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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

March 23, 2021

6 Jobs Today

 

[Guidance Overview]

Group Health Plan Transparency Disclosure Rules Finalized: What Plan Sponsors Should Know

"[E]ach plan sponsor should ... confirm that the insurer/TPA is preparing to make the machine-readable files publicly available ... [A] self-funded plan is responsible if the TPA fails to comply, so the plan sponsor should consider whether other protections are appropriate, such as a specific indemnification from the TPA."  MORE >>

Dickinson Wright PLLC

[Guidance Overview]

Exceptional Usefulness and Quality icon Increased Limit for Dependent Care Assistance Programs: Traps for the Unwary

"[A]bsent ARPA's increased exclusion limit for 2021, unused DCFSA amounts from 2020 that are available and used in 2021 could end up being taxable for employees who make new 2021 DCFSA contributions and use those amounts for eligible expenses incurred in 2021."  MORE >>

Troutman Sanders

[Guidance Overview]

New Jersey Division on Civil Rights Proposes to Amend and Readopt Expiring Family Leave Rules

"The proposed rules would [1] expand the definition of job-protected 'family leave' ... [2] broaden the definition of 'family member' ... [3] expand the definition of 'covered employer' ... [4] [reduce] the advance notice requirement ... from 30 days to 15 days when an employee requests intermittent or reduced schedule leave." [Editor's note: the article also describes other changes.]  MORE >>

Ogletree Deakins

[Guidance Overview]

COVID-19: California Extends and Expands COVID-19 Supplement Paid Sick Leave

"SB 95 allows covered employees to use their supplemental paid sick leave benefits in order to attend vaccination appointments and if they are experiencing symptoms from a COVID-19 vaccine that prevent them from working or teleworking."  MORE >>

K&L Gates

[Guidance Overview]

California Supplemental Paid COVID-19 Sick Leave Resuscitated, Expanded, and Retroactive

"The new law applies to an employer 'that employs more than 25 employees.' However, SB 95 does not specify whether those employees must be in California or nationwide for an employer to be subject to the new supplemental paid COVID-19 sick leave requirement."  MORE >>

Proskauer

[Guidance Overview]

California's New COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

"Employers who provided COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave for leave taken after January 1, 2021 for the same reasons and at (or above) the same rate as under this new law may count those hours toward the new supplemental paid sick leave obligation."  MORE >>

Quarles & Brady LLP

Reasons to Look for a New ACA Vendor

"Through a short series of questions, you can determine quickly if you're getting the best out of your current ACA vendor or solution. It comes down to accuracy, data sources, services beyond calculations, ease to implement, their reputation, and expanding services as the law changes."  MORE >>

Tango Health

Fifth Circuit Holds Project Completion Incentive Plan Is Not an ERISA Plan

"Because the Plan involves a single and simple payment, little discretion in determining eligibility, and no administrative structure devoted to the Plan, there is no 'ongoing administrative scheme' creating an ERISA plan." [Atkins v. CB&I, L.L.C., No. 20-30004 (5th Cir. Mar. 22, 2021)]  MORE >>

Roberts Disability Law

CDC Issues Guidance for Employer-Operated Vaccination Sites

"Among other recommendations, the CDC encourages some employers to implement workplace COVID-19 vaccination sites and outlines best practices for doing so.... [T]he CDC recommends an off-site vaccination program for small- or medium-sized employers with a mobile workforce on variable schedules."  MORE >>

McDermott Will & Emery, via JDSupra

House Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing on 'Building on the ACA: Legislation to Expand Health Coverage and Lower Costs'

Hearing March 23, 2021, 11:00 a.m. Testimony: [1] Katie Keith, Georgetown University; [2] Dean Cameron, Idaho Department of Insurance; [3] Cindy Mann, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP; [4] Marni Jameson Carey, Association of Independent Doctors; [5] Laura LeBrun Hatcher, Little Lobbyists.  MORE >>

Energy & Commerce Committee, U.S. House of Representatives

Who Is (And Isn't) Receiving Telemedicine Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

"More than a 20-fold increase in the incidence of telemedicine utilization following March 13, 2020 was observed.... [O]ffice-based encounters declined almost 50% and was not fully offset by the increase in telemedicine."  MORE >>

RAND Corporation

The Remaining Uninsured: Geographic and Demographic Variation

"This Issue Brief illustrates the geographic and demographic variation in the uninsured population, including those eligible to enroll in health coverage through the Marketplace during the COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period."  MORE >>

Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]

[Opinion]

Obamacare Has Doubled the Cost of Individual Health Insurance

"[T]he national average premium [increased] by 129 percent from 2013 to 2019. Recent years have shown that costs drop when states can use regulatory relief to provide options tailored to the unique needs of citizens with high health costs."  MORE >>

The Heritage Foundation

[Opinion]

Will ARPA Reduce the Number of Uninsured Americans?

"There are several additional ways Congress and the administration could get more people covered, including: making the ARP premium tax credit enhancements permanent ... encouraging enrollment in marketplace coverage and Medicaid by ... simplifying plan choices ... [and] allowing people with offers of employer coverage to enroll in the public plan."  MORE >>

The Commonwealth Fund

Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]

Employee Benefits Relief in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

"[E]mployers need to balance [the] broadened credits and expanded use against the loss of workers and the administrative burden of claiming FFCRA Credits ... It is uncertain how Special Financial Assistance received by a multiemployer defined benefit pension plan will impact the plan's individual participating employers."  MORE >>

Nelson Mullins

Senate Confirms Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary

"The U.S. Senate voted [on March 22] to approve the nomination of Marty Walsh to the role of Labor Secretary, nearly two months after his confirmation hearing.... Relatively little of the hearing's airtime, either on the part of Walsh or the questioning senators, was dedicated to retirement security issues."  MORE >>

planadviser

M&A Benefits: How to Avoid an Employee Benefits Train Wreck in Your Next Deal

"With a little planning, target companies and acquirers can smoothly transition employee benefits.... For health plans, [these questions] should be answered in advance of the closing ... There are similar questions for retirement plans."  MORE >>

Employee Benefits Law Group

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Supervisor, Defined Benefits Combo Cash Balance Consultant
for Loren D. Stark Company (LDSCO) View job as Supervisor, Defined Benefits Combo Cash Balance Consultant
for Loren D. Stark Company (LDSCO)

Supervisor, Defined Benefits Combo Cash Balance Consultant

Loren D. Stark Company (LDSCO)

Telecommute

View job as Benefits Specialist
for Air Line Pilots Association

Benefits Specialist

Air Line Pilots Association

McLean VA

View job as Defined Contribution Administrative Support
for The Angell Pension Group, Inc.

Defined Contribution Administrative Support

The Angell Pension Group, Inc.

Telecommute

View job as Advisory Services Manager
for Alerus

Advisory Services Manager

Alerus

Telecommute / Arden Hills MN / Fargo ND / Grand Forks ND

View job as Sr Advisor Executive Compensation Products
for National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)

Sr Advisor Executive Compensation Products

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)

Arlington VA

View job as Tax Group Attorney (Employee Benefits)
for Holland & Hart

Tax Group Attorney (Employee Benefits)

Holland & Hart

Denver CO / Boise ID

Press Releases

Business Roundtable Appoints Greg Adams, CEO of Kaiser Permanente, as Chair of Health and Retirement Committee

Business Roundtable

CAPTRUST Wins Pensions & Investments Eddy Award for Communication Excellence

CAPTRUST Financial Advisors

PlanMember Announces Partnership with Newport Group, Inc.

PlanMember Securities

Webcasts and Conferences

Here We Go Again: California’s New COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Requirement

March 26, 2021 WEBCAST

Fisher Phillips

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

New COBRA Subsidy Requires Quick Action by Plan Sponsors

Bond, Schoeneck & King

ARPA's COBRA Provisions: Time Is of the Essence for Employers

Maynard Cooper & Gale

Important Changes to COBRA Under the American Rescue Plan Act

Snell & Wilmer

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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.

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