"Under ARPA, a subsidy expiration notice must be provided where premium subsidy assistance will end as a result of the expiration of the individual's [1] subsidy period or [2] COBRA continuation period.... Because plan administrators must notify assistance eligible individuals at least 15 days before the subsidy expires, ... most notices must be mailed by September 15, 2021."

"If an AEI's period of coverage begins mid-month and extends into October, then the individual is entitled to the full subsidy for that entire period of coverage.... Unless the AEI is also reaching the end of the maximum COBRA coverage period at the end of September, the COBRA coverage must automatically continue, assuming that the AEI submits timely COBRA premium payments per the plan's normal COBRA procedures."

"[T]he IRS has clarified that, under certain circumstances, subsidy availability will not be cut off on September 30 ... [T]he subsidy will continue until the end of an AEI's last period of coverage that begins on or before September 30."

23 pages. "These temporary regulations authorize the assessment of any erroneous refund of the tax credits paid under sections 3131, 3132 (including any increases in those credits under section 3133), and 3134 of the Code.... These temporary regulations provide that erroneous refunds of these credits are treated as underpayments of the taxes imposed under section 3111(b) ... These temporary regulations authorize the IRS to assess any credits erroneously credited, paid, or refunded in excess of the amount allowed as if those amounts were taxes imposed under section 3111(b) ... subject to assessment and administrative collection procedures."

"The purpose of the notice is to give covered individuals enough time to evaluate alternative coverage options before losing the ARPA premium assistance. Although the [DOL] has issued a model notice, it's important for plan sponsors to work with their legal counsel and recordkeepers to customize the notice as appropriate."

"This update describes key features of the IFR and IRS guidance ... [T]his article also discusses what contributing employers may wish to monitor in those affected plans and what they may need to consider in terms of their own business planning."

20 pages. "This notice provides guidance to employers on the requirement to report the following qualified sick leave wages and qualified family leave wages (qualified leave wages) paid to employees for leave provided in 2021: [1] Qualified leave wages under the [FFCRA] as amended by the ... Consolidated Appropriations Act ... paid for leave provided to employees beginning January 1, 2021, through March 31, 2021. [2] Qualified leave wages under ... the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) ... paid for leave provided to employees beginning April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021.... This reporting provides employees who are also self-employed with information necessary for properly claiming qualified sick leave equivalent or qualified family leave equivalent credits for the 2021 taxable year[.]"

"For [assistance-eligible individuals (AEIs)] whose subsidies will expire on Sept. 30, 2021, notices must be sent between Aug. 16 and Sept. 15, 2021. Subsidy expiration notices must, at a minimum, include the following information: [1] A prominent identification of the date the subsidy will expire. [2] A statement that the AEI may be eligible for coverage without a subsidy through COBRA or coverage under a group health plan. The [DOL] has provided a model notice."

9 pages. "For the 2021 rating cycle, the COVID-19 pandemic introduced new and significant uncertainties into the development of premium rates.... While much of those initial uncertainties have resolved, the 2022 rating cycle may see some related, secondary impacts of the pandemic such as the potential for ending of the public health emergency and the [ARPA] enhanced subsidies ... [C]arriers are more likely to include adjustments in their 2022 rates. However, those impacts are not expected to be material."

"Although the subsidy will end earlier than September 30, 2021, for some individuals, plan administrators likely will need to send a large number of expiration notices to AEIs with subsidies that will end as of September 30, 2021.... [In] most cases, notices need to be sent by September 15, 2021."

"Delaying the widening of the corridor means that the present value of future benefit obligations does not increase until a later specified date, and companies do not have to increase their required plan contributions until that point. Lower plan contributions increase companies' taxable income, which results in increased Treasury revenue. JCT estimated that this provision would result in a net increase of $2.9 billion for the U.S. Treasury." [IN11735, Aug. 31, 2021]

"So why aren't plan participants ... having their monthly pension amounts restored to pre-MPRA levels and getting large checks to make up for past reductions? It would reduce asset values in those plans -- but isn't that a good thing when applying for bailout money?"

"[ARPA offered] taxpayer-funded financial assistance to certain troubled [multiemployer] pension plans ... allowing them to restore benefits to retirees who suffered cuts. But the implementation of the rescue plan has been met with a barrage of criticism from plan trustees, participants and members of Congress who say it's too tight-fisted with the financial assistance and could leave some plans in a worse financial position than they are in now."

"The expiration notice must be written in clear and understandable language to communicate that: [1] the ARPA COBRA subsidy for such individual will expire soon and the prominent identification of the date of such expiration and [2] such individual may be eligible for coverage without any subsidy through COBRA continuation coverage or coverage under a group health plan."

"[M]any unions and industry representatives, in more than 100 comment letters on the interim final rule, are decrying strict investment limits and disparate interest projections the PBGC set on the money plans will receive as part of the American Rescue Plan that Congress passed earlier this year. Unless those change, they say, money that was supposed to last 30 years could dry up much sooner."

"Besides providing details on the relief elections, [IRS Notice 2021-48] gives sponsors abundant flexibility to manage credit balances and prior-year contributions. The notice also offers guidance on a few issues related to using ARPA interest rates for other purposes."

"The subsidy termination notices must include the following information: A statement that the COBRA subsidy will end soon and 'prominent identification' of the date that it will end; and A statement that the individual may be eligible for coverage without a COBRA subsidy through COBRA or another group health plan."

"While the Notice has been an ongoing requirement throughout the premium assistance period, ... employers and administrators ... must provide the Notice to all AEIs who are still receiving COBRA with premium assistance as of September 30, 2021.... [M]ost Notices will need to be delivered between Monday, August 16, 2021, and Wednesday, September 15, 2021, to satisfy the 15-to-45 day Notice window."

"Employers and plan administrators will revert to pre-subsidy COBRA administration. This includes contending with the [Outbreak Period relief] for certain deadlines that fall on or after March 1, 2020.... Some AEIs have lost the extended COBRA deadline to enroll retroactively and must be handled differently."

"[M]ost AEIs will need to be given a notice between August 16, 2021 and September 15, 2021 notifying them that their COBRA subsidy will end ... on September 30, 2021. However, if an AEI's subsidy period ends before September 30th ... the notice must be sent sooner, but within the 15 to 45 day distribution window."

"Notice 2021-46 clarifies that assistance eligible individuals may be entitled to the COBRA subsidy for extended coverage periods ... even if the assistance eligible individual didn't elect extended coverage before April 1, 2021.... The Notice also clarifies that an entity that provides health benefits to employees of another entity, but is not a third-party payer of their wages, will not be treated as a third-party payer for purposes of applying Notice 2021-31."

"The aggregate funded percentage for multiemployer plans is estimated to be 92% as of June 30, 2021, up from 88% at the end of 2020. The market recovery continued into the first half of 2021, resulting in the highest aggregate funded percentage since 2007. The financial assistance provided by [ARPA] will have a significant impact on funded percentages of eligible plans in the coming years."

"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]"

"Assistance eligible individuals whose COBRA premium assistance is expiring on September 30, 2021 must be provided with a notice of expiration of premium assistance meeting specific requirements under ARPA between August 16, 2021 and September 15, 2021."

"The question confronting most contributing employers to SFA-eligible plans is: will the withdrawal liability to that plan change and how? The answer ... requires an assessment of a plan's individual circumstances.... Whether an employer's withdrawal liability will increase or decrease is unclear. For many employers ... liability to an SFA-eligible plan was likely subject to the 20-year cap and that isn't likely to change after the receipt of SFA."