The employer has a self-funded group health plan with a plan year beginning June 1. An employee and his spouse become covered on July 1, 1997 after satisfying the waiting period (HIPAA does not apply). The spouse is approx. 2 months pregnant on the July 1 effective date, but has not seen a doctor yet. The plan has a pre-existing condition exclusion that applies to injuries and illnesses that first manifest themselves before the coverage date. Spouse experiences complications with her pregnancy in October that result in a successful c-section birth after a 2-week hospital stay. The plan denies the claim on the basis that the spouse was pregnant prior to the coverage date and all claims related to the pregnancy are excluded under the pre-existing exclusion. Any specific case law supporting the denial under these circumstances? Thank you.

If a plan was using a non top heavy schedule and participants were terminated before changing to a more favorable top heavy schedule should they be vested based on the new vesting schedule? They still have balances and therefore would still be considered partipants for the 5500. My thinking is that they should be able to based on the new vesting schedule. Or is their vesting frozen at the date of termination? Please referrence the code section if possible.

We have plan where a participant reveived a hardship distribution. In spite of instructions to do stop the participant's deferrals for one year, the employer failed to do so. How is this corrected?

In the event a Qualified Participant fails to make an election during the six year period, do the Diversification Election "rights" expire? EXAMPLE: Employee "X" born in 1940 attains the age 55 during 1995, completes 10 years of participation in 1996, makes no election during the six year period 1997 - 2002. Seven years later, in 2003 may Employee "X", still employed, still a Plan Participant, make a Diversification Election?

I know the protection of IRA's can vary from state to state, but is there a state gov't department you can call to find out how IRA's are treated in your state?

It has always been my understanding that a plan has to be executed by the end of the plan year for which it is effective. Our pension attorney has been asked to advise on a situation where an employer adopted an existing plan maintained for members of a controlled group in June of 1993 for the plan year ending December 31, 1992. The employer's taxable year is June 30th. The counsel for the employer advised them that the deadline for adopting the plan is the last day of the employer's taxable year. We thought that we would be able to find a cite to support our opinion and understanding very easily, but we were wrong. It is our understanding that in this situation, the employer should have adopted the plan by 12/31/92 in order for its participation to be effective in 1992. Can anyone help us with this? All comments greatly appreciated, especially those with cites!

Parents pay a "parental fee" into Medical Assistance for their son who is disabled. Can this employee use a FSA to reimburse the monthly parental fee they pay. The fee is based on income and family size and is determined by the state. The parental contribution is based on their ability to pay and is billed monthly. Their monthly statement shows services incurred for that month and dates of service.

What's the limit on the average benefits test for dependent care accounts? Thanks!

------------------

Non-profit organization has a 401(k). There are no HCEs. Is the contribution limited to 25% of comp or 15% of comp? Thanks.

I'm not finding much guidance on this -- can monies from a SIMPLE 401(k) Plan be rolled into a "regular" 401(k) Plan? Here are two scenarios:

1. An employer has a SIMPLE 401(k) plan. As of 12/31, the Employer wishes to "convert" or "merge" the SIMPLE 401(k) plan to a brand new "regular" 401(k) plan. Can the SIMPLE monies go into the "regular" plan? I'm not finding anything that would prohibit this, but nothing that specifically supports it either.

2. An employee participating in a SIMPLE 401(k) plan terminates employment with the employer. Can he/she roll their account into a "regular" 401(k) plan with their new employer?

THANKS.

If an fully insured plan wants to reduce benefits (i.e. no longer cover eye laser surgery), other than HIPAA's requirement to notify within 60 days AFTER the material reduction, does California have any additional laws that may require notice to employees PRIOR to such a reduction?

Suppose that a participant's account balance is less than $5,000 at her termination, but when the balance is to paid out a little later in the year, the value is now over $5,000. Can the account still be paid out without consent?

My question is in regards to saving to buy a house. Is there a way that this can be done with a Roth IRA to save for a down payment? I thought that I read an article that described such an account, similar to saving for college education for your children. I just have not been able to get any further information and any leads will help.

------------------

Thanks - Darcy

We are building an pension administrative system for DROP plan accounts within DB plans. We are curious if anyone has seen exsisting employers using DROP plans with these features.

-Loans

-In-service withdrawls

-Investment election choices

Or any other DC type features applying to DROP accounts.

Thank you,

Garry

Client has a money purchase pension plan with plan year ending 12/31/98. Fiscal year end is september 30th.

Client deposited $10,000 too little for 12/31/98 plan year.

Since this is MPP, the $10,000 must be deposited. But is it late? Are their excise taxes? Do we have any issues here?

Thanks for any input.

Under what conditions can one transfer a variable annuity into a traditional IRA account?

I would suspect this capability is limited given their differences in annual contribution limits.

Company has an existing money purchase and profit sharing plan. They want to establish a 401(k) safe harbor effective 8/1/99.

1. Would the safe harbor be considered a a newly established plan as described in Section X of Notice 98-52?

2. Would it be possible to amend the profit sharing to include the 401k safe harbor effective 8/1/99?

Comments appreciated on how others handle installment payments from PS/401k Plans over period. As account balances change do you adjust installment amounts?

Are retired faculty from an educational institution eligiable for section 125 medical (insurance) reimburesment?

Is there a structure that would provide protection for 457(f) plan assets from the employer's creditors while at the same not removing the substantial risk of forfeiture that must exist for the plan participants to defer current taxation of contributions? And if such structure were available how would it differ in application with governmental entities vs. non-govt. tax-exempt entities?