oriecat

Thanks, JerseyGirl. I thought I should be able to do it, since there are so many variables involved, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't confusing myself.

I want to make sure we can do this... employee came to me in May, said the wife will be covered June 1 under her new employer's plan. So we can submit the drop of the wife. He can also then change down his FSA, can't he? Or could he only do that if she also had an FSA she could then enroll in? Now let's complicate it more- he came to me about two weeks later and tells me they are getting divorced. She has moved out. He is keeping his kid and their kid. Custody of her kid will probably be going to her parents. But at this time, her kid, the employee's stepson, is no longer living with him, so he would like to lower his DCAP. Can the change of residence of the wife and stepson be used as a status change to allow that? Could it also be used to lower the FSA, if it can't be lowered due to the new coverage? I don't really understand the change of residence status change and when it can be used, whether the change also has to affect eligibility for the benefits first. On the DCAP, the plan doc says that "an eligible dependent is any member of your household for whom you can claim expenses", so by moving out the child is no longer a member of the household, so he would lose eligibility and therefore the amount could be reduced, right? But I don't think that would apply for the FSA. I know that once the divorce is final these changes could be made no problem, he just would prefer to lower them now, since he no longer has the expenses for them. Thanks for your thoughts on this! PS - The plan doc pretty much allows all changes in the regs.

And make sure you put the seats way back, it'll be more comfortable that way.

I don't see why not. Sounds like an excludable accident and health fringe benefit. It would need to conform to the requirements, as listed in Pub 15-B.

Either the husband or the wife should be able to add the new child to their plans, since it was a HIPAA special enrollment event. Since the husband is already paying for coverage for children through COBRA, then that might not cost additional for another child. Under our plans, a new born is covered for 30 days under the plan of the mother, I don't know if this is standard practice. Is the coverage with Employer C effective immediately? If so, then there's no reason the baby couldn't be added there as well. Of course, any claims prior to the start date wouldn't be covered. I don't think pre-existing conditions could be placed on a newborn child, but that's just a gut feeling, I can't back it up and I could be wrong!

Why wouldn't they be? I have never seen anything like that mentioned.

I would generally consider calcium to be a nutritional supplement, in the same vein as vitamins. Those are still excluded, right?

From Pub 15-B - de minimus benefits section: Group-term life insurance payable on the death of an employee's spouse or dependent if the fact amount is not more than $2000. From the 15-B Group Term Life coverage, Coverage for dependents: Group term life insurance coverage paid by the employer for the spouse or dependents of an employee may be excludable from income as a deminimus fringe benefit (see page 6). The part of this coverage that the employee paid on an after-tax basis is also excludable from income. For this purpose, the cost is figured using the monthly cost table above.

What sort of paid leave do you mean? I find it hard to imagine continuing to pay someone and not still considering them an employee. If they aren't employed still, why would you keep paying them? (But I don't deny that there are situations that my eyes are not open to yet.) What does the plan doc define for compensation then? Mine basically says anything we pay you and you are taxed on, so any paid leave would apply. Does your definition exclude pay for time not worked, or only include worked time, or some other definition?

What does the plan doc say?

Do you mean domestic partner insurance benefits? If so, you might want to post in the Health Ins forum instead, this is for 401k.

How does your contract define eligible dependent? Have you seen any legal documents that prove any amount of legal custody?

Wow, that's some mistake. That'll teach em to read their plan docs before signing...

With debit card transactions, the substantiation takes place after payment has been processed. EE uses their debit card to purchase their Rx for example. They must then send in the documentation for the substantiation. The problem arises in what to do if they don't do that second step and you then have unsubstantiated claims that have been paid. This is the reason my company will probably not be implementing debit cards.

I think it would depend upon how each state law is worded. California requires deductions to be "expressly authorized in writing" (Labor code 224). Even if the failure to opt out can be viewed as implied consent, it still isn't express or in writing, and the deduction could be viewed as an illegal wage deduction, subject to a wage claim, in my view...

I am certainly no expert on this, but it sounds very weird to me. COBRA premiums have to be determined for each 12 month period of time, in advance, so I don't see how you could determine the premium each time a circumstance arises, unless I am misunderstanding.

Thanks for your thoughts, Katherine!

I can't find where it really specifies something like that. Only thing I see is in the ERISA Information it says "Trust Fund: N/A"

Self-funded Plan established 11/1/02, plan year 11/1/02 through 10/31/03, to pay dental benefits for employees. Funds are kept in a separate bank account under employers name, but with "Dental" specified on the second line. Can that be seen as still being paid from employers assets, or would that be seen as a funded plan requiring an audit? Thanks!

Final COBRA Regs

Yes. There are very very few instances where cash or a cash equivalent is not taxable, and to my knowledge there is no exclusion for wellness benefits.

The final regs are being published in tomorrow's Federal Register.

I would use gross wages.

There could still be a modicum of risk to the employer, if the terminating employee did not have enough funds in their final paycheck to pay for the remainder of the annual election.

Isn't it required to be listed on the Schedule A, if commissions were paid, and what brokers don't charge commission?