, and (3) permissive changes that […]
T. KATURI KAYE and CATHERINE L. REAGAN, January 14, 2021 Signed by the President in December, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) combines COVID-19 stimulus relief with a number of year-end appropriations bills, and it includes numerous provisions that will impact retirement plans. The retirement plan relief provisions in the CAA are divided between (1) […]
SARAH KANTER, October 8, 2020 A new proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”), released by the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (HHS) (the “Departments”) on July 10, 2020, would permit grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage (“grandfathered plans”) to make greater increases to certain types of cost-sharing requirements […]
ADRINE ADJEMIAN and ROBERT R. GOWER, June 8, 2020 On May 4, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a limited set of FAQs providing administrative guidance addressing the special “coronavirus-related distribution” (CRD) and plan loan provisions under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). As anticipated, the guidance draws […]
RON ASSADI and NICHOLAS J. WHITE, May 18, 2020 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Pandemic”), on April 28, 2020, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01 (the “Notice”). The Notice addresses the following issues as impacted by the Pandemic: (i) deadlines for providing participant disclosures and notices; (ii) […]
ELIZABETH LOH, May 7, 2020 On April 28, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury Department”), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), issued several pieces of guidance providing relief to plan participants, COBRA-qualified beneficiaries, claimants, and plan sponsors who are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance includes the following: […]
JENNIFER D. TRUONG, May 7, 2020 Under IRS Notice 2020-23, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has provided additional relief due to the coronavirus pandemic by extending the deadlines for the time-sensitive actions set forth in Revenue Procedure 2018-58.1 Specifically, the Notice extends the deadlines for filings and other actions that would otherwise be due […]
CATHERINE L. REAGAN and KEVIN E. NOLT, April, 2020 (Updated May 1, 2020) In response to the coronavirus pandemic, on April 10, 2020 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-23, extending the deadlines for the time-sensitive actions set forth in Revenue Procedure 2018-58 to July 15, 2020.1 These extensions apply to certain retirement plan […]
MARY E. POWELL and LINDSAY R. DOCTO, April, 2020 The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) was signed into law on March 27, 2020. The CARES Act makes emergency supplemental appropriations and other changes to law to help the U.S. respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article discusses: (1) the […]
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