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40 Matching News Items

1.  Employers Council on Flexible Compensation Comment Letter to Chairman of U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways & Means, on Repealing 'Use-It-Or-Lose-It' for Health FSAs (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
June 8, 2012
"Under the use it or lose it rule, health care FSA participants must either use all of their FSA dollars or forfeit them at the end of the plan year. ECFC has long supported efforts to overturn this rule either through legislative action such as the cash-out approach envisioned in the bipartisan H.R. 1004, the Medical FSA Improvement Act, or a 'roll over' put in place through regulatory action, which we fully believe the Administration has the authority to undertake."
2.  Employers Council on Flexible Compensation Comment Letter to EBSA on Proposed Amendments to Excepted Benefits Regs (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Feb. 28, 2014
Topics include: Clarification of Application of Excepted Benefits Rule to Stand-Alone Self-Funded Dental or Vision Only Plans; Availability of Health FSAs to Employees without Access to Employer-Provided Health Coverage; Technical Clarification for Proposed Limited Scope Wraparound Excepted Benefit; and Application of Excepted Benefits Rule to Wellness Programs.
3.  From the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation: Text of Extensive Comments on Proposed Cafeteria Plan Regs (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Nov. 6, 2007
37 pages; filed November 5, 2007. Very well-written: clear, precise; includes explanation of issues and a detailed suggested revision for each issue.
4.  Supreme Court's ACA Decision Reaffirms Need for Flexible Benefit Plans for Health Care Solutions (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
June 28, 2012
"The Supreme Court's decision upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reaffirms the need for employer-based plans to operate efficiently and effectively to provide the most valuable coverage possible to employees through flexible benefit and individual account plans, and the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation remains committed to advocating for these tax-advantaged accounts. ECFC believes the ACA creates an environment in which the Administration should exercise its authority to dispense with some archaic benefit regulations, such as the flexible spending account (FSA) 'use it or lose it' rule."
5.  ECFC Comment Letter to CMS and HHS on Proposed Standards for Essential Health Benefits, Actuarial Value, and Accreditation, Including Request for Extension of Comment Period (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Dec. 23, 2012
"[G]iven the proposed rule's significant implications, ECFC respectfully requests that the Department provide for at least a 60-day comment period.... Despite working diligently to digest the proposed rule and prepare this response, [the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation] -- along with any number of stakeholders -- could benefit from a longer comment period, which will help ensure that the comments and recommendations received by HHS are well-informed, constructive, and complete."
6.  ECFC Comment Letter to IRS on about Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Jan. 15, 2018
"We believe that Congress did not intend that coverage of excepted benefits would be considered group health coverage causing an employer to be unable to offer a QSEHRA to its employees.... [IRS Notice 2017-67 provides] that an employer would not be eligible to offer a QSEHRA if it provides current employees with continued access to amounts which accumulated in an HRA in previous year or carryover amounts in an FSA ... This is counterproductive to the policy behind consumer-directed health accounts[.]"
7.  ECFC Statement on Two-Year Delay of Cadillac Tax (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Dec. 20, 2015
"While the ECFC views this delay measure as an interim achievement ... it stands by its vital commitment to repealing or revising the tax as soon as possible. Among those most harmed by the Cadillac tax are Americans who rely on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to set aside pretax dollars to help them better manage their healthcare costs during a time of rising premiums, deductibles, and copayments. This is because consumers ' own pre-tax dollars count toward the thresholds set by the Cadillac tax."
8.  ECFC Comment Letter to DOL on Application of Fiduciary Rule to HSAs (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
July 28, 2017
"ECFC members believe that to impose the same fiduciary requirements for HSAs as are imposed on [IRAs] is administrative overreach by the Department. The Department can justify its need to regulate IRAs under the Fiduciary Rule since IRAs frequently are a conduit for ERISA-covered retirement plans. The same cannot be said of HSAs.... If the Department does not agree with ECFC's re commendation that HSAs should not be subject to the Fiduciary Rule, the Department should permit HSAs to be eligible for the platform provider exception in the Prohibited Transaction Exceptions."
9.  ECFC Comment Letter to EEOC on Proposed Overtime Pay Regs under FLSA (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
May 27, 2019
"ECFC is concerned that amounts allocated by the employer to an employee's account under a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) may not be exempt from FSLA unlike other health plans arrangements established by an employer and would request clarification under the final regulations that HRAs be treated similar to other employer-provided health benefit plans."
10.  ECFC Letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Employee Benefits Provisions in the Unified Framework for Tax Reform (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Oct. 4, 2017
"ECFC believes that any cap of the employer exclusion is bad for employees and will result in employers curtailing the maintenance of consumer-directed health accounts, particularly those accounts funded through employee salary deductions through a cafeteria plan.... [T]he enhanced Child Tax Credit could work in concert with the dependent care assistance FSAs to provide assistance in financing child care expenses for all working Americans.... While delay of the effective date of the Cadillac Tax is helpful in the short run, delay will only slow the trend of employers eliminating or curtailing employee contributions to FSA and HSA; only complete repeal of the Cadillac Tax or the exemption of employee contributions from the calculation of the tax will stop this trend."
11.  ECFC Comment Letter to HHS, IRS and DOL on Health Reimbursement Arrangements and Other Account-Based Group Health Plans (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Dec. 31, 2018
"We request clarification that substantiation need not occur upon initial ICHRA enrollment; rather substantiation prior to first reimbursement would be adequate.... We would ask that an additional class of employees be considered: exempt and non-exempt employees.... We request confirmation in the final regulations that classes are determined on an employer-by-employer basis not on a controlled group basis."
12.  ECFC Comment Letter to HHS on ACA Regulatory Simplification (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
July 12, 2017
"We urge the Department to take this opportunity to review the excepted benefits regulation s and eliminate the so-called group health plan 'footprint' requirement so that health FSAs are allowable for employees even if there is no group health plan coverage offered to them through an employer (either because the employer does not offer group health coverage, or does not offer group health coverage to that particular class of employees)."
13.  ECFC Statement Submitted to House Subcommittee Hearing on Consumer-Directed Health Plans (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
June 7, 2018
"Congress should take steps to stop the impact of the Cadillac Tax on consumer-directed health plans.... If full repeal of the excise tax is not feasible, we would advocate that employee contributions to FSAs and HSAs be exempted from the calculation of the Cadillac Tax or any direct limitation that may be proposed on employer-provided coverage."
14.  ECFC Applauds Report on Reforming the Healthcare System by Increasing Consumer Choice
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Dec. 5, 2018
"[The report prepared by DOL, HHS, and the Treasury Department] outlines several legislative changes that could be made to increase the use of HSAs by: [1] Allowing innovative insurance products (such as those that provide payment for generic drugs below the deductible or fixed fee payments for primary care) to be coupled with HSAs; [2] Allowing individuals enrolled in a health insurance plan with a 70 percent actuarial value (AV), or below, to contribute to an HSA; and [3] Raising the contribution limits to HSAs."
15.  ECFC Comment Letter to HHS on Proposed Regs for Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014, Including Request for Extension of Comment Period (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Dec. 23, 2012
"While we applaud CMS' and HHS' desire to quickly finalize the rules so that affected entities can begin implementation sufficiently in advance of 2014, we respectfully request that CMS extend the comment period to at least March 6, 2013 -- a period of no less than 90 days after the date the Proposed Rule was published.... There must be some balance between the need to ensure a timely implementation and the need to ensure an effective implementation.... The time currently allotted to submit comments will not afford a meaningful opportunity to review, which will prevent an effective implementation[.]"
16.  ECFC Thanks Congress, Administration for Repeal of the Cadillac Tax
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Dec. 19, 2019
"Repeal of the Cadillac Tax continues to be one of our highest legislative priorities ... [ECFC wants] to thank Congress and the Administration for recognizing the deleterious effect that the Cadillac Tax would have on employer sponsorship of health care plans, especially consumer-directed health plans, and for repealing the tax."
17.  ECFC Letter to IRS Requesting Guidance for Application of Revised HSA Contribution Limits (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Mar. 18, 2018
"Application of the current rules regarding excess contributions is administratively complex.... In the current situation where individuals made contributions based on guidance issued by the IRS that was revoked when new tax legislation was enacted, there seems to be no reason to impose the detailed excess contribution regime on individuals and those who administer HSA trusts and custodial accounts."
18.  Agencies Release Guidance on Mandated Benefits and Cost-Sharing Limits
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Feb. 25, 2013
"In addition to having far-reaching implications for fully insured plans, these rules impact self-funded plans (including HRAs) in several ways: The agencies did not accept ECFC's recommendation that employer-funded amounts to an IRC 106 FSA (which includes many HRAs) count toward satisfying the insurer's minimum deductible requirements.... The final regulations generally adopt the methodology established in the proposed regulations for determining whether an employer-sponsored plan satisfies the 60 percent minimum value requirements of ACA."
19.  Text of Letter to HHS, IRS and DOL Requesting Guidance for Stand-Alone HRAs (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Oct. 26, 2012
"[T]he ACA prohibitions on annual and lifetime limits may hinder the establishment of stand-alone HRAs for many employers, an outcome which, in our view, runs counter to the central health reform goal of ensuring the availability of affordable choices for employers and employees. Additionally, the required contributions toward reinsurance payments ... would apparently apply to third party administrators on behalf of HRAs if an exemption is not available. Since HRAs are entirely funded with employer contributions, this additional fee would weigh heavily upon the employers who offer HRAs -- perhaps causing employers to drop this valuable tool for consumer driven health care. For the above reasons, ECFC respectfully requests that the Departments issue guidance to allow for a new excepted benefit category for stand-alone HRAs and offers some specific recommendations[.]"
20.  Individual Medical Policy Arrangements May Result in Significant Excise Tax Liability (PDF)
Employers Council on Flexible Compensation [ECFC] Link to more items from this source
Aug. 18, 2014
31 pages. "[ECFC agrees] that the payment of [individual market (IM)] policy premiums is a permissible cafeteria plan qualified benefit and that the provision of such coverage through the cafeteria plan continues to be exempt from income and employment tax under the Internal Revenue Code. We also agree that a cafeteria plan, in and of itself, is not a group health plan subject to the ACA. However, the Agency Guidance clearly states that any arrangement, which pays or reimburses an employee's IM policy premiums on a pre-tax basis would be an 'employer payment plan', which the Agency Guidance clearly indicates is a 'group health plan' subject to the ACA. The Agency Guidance is also clear that an employer payment plan violates the ACA and employers who sponsor such arrangements would be subject to a potential excise tax of $100 per employee per day."
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