Employers make contributions on behalf of their employees to a multiemployer health plan. For tracking purposes, the plan provides to third-party service provider SSNs and certain other info of the participants to document the amounts that been contributed on their behalf.

Does the HIPAA privacy rule protect the transmission of this info even though it pertains only to the fact that contributions have been made for health coverage and does not relate to the actual health condition of the employees? In other words, does information pertaining only to plan funding (and not payment for claims) sufficiently "relate to the payment for the provision of health care to an individual" so as to constitute IIHI? If so, this would require a business associate agreement w/ the service provider, right?

hi,

I am a new person and complit dummy in all IRA and RothIRA...

So, if I would like to open RothIRA or IRA and would like to use them to invest in Real Estate, do I have to have a custodian company? Theis fees are pretty high.

Can I just open the account on my own and then invest in Real Estate with it without any custodians and without paying them the fees?

Thanks.

I am taking the C3 exam. Anyone know how to get some practice questions.

A company wants to put in place a self-funded health plan under which only certain costs associated with hospital co-pays will be reimbursed. In general, the company wants to give employees 6 months after the end of the year or after termination of employment to request reimbursement for eligible expenses incurred during employment. However, if the company terminates the participant's coverage "for cause", the employee will lose his right to seek reimbursement after employment terminates, even if the expenses were incurred while employed.

Other than all of the issues regarding defining "for cause", can anyone see any problems with this? I can seek an increased risk for a claim under ERISA Section 510, and possibility of discriminatory benefits depending on how this is operated, but is there any problem with having a benefit being reimburseable unless you subsequently are terminated for cause?

Just a general inquiry:

I enjoy Sal Tripodi's Erisa Outline Book, and also the only RIA Checkpoint Service for most of my Retirement (and, in the case of RIA, some health/welfare plan) research needs.

I'm curious, though, about what resources some of you may find especially helpful in the health/welfare area. I know the EBIA books (at least the ones I've seen) are good.

Any other tips on comprehensive Health/Welfare resources out there?

Thanks in advance for any shared insights.

Is it possible for the ESOP to own stock that would have the greatest voting rights and would also pay dividends, while the other owners own stock that is not dividend paying? Thanks.

If an employer has a SIMPLE Plan and an employee leaves employment (after being a participant), and comes back after 5 years, are they automatically a particpant when they come back? And if so, do they come back in on the next entry date or immediately?

Thank you so much for any advice you can give in this area. I do not do SIMPLE Plans (but the broker is asking).

I have a participant that had laser eye surgery in 2004. The participant makes monthly payments for the surgery. In 2004, he was not a particpant in the employers FSA plan. He is participating in the 2005 FSA Medical plan year. Can he claim the monthly payments for the eye surgery? I would appreciate any input. Thanks!

I know that the Bottom-Up QNEC provisions are being radically changed with the final regulations that are effective 1/1/2006 - but in the meantime I am pulling my hair out trying to figure this situation out...

Let's say that a plan fails their 1/1/2004 to 12/31/2004 ADP/ACP test. The plan document allows a Bottom-Up QNEC to be made as a correction.

According to the ERISA Outline book, in order for the QNEC to be treated as an annual addition for the 2004 plan year, it has to be contributed no later than 30 days past the employers tax filing deadline.

So let's say that we're past that date - so the QNEC will be treated as an annual addition for the 2005 limitation year (assuming the limitation year is 1/1).

Let's say that the NHCE with the lowest salary on the 12/31/04 ADP/ACP test has a salary of $3,200.00 and let's also assume this NHCE did not have any contributions in the 2004 plan year.

If the QNEC was to be treated as an annual addition for the 2004 year - then we know that this NHCE can only get a QNEC of $3,200.00 - because anything more and they would exceed the Section 415 limit.

But in this situation, the QNEC is being treated as an annual addition for the 2005 year, because it's not being contributed until after 30 days after the tax filing deadline.

So how do we know how much of a QNEC to give this NHCE? We won't know their 2005 415 limit until 12/31/2005. Do we just give them the maximum amount as we can until it satisfies the ADP/ACP test(s)? What if that ends up being a contribution of over $10,000.00 ???

Here is the situation:

I have a safe harbor (match) 401(k) psp. The discretionary ps contribution is cross-tested (of course, why else would I be here....for fun?). I know that for coverage purposes, we can exclude terms with less than 500 hrs.

When testing, we failed the rate group test so then we move on to the ABT. Are terminated participants with <500 hrs included in the ABT?

I hope there is enough info for some advice, if more is needed I can supply it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Carson Vaughan

can anyone tell me where I may find a copy of this to review?

I have a plan that tests its divisions separately. During the year, a participant worked most of the year for a division that wasn't top heavy. During the year, he transferred to a small division that is top heavy. Should the allocation be based on full year comp with the company or part year comp with the small division.

Does section 3(a) (2) of the Securities Act of 1933 exempt interests in multiple employer defined contribution plans? The terms relate to a plan "established by an employer for the exclusive benefit of its employees". Does an employer that adopts a plan maintained by an unrelated employer, thereby making the plan a multiple employer plan, "establish" a plan for its employees? Or is it simply participating in a plan established by another employer for the other employer's employees? If an employer allows an unrelated employer to participate in its plan, is the plan established "for the exclusive benefit of its employees"?

Would this be a good subject for the next update of the BNA Tax Management Portfolio on Securities Law Aspects of Employee Benefits Plans?

How about the exemption from the definition of investment company under section 3©(11) of the Investment Company Act of 1940? Is a multiple employer plan an "employee plan"?

The securities laws speak a different dialect than the tax laws and ERISA.

Late deposits - what will happen to my client if I put on attachment 4a - corrected outside of VFCP? Is there a 100% correlation between a DOL audit and enterring in that field?

I have a case in conversion where the prior tpa enterred an amount as being deposited late. The DOL sent a packet to the client and told them they can elect to submit to VFCP by May 10. What is likely to happen to the client if they don't submit and write a letter detailing the correction (the alternative listed in the letter)?

How difficult is it to submit an application to the VFCP?

I just found out that a client had an owner (10%) who turned 70 1/2 in June 2002. This partiicpant should have received a distribution by April 1, 2003 but did not. We need to give him back RMD's, correct? So I need to calculate on e based on his 12/31/01 bal (for 2002), his 12/31/02 bal (for 2003) and his 12/31/03 bal (for 2004). Can this be corrected thru VCP? Penalties?

Thanks for your help.

Where a controlled group employs individuals in multiple countries, should the plan use the general rule set out in the code to determine US source income or may the plan rely on the applicable treaties?

I.e., do you treat non-resident aliens as excludable if (a) the portion of their compensation attributable to services performed in the US exceeds $3000 (the Code answer), (b) if they work in the US more than the number of days specified in the treaty (the answer under most treaties), or © they are not US citizens or you know that are resident aliens (ignoring the US source income portion of the exclusion)?

A client wants to implement a negative enrollment feature in their existing plan. Does the commonwealth of PA require written authorization from an employee in order to withhold from their earnings? If so, how does this impact a sponsor's ability to implement negative enrollment?

Also, if anyone has experience with negative enrollment, what deferral rates are being used?

I attended a conference that said 2% is the norm.

I have found the annuities institute at Annuities Institute to be very helpful and informative. Hope you find this helpful as well.

Frank Carlucci

Is there any solution for an employee who enrolled in a dependent care reimbursement account in anticipation of a birth, and then there was a misscarriage? Could this be a correctable error and the plan allow the amounts paid to be refunded without violating the tax benefits of the plan?

My wife's uncle passed away and left her with three IRA's. She is 49, and will be 50 in January. I know we have three options: 1) take all the money now, 2) do a five year plan, or 3) do a stretch plan. My questions is, will she have to pay the 10% penalty for taking the money..