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Sr. Multi-Employer Benefits Administrator

First Hill Trust Company
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QRP Retirement Plan Officer

GreatBanc Trust
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FuturePlan, by Ascensus
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Retirement Plan Administrator

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Retirement Plan Administrator

Forrestall CPAs, LLC
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Retirement Plan Consultants
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U.S. Retirement & Benefits Partners
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] Link to more items from this source
[Official Guidance]
Nov. 8, 2024

"The monthly actuarial rates for 2025 are $368.10 for aged enrollees and $487.80 for disabled enrollees. The standard monthly Part B premium rate for all enrollees for 2025 is $185.00 ... (The 2025 premium is 5.9 percent or $10.30 higher than the 2024 standard premium rate of $174.70 ...) The Part B deductible for 2025 is $257.00 for all Part B beneficiaries.... Beginning in 2023, certain Medicare enrollees who are 36 months post kidney transplant, and therefore no longer eligible for full Medicare coverage, can elect to continue Part B coverage of immunosuppressive drugs by paying a premium. For 2025, the standard monthly Part B immunosuppressive drug coverage only premium is $110.40."

Tags: Health Plan Costs  •  Medicare

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] Link to more items from this source
[Official Guidance]
Nov. 8, 2024

12 pages. "For CY 2025, the inpatient hospital deductible will be $1,676. The daily coinsurance amounts for CY 2025 will be as follows: $419 for the 61st through 90th day of hospitalization in a benefit period; $838 for lifetime reserve days; and $209.50 for the 21st through 100th day of extended care services in a skilled nursing facility in a benefit period."

Tags: Health Plan Costs  •  Medicare

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] Link to more items from this source
[Official Guidance]
Nov. 8, 2024

"This premium is paid by enrollees aged 65 and over who are not otherwise eligible for benefits under Medicare Part A and by certain individuals with disabilities who have exhausted other entitlement. The monthly Medicare Part A premium for the 12 months beginning January 1, 2025, for these individuals will be $518. The premium for certain other individuals as described in this notice will be $285."

Tags: Health Plan Costs  •  Medicare

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] Link to more items from this source
[Official Guidance]
Nov. 8, 2024

"The increase in the 2025 Part B standard premium and deductible is mainly due to projected price changes and assumed utilization increases that are consistent with historical experience.... .... The Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible that beneficiaries pay if admitted to the hospital will be $1,676 in 2025, an increase of $44 from $1,632 in 2024.... The 2025 Part D income-related monthly adjustment amounts for high-income beneficiaries are shown[.]"  [BenefitsLink Note: The 2025 Part B total premiums for high-income beneficiaries with full Part B coverage appear to be missing from this Fact Sheet at the time of publication -- but see the Federal Register Notice.]

Tags: Health Plan Costs  •  Medicare

Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

"Notice 2024-77 clarifies ... that certain provisions of EPCRS, including provisions that require corrective payments, no longer apply with respect to an inadvertent benefit overpayment. Notice 2024-77 also clarifies that plans may seek recoupment from overpayment recipients under EPCRS, but are not required to do so. However, Notice 2024-77 notably does not address the SECURE 2.0 changes under ERISA Section 206(h), which impose conditions on fiduciaries who seek recoupment of inadvertent benefit overpayments."

Tags: Retirement Plan Administration  •  SECURE 2.0

Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, LLC Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

"[A]lthough long-term part-time employees will be allowed to make elective deferrals into 401(k) and 403(b) plans, management may choose whether to provide non-elective or matching contributions to such participants. These participants also may be excluded from nondiscrimination and top-heavy requirements. This requirement will create unique tracking challenges as plans will need to track hours worked for recurring part-time employees over multiple years."

Tags: 401(k) Plans  •  403(b) Plans and Annuities  •  Retirement Plan Administration  •  SECURE 2.0

Internal Revenue Service [IRS] Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

"An employee who chooses to participate in an FSA can contribute up to $3,300 through payroll deductions during the 2025 plan year.... If the plan allows, the employer may also contribute to an employee's FSA. If the employee's spouse has a plan through their employer, the spouse can also contribute up to $3,300 to that plan.... For FSAs that permit the carryover of unused amounts, the maximum carryover amount to 2025 is $660, increasing from $640 in tax year 2024. The carryover doesn't affect the maximum amount of salary reduction contributions that can be made."

Tags: Cafeteria Plans

Thomson Reuters / EBIA Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

"Covered entities and business associates are invited to conduct risk assessments that review emerging social engineering threats, and deploy safeguards such as anti-phishing technologies, scanning web links or attachments, and using machine learning or behavioral analysis to detect and prevent potential threats. The newsletter points out that individuals are often the 'weakest link' in exposing covered entities and business associates to social engineering threats and outlines how HIPAA covered entities, business associates, and individuals can defend against them."

Tags: HIPAA

FredReish.com Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

"[One] question is whether a company with a 'new' 401(k) or private sector 403(b) plan must automatically enroll only the 'new' eligible employees or whether it must also enroll the 'old' eligible employees.... [Another question is] how does automatic enrollment affect LTPT employees. We don't know. The IRS hasn't issued any guidance. But if automatic enrollment applies, plan sponsors are just weeks from needing to be in compliance."

Tags: 401(k) Plans  •  Retirement Plan Administration  •  Retirement Plan Design  •  SECURE 2.0

Faegre Drinker Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2024

"There is very little interest in adding Pension-Linked Emergency Savings Accounts with 60 percent of respondents selecting 'Strong No' and an additional 13 percent responding 'Lean No,' for a total negative response rate of 73 percent. Similarly, a strong response against adding Emergency Personal Expense Distribution with a collective 65 percent of respondents selecting 'Strong No' or 'Lean No.' Student Loan Matching Contributions were not given a passing grade with a collective 56 percent of respondents selecting 'Strong No' or 'Lean No.' "

Tags: Retirement Plan Design  •  SECURE 2.0

Sheppard Mullin Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

"Increasingly, health plans are relying on AI to streamline internal operations, including to automate review of prior authorization requests.... [The Physicians Make Decisions Act] provides that a determination of medical necessity must be made only by a licensed physician or a licensed health care professional who is competent to evaluate the specific clinical issues involved in the health care services requested by the provider. In other words, the buck stops with the provider, and AI cannot replace the provider's role."

Tags: Health Plan Administration  •  Local Regulation

Kutak Rock LLP Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

"Nebraska, Missouri, and Alaska joined 18 states and the District of Columbia with state-mandated paid leave laws. This is in addition to the roughly two dozen city and county paid sick leave mandates across the United States. While most of the existing laws have been enacted by state legislatures, these three paid sick leave laws were passed through ballot measures on November 5, 2024."

Tags: FMLA and Other Leave  •  Local Regulation

Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI] Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2024

"Among the 58 percent who retired earlier than expected, the most common reasons for retiring were having a health problem or disability (38 percent) and changes at their company, such as downsizing, closure, or reorganization (23 percent).... Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) were noted as being a current income source for 20 percent of retirees, while 401(k)-like workplace retirement plans were an income source for 17 percent of retirees.... Given their economic circumstances during retirement, half of the retirees said they saved less than what was needed for retirement."

Tags: Retirement Plan Design

Milliman Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2024

"The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans increased by $10 billion during October ... An increase in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value pension liabilities led to a large drop in plan liabilities relative to plan asset losses during October. As of October 31, the funded ratio jumped to 103.4%, from 102.5% at the end of September, and the funded status surplus increased to $43 billion."

Tags: Funding of DB Plans

Health Affairs Forefront Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2024

"On October 30, 2024, a Fifth Circuit panel unanimously reversed a ruling by a Texas district court judge to vacate certain regulatory provisions related to the NSA's QPA methodology.... This article will examine the Fifth Circuit panel's decision in detail, including insights into how courts approach disputed statutory provisions after the Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright[.]" [Texas Medical Assoc. v. HHS, No. 23-40605 (5th Cir. Oct. 30, 2024)]

Tags: Health Plan Administration  •  Health Plan Costs

Thomson Reuters Practical Law Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2024

"In litigation challenging an exclusion for gender-affirming surgeries under the TRICARE program (the health program for military personnel, retirees, and their dependents), a Maine district court has held that the exclusion violated the Equal Protection rights of two transgender women who were covered under the program as dependents of former US military servicemembers." [Doe v. Austin, III, No. 24-6613 (D. Me. Nov. 1, 2024)]

Tags: Federal Government Plans  •  Health Plan Administration  •  Health Plan Design

Internal Revenue Service [IRS] Link to more items from this source
[Official Guidance]
Nov. 8, 2024

56 pages, rev. Nov. 2024. "What's New for Tax Year 2024: ... [1] Treasury Decision 9972 amended the rules for filing information returns electronically ... [2] Issuers/Transmitters are strongly recommended to keep a copy of FIRE System file status emails and the associated files of the information returns or be able to reconstruct the data for at least three years from the reporting due date with [certain] exceptions ... [3] The test system will only allow 125 test files per year. [4] Beginning January 1, 2025, you can file Form 5558 electronically through the DOL EFAST2 filing system or you can file paper Form 5558 with the IRS."

Tags: Retirement Plan Administration

Morningstar Center for Retirement & Policy Studies Link to more items from this source
[Opinion]
Nov. 8, 2024

18 pages. "The RSAA proposal [HR 6065/S 3102] aims to expand retirement coverage for American workers by creating a federal retirement plan for those not covered through their employer.... [The authors] use the Morningstar Model of US Retirement Outcomes to conduct [this] analysis, building in the RSAA's features into the simulation.... In most plausible scenarios, the majority of working Americans would be better off with the status quo.... The RSAA would boost retirement outcomes for workers not covered by an employer-sponsored plan, but this benefit would be offset by larger decreases for those covered in the status quo."

Tags: Retirement Plan Design  •  Retirement Plan Policy

Altarum Institute Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2024

11 pages. "In 2022, per-capita spending on personal health care varied significantly across states. Spending was highest in the District of Columbia, at $15,526. This was more than 90% higher than in Utah, which was the lowest spending state at $8,076.... For personal health care overall, nationwide per-capita spending was $10,714, while the ten highest spending states averaged $13,717, 50% higher than the $9,074 average spending by the ten lowest spending states. "

Tags: Health Plan Costs

Internal Revenue Service [IRS] Link to more items from this source
[Official Guidance]
Nov. 8, 2024

"When substantially nonvested property is transferred in connection with the performance of services, the person who performs the services may elect under IRC Section 83(b) to currently include in his or her gross income the excess (if any) of the property's fair market value at the time of the transfer over the amount (if any) paid for the property at the time of transfer, rather than when the property later becomes substantially vested. Refer to the Restricted Property section of Publication 525 for a description of the tax consequences of substantially nonvested property transferred in connection with the performance of services."

Tags: Nonqualified Plans  •  Stock Options

myStockOptions.com Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

"There are various scenarios with equity compensation -- specifically restricted stock, stock options, and LLC interests -- in which making a timely Section 83(b) election with the IRS can be an important move for tax planning and minimization.... The welcome new Section 83(b) election form [IRS Form 15620] ... will be mailed to the IRS, but under the IRS modernization program it will eventually be submissible by e-filing."

Tags: Executive comp  •  Stock Options

Ogletree Deakins Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2024

"The bill [Int. 1089-2024] would add 'care of a covered animal' for purposes of obtaining a medical diagnosis of the treatment of physical illnesses, injuries, or medical conditions that need 'preventive medical care' as a reason entitling employees to take leave under the ESSTA. The term 'covered animal' would be defined as 'an employee's animal that is a service animal or is an animal kept primarily for companionship in compliance with all applicable laws.' "

Tags: FMLA and Other Leave  •  Local Regulation

Mercer Link to more items from this source
[Guidance Overview]
Nov. 8, 2024

2-page chart includes 2025 limits for qualified retirement plans, IRAs, PBGC, Social Security, and health and fringe benefit plans, along with corresponding limits for 2024 and 2023.

Tags: Health Plan Administration  •  Health Plan Design  •  IRAs  •  Retirement Plan Administration  •  Retirement Plan Design

WealthManagement.com Link to more items from this source
Nov. 8, 2024

"A federal judge reaffirmed his earlier decision that Morgan Stanley's deferred compensation plans fall under federal mandates ... The decision ... is the latest development in a years-long class action suit filed by an array of former Morgan Stanley advisors. The group accused the wirehouse of denying millions in deferred compensation when reps left for other firms." [Shafer v. Morgan Stanley, No. 20-11047 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 5, 2024)]

Tags: Executive comp  •  Severance Pay

Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL] Link to more items from this source
[Official Guidance]
Nov. 7, 2024

"This guidance applies to employee benefit plans, plan sponsors, labor organizations, and other plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, participants and beneficiaries, and plan service providers subject to ERISA who were located in a county, tribal area, or other geographic area identified for individual assistance by [FEMA] because of the devastation caused by the Covered Disasters. The relief under this Disaster Relief Notice ... begins on the first day of the incident period and ends on May 1, 2025. FEMA has established different incident periods for different affected areas.... This extension applies to the furnishing of notices, disclosures, and other documents required by provisions of Title I of ERISA over which the [DOL] has interpretive and regulatory authority, except for those notices and disclosures addressed in the joint notice issued by the [DOL] and the Treasury Department and IRS and those notices required under ERISA Sec. 716(c).... [1] Participant contributions and loan repayments ... [2] Blackout notices ... [3] Form 5500 and Form M-1 filing relief ... [4] General ERISA fiduciary compliance guidance."

Tags: Health Plan Administration  •  Reporting to Government Agencies  •  Retirement Plan Administration

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