"Plan sponsor inquiry: Scenario 1: We learned of a qualified FSA expense incurred and made to a participant after date of employment separation due to lag time between the weekly file feed to FSA TPA with employment status changes and TPA updating their records. While we may sometimes know in advance of upcoming employment separations, that is not always the case. Our TPA is telling us that this is not necessarily a violation of FSA regulations and is comparing it to situations where participants use all their FSA funds prior to separation of employment and complete funding of their election. That doesn't sound right to me. Assuming it's not right, are we required to include the improper payment in the former employee's taxable income subject to withholding and payroll taxes in these scenarios? If yes, how is this done when there are no additional wages to take the withholding/payroll taxes from? Scenario 2: FSA TPA fails to terminate FSA account upon receipt of file feed with separation date (error is caught several weeks later). TPA will refund us for any improper reimbursements, and is advising that because it is their error, we have no obligation to include improper reimbursements in the former employee's taxable income. Given our understanding that the plan sponsor has ultimate fiduciary responsibility for proper FSA administration, including monitoring the TPA, this, too, doesn't sound right to me."

"A prospect we have been working with is in the software industry and uses a third-party Employer of Record for a worker that they have in the United Kingdom. This Employer of Record is the legal employer of this worker. Our plans typically use the Non Resident alien exclusion. I'm trying to determine if this arrangement would meet the Non Resident Alien with no US Source income exclusion and the question stops there. If it doesn't, has it been anyone's experience that the arrangement holds up to the IRS standard that this worker is not actually the employee of the plan sponsor?"

"[Based on the] rules for insured plans with under 100 participants being exempt from 5500 filing -- has anyone run into someone getting fine for failure to file it they failed to address refund allocations? Did MLR requirements from the ACA address this enough that having the refund allocation detail in the SPD is unnecessary to still have the 5500 exemption? Has anyone ever had this issue come up post MLR/ACA as a road block to small fully insured plan exemption? I ask because I see many small insured plans that are not filing and do NOT have any reference to refunds or refund allocations. Some are claiming the MLR rules negate this since they dictate the refunds."

"I have a QDRO and Supplemental Journal Entry that the court ordered my ex to keep a life insurance policy in the amount of 200k. When he died I found out not only that he didn't have the insurance, but that he also used DROP to move part of his retirement funds and I was not notified. His estate executor has denied my claim for the estate funds because the administrator of OP&F says no benefits are payable to me. Only his named beneficiary. What are my recourses?"

"We are a large employer (over 200 employees but only 35 who are medical eligible- most employees are part time). Getting fully insured insurance with BCBS. Got quotes from BCBS for employees and they gave 'non Medicare eligible' rates and 'Medicare eligible' rates on the same quote. Medicare eligible were much higher. I thought for large employers they couldn't charge employees or employers more for being Medicare eligible?

"If they can charge employer more, does employer eat the cost difference since the employee can't be charged differently based on age? If employer pays difference, if employee who is Medicare eligible chooses a buy up plan that would cost employer $500 a month for non Medicare employee but is $1200 above that for Medicare eligible employee does employer have to cover that extra $700 of the buy up plan option also? What about if middle of year employee turns 65 but they signed up for 1/1 annual coverage under non Medicare eligible rate? Will BCBS flag it at that point and bill employer for the difference? I can't figure out why BCBS is quoting the Medicare eligible rate separately when everything online says employer and insurance has to offer same benefits at same price if employer has more than 20 employees. Thanks in advance for any insight!"

"Employee incorrectly made 401k contributions during year and had a balance at eoy. This was found after year end and returned timely. For 5500 count purposes -they are not a participant but they have a balance. But count with balances can't exceed eoy participant count. So I'm guessing, treat them as a participant for 5500 count purposes."