Subscribe (Free) to
Daily or Weekly Newsletters
Post a Job

Featured Jobs

Regional Vice President of Sales

The Retirement Plan Company
(Remote / AL / FL / GA / MS)

The Retirement Plan Company logo

Retirement Plan Administrator

Bates & Company, Inc.
(Remote / Winter Park FL)

Bates & Company, Inc. logo

Business Development Director

AimPoint Pension
(Remote / Pompano Beach FL / AL / GA)

AimPoint Pension logo

Loan & Distribution Specialist

AimPoint Pension
(Remote)

AimPoint Pension logo

Defined Benefit Combo Cash Balance Compliance Consultant

Loren D. Stark Company (LDSCO)
(Remote)

Loren D.  Stark Company (LDSCO) logo

Director of 3(16) Operations

Compass
(Remote / NH / Hybrid)

Compass logo

View More Employee Benefits Jobs

Free Newsletters

“BenefitsLink continues to be the most valuable resource we have at the firm.”

-- An attorney subscriber

Mobile app icon
LinkedIn icon     Twitter icon     Facebook icon

135 Matching News Items

1.  Senate Finance Hearing to Consider the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Proposal
Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate Link to more items from this source
Sept. 24, 2017
Hearing scheduled for Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, at 2 p.m. Includes testimony from: [1] The Honorable Lindsey Graham (R-SC); [2] The Honorable Mazie Hirono (D-HI); [3] The Honorable Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La); [4] The Honorable Rick Santorum, Former U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania; [5] Mr. Dennis G. Smith, Arkansas Department of Human Services; [6] Ms. Teresa Miller, Department of Human Services, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; [7] Ms. Cindy Mann, Former Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services; [8] Mr. Dick Woodruff, American Cancer Society.
2.  IRS Announces Decreased Penalties for 2025 Employer Shared Responsibility Failures
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Feb. 14, 2024
"The adjusted amount penalty for purposes of Section 4980H(a) of the Code is $2,900 (a $70 decrease from 2024). The adjusted amount penalty for purposes of Section 4980H(b) of the Code is $4,350 (a $110 decrease from 2024)."
3.  Administration Drops Appeal of Prescription Drug Copay Accumulator Program Lawsuit
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Jan. 31, 2024
"[By] not pursuing an appeal, the Biden Administration will not seek to reinstate a rule that explicitly allowed group health plans to exclude prescription drug manufacturer copay assistance from participants' out-of-pocket maximums (a practice known as a 'copay accumulator program').... While the D.C. federal district court vacated the 2021 [Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters], the court did not rule on whether manufacturer copay assistance must be included in the out-of-pocket maximum calculation under the ACA." [HIV and Hepatitis Policy Inst. v. HHS, No. 22-2604 (D.D.C. Sep. 29, 2023)]
4.  Eleventh Circuit Affirms District Court's Approval of the BCBSA $2.67 Billion Settlement
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Nov. 14, 2023
"[E]mployers should be aware that they may have fiduciary duties under ERISA with respect to the use of any proceeds from the settlement fund.... Unless specific guidance is issued related to the BCBSA settlement, employers may want to use the [DOL's] MLR guidance as a reference when determining how to calculate what portion of the BCBSA settlement proceeds should be considered 'plan assets,' and how those funds can be used." [ In re: Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation MDL 2406, No. 22-13051 (11th Cir. settlement agreement approved Oct. 25, 2023)]
5.  Michigan School Retiree Changes Head to Governor's Desk
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Oct. 17, 2023
"Once signed into law, the bill provides for two material changes for MPSERS retirees: [1] The wait period before a retiree can return to a reporting unit and continue to receive their full pension benefits will be reduced to six months. [2] Retirees can return immediately after a bona fide termination if they make less than $15,100 that calendar year."
6.  Sixth Circuit Provides Reminder to Review Plan Documents Carefully
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Aug. 15, 2023
"Patterson initially recognized the validity of UHC's claim based upon the summary of the underlying health plan, but later learned -- after he had paid a portion of the recovery to UHC -- that the health benefit plan did not recognize a right to reimbursement by UHC. The Sixth Circuit ultimately determined that Patterson had the right to sue UHC for claims under ERISA, due to the improper claim that UHC had made for reimbursement in the first place." [Patterson v. United HealthCare Ins. Co., No. 22-3167 (6th Cir. Aug. 1, 2023)]
7.  IRS Issues Guidance on Expenses Related to COVID-19 and Preventive Care
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
July 28, 2023
"[F]or plan years ending after December 31, 2024, a high-deductible health plan will no longer be permitted to provide coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment under the HDHP before the minimum HDHP deductible is met without jeopardizing a participant's HSA eligibility.... Notice 2023-37 ... clarified that the preventive care safe harbor does not include screening (i.e., testing) for COVID-19, effective as of June 23, 2023 ... [T]his clarification will not be relevant for HDHPs/HSAs until the first plan year ending after December 31, 2024."
8.  The Presidentially Declared COVID-19 National Emergency Is Over
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
May 9, 2023
"[DOL] and IRS have informally commented that the 'outbreak period' will end on July 10, 2023.... [This article] recaps the implications on employer-sponsored group health plans of the end of the national emergencies under the NEA and the Stafford Act."
9.  The COVID-19 National Emergency Is Over
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Apr. 11, 2023
"On April 10, 2023, President Biden signed into law HJRes 7, which terminated the President’s national emergency declaration for COVID-19 effective immediately.  ... [T]he COVID-19 'outbreak period' will end 60 days later ... As a result, on June 10, 2023, any deadlines that are 'paused' as a result of the national emergency, such as deadlines for COBRA elections, COBRA premium payments, and certain COBRA notices; HIPAA special enrollment requests; and the filing of claims and appeals, will start to run again."
10.  March 31 Air Ambulance Reporting Deadline Delayed
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Mar. 30, 2023
"Group health plans may contract with their insurer (if fully insured) or third-party administrator (if self-funded) to satisfy the reporting requirement. However, only agreements with an insurer will 'legally' shift the reporting obligation. Self-funded group health plans will need to rely on indemnification provisions to shift liability for compliance.... [T]he original reporting requirement for the 2022 calendar year was scheduled to be March 31, 2023. However, the reporting deadline is now delayed until the Departments issue final regulations."
11.  What Health Plan Sponsors Need to Know About the End of the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Mar. 15, 2023
"In general, after May 11, 2023, group health plans will no longer be required to cover testing, preventive services, and vaccines for COVID-19 without cost-sharing. However, the requirement under the CARES Act that non-grandfathered group health plans must cover in-network preventive services and vaccines for COVID-19 is not tied to the ending of the PHE."
12.  IRS Effectively Eliminates Paper Filing for Forms 1095-C
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Mar. 1, 2023
"In the final rule, the IRS dropped the threshold for electronic filing to 10 informational returns and now requires employers to aggregate certain informational returns when determining whether the employer has satisfied the 10-informational return threshold (while there are forms in addition to the Forms W-2 and 1095-C that must be aggregated for this purpose, these appear to be two of the more common informational returns that are subject to this aggregation requirement)."
13.  Michigan Appellate Court Upholds Existing Paid Sick Leave Law
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Jan. 26, 2023
"[T]he Michigan Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's July 2022 decision that had found the 2018 state legislature's 'adopt and amend' strategy violated the state constitution. As a result, Michigan employers will not be required to ... expand their paid sick leave policies." [Mothering Justice v. Michigan, No. 362271 (Mi. Ct. App. Jan. 26, 2023)]
14.  IRS Finalizes Permanent Extension of ACA Reporting Deadlines
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Dec. 22, 2022
"Under previous good-faith reporting relief, the IRS generally did not impose penalties for incomplete or inaccurate forms when the reporting entity could show that it 'made good-faith efforts to comply with the information-reporting requirements.' However, in the final regulations, the IRS confirmed that this good-faith reporting relief is no longer available."
15.  Inflation Reduction Act Includes Key Health Provisions
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Sept. 21, 2022
"[T]he IRA provides a safe harbor that allows high deductible health plans (HDHPs) to cover insulin before the participant meets the HDHP's deductible without adversely affecting the participant's health savings account (HSA) eligibility. In addition, the IRA ... establishes a system for Medicare to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers ... [which has] the potential to raise group health plans' costs in the future because employer group health plans are not eligible for the negotiated drug price rates or the rebates."
16.  District Court Approves Blue Cross Blue Shield $2.67 Billion Settlement, Acknowledges Importance of ERISA Fiduciary Duties
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Aug. 11, 2022
"Employers who made a claim should be aware that they may have fiduciary duties under ERISA with respect to the use of any proceeds from the settlement fund. In its approval order ... the court stated that all ERISA fiduciaries must comply with those duties.... [T]he court acknowledged that while the settlement funds are not 'plan assets' at the time of their distribution, the [DOL] may take the position that some of those settlement funds are 'plan assets' after distribution." [In re: Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation MDL 2406, No. 13-20000 (N.D. Ala. settlement approved Aug. 9, 2022)]
17.  Michigan Court of Claims Stays Ruling on Michigan's Paid Medical Leave Law
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
Aug. 1, 2022
"[F}or now, ... the current Paid Medical Act remain[s] in effect; however, effective February 19, 2023, the Earned Sick Time Act will replace the Paid Medical Leave Act ... unless the Court's decision is overturned altogether on appeal. It is also possible that parts of the ruling will become moot if new legislation is passed."
18.  Michigan Court Voids Current Paid Medical Leave Law, Reinstating Original Versions from 2018
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
July 20, 2022
"On Tuesday, July 19, 2022, the Michigan Court of Claims determined that the Michigan Legislature violated the Michigan Constitution when it adopted and then amended two ballot petition initiatives in 2018.... The laws as amended by the Legislature were quite different from the original ballot initiatives in a number of ways."
19.  Supreme Court Opens Door to Limiting Reimbursement Rates for Outpatient Dialysis Treatment
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
June 29, 2022
"[G]roup health plans may explore excluding outpatient dialysis as an in-network benefit or, at least, changing the reimbursement rate for out-of-network providers of outpatient dialysis services. This appears to be a permissible practice if the reimbursement rate is uniform and applies to all participants, regardless of an ESRD diagnosis. This may, however, only be possible for self-funded group health plans." [Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc., No. 20-1641 (S. Ct. Jun. 21, 2022)]
20.  Sixth Circuit Strikes Blow for Sponsors of 401(k) Plans in Fiduciary Litigation
Miller Johnson Link to more items from this source
June 28, 2022
"[T]he Sixth Circuit released a powerful opinion in defense of fiduciaries managing employees' investment options in 401(k) plans, stating that [ERISA] 'does not give the federal courts a broad license to second-guess the investment decisions of retirement plans.'... The decision provides cause to hope that in the future employer plan sponsors will find greater success at having such fees cases dismissed at the pleadings stage." [Smith v. CommonSpirit Health, No. 22-5964 (6th Cir. Jun. 21, 2022)]
   Next »

Your Search Options

  • If you have selected the Any Word radio button, above:

    Enter a single word, or as many words as you'd like (perhaps some synonyms). An item will match if it contains any one of the words.

    If you enter several words, the search engine will determine which words are the most important. So you can enter a question. Or you can paste an excerpt of several paragraphs from an article on another website to find similar news items on BenefitsLink.

  • If you have selected the All Words radio button, above:

    Enter several words. An item will match only if it contain every one of the words.

  • If you have selected the Advanced radio button, above:

    Certain words and punctuation take on special meanings—

    • Quotation marks can be used to require an exact phrase, such as
      "standard of review"
    • The words AND, OR and NOT become logic operators, which are especially powerful when used with parentheses, such as
      (vested OR vesting OR lifetime) AND (retiree OR retirement) AND (health OR healthcare) AND (benefits OR coverage)
© 2024 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.