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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

February 23, 2023

6 New Job Opportunities 6 New Job Opportunities

 

[Guidance Overview]

Plan Sponsors: Prepare for the End of the COVID-19 Emergencies

"Sponsors of employee benefit plans will need to start preparing now for these upcoming changes.... [1] COBRA deadlines ... [2] HIPAA special enrollment deadlines ... [3] Claims and appeals deadlines ... [4] COVID-19 testing and vaccines ... [5] Pre-deductible COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment ... [6] Employee Assistance Programs."  MORE >>

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

[Guidance Overview]

ACA Coding Error Penalties Are Coming Soon

"One common error is a failure to check 'Yes' in column (a) of Part III of the Form 1094-C to confirm that the employer offered coverage to at least 95% of full-time employees and their dependents. Another common error is the employer failing to enter the appropriate code on Line 16 of the Form 1095-C."  MORE >>

HUB International

[Guidance Overview]

Upcoming Deadline icon Group Health Plans Must Report HIPAA Small Breaches by March 1

"HIPAA covered entities, which include group health plans, are required to notify the [HHS] Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of 'small' breaches (those affecting less than 500 individuals) of unsecured protected health information. The deadline to notify HHS is March 1st following the calendar year in which the breach is discovered."  MORE >>

Sequoia

A New Standard for Full and Fair Review

"For entities that have chosen to utilize a single process for all claims (both pre- and post-2018), the decision will likely have few immediate impacts. Perhaps the bigger importance going forward, though, is that the logic of Zall appears to authorize a broad swath of retroactive regulations, so long as they are procedural in nature." [Zall v. Standard Ins. Co., No. 22-1096 (7th Cir. Jan. 19, 2023)]  MORE >>

Seyfarth

Ninth Circuit: Jury Must Determine 'Comparability' Under USERRA

"[The Ninth Circuit] ruled that the district court erred by comparing all military leaves, rather than just the short-term military leaves at issue here, with non-military leaves. It then noted that 'comparability is a question of fact.' It is, therefore, a question for the jury unless the facts of a case suggest that no reasonable jury could see enough commonality for a meaningful comparison." [Clarkson v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., No. 21-35473 (9th Cir. Feb. 1, 2023)]  MORE >>

The Wagner Law Group

What Employers Say About Future of Employer-Sponsored Insurance

"Employers often view themselves as paternalistic: they wish to make it easier for their workers to get affordable health coverage. They also do not want to relinquish control over health plans ... The ACA presented an opportunity to challenge the status quo of employment-based benefits, with analysts predicting employers would eventually redirect workers to ACA exchanges. Yet the link between employment and health benefits has not wavered since passage of the ACA ... 70 percent of workers receive coverage through an employer-sponsored plan."  MORE >>

The Commonwealth Fund

Humana to End Employer-Sponsored Plans to Focus on Government-Funded Programs

"Health insurance giant Humana, which is based in Louisville, will discontinue its employer-sponsored programs over the next two years.... The vast majority of the company's $88.5 billion in insurance revenue came from government contracts last year, Humana said in its annual report.... Humana reported it had more than 986,000 members on commercial group plans last year, or nearly 6% of its total membership."  MORE >>

Louisville Public Media

Benefits in General

[Official Guidance]

Text of Final Forms Revisions: Annual Information Return/Reports (Form 5500 and 5500-SF)

174 pages. "This document contains final forms and instructions revisions for the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2023. The forms and instructions revisions relate to statutory amendments to [ERISA] and the Internal Revenue Code enacted as part of the [SECURE Act] for multiple-employer plans and groups of plans, as well as changes intended to improve reporting of certain plan financial information regarding audits and plan expenses and enhance the reporting of certain tax qualification and other compliance information by retirement plans. There are also some minor changes that further improve defined benefit plan reporting by building on changes made to the forms for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2022."  MORE >>

Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]; Internal Revenue Service [IRS]; and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation [PBGC]

[Official Guidance]

Text of EBSA Final Regs: Annual Reporting and Disclosure

"This document contains amendments to [DOL] regulations relating to annual reporting requirements under Title I of [ERISA}. The amendments contained in this document conform the DOL reporting regulations to revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan being published ... in a separate Notice of Final Forms Revisions ... Conforming changes also are being made to the requirements for the summary annual report."  MORE >>

Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Sr. Retirement Plan Consultant
            for Compass Retirement Consulting Group, Inc.

Sr. Retirement Plan Consultant

Compass Retirement Consulting Group, Inc.

Remote / Stratham NH

View job as Sr. Retirement Plan Consultant for Compass Retirement Consulting Group, Inc.

View job as Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits)
            for Segal

Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits)

Segal

Remote / Los Angeles CA / AZ / CO / Hybrid

View job as Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits) for Segal

View job as Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits)
            for Segal

Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits)

Segal

Remote / Chicago IL / Hybrid

View job as Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits) for Segal

View job as Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits)
            for Segal

Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits)

Segal

Remote / Washington DC / Hybrid

View job as Compliance Lawyer (Health Benefits) for Segal

View job as DC Analyst
            for EGPS

DC Analyst

EGPS

Remote

View job as DC Analyst for EGPS

View job as Retirement Plan Administration Associate
            for Vestwell Holdings Inc.

Retirement Plan Administration Associate

Vestwell Holdings Inc.

Remote / New York NY

View job as Retirement Plan Administration Associate for Vestwell Holdings Inc.

Selected New Discussions

Excess HSA Contribution and Earnings

"2022 excess contribution to Bank HSA. The HSA account has a 'cash' component and an 'investment' component (segregated and listed separately on the monthly statement) -- the cash portion earns .01% APY and the investment component is in mutual funds. Excess deposited in cash account on 12/19/2022, distribution from cash account on 2/14/2023 -- interest for 1/1/2023-1/31/2023 was about 4 cents. Taxpayer requested distribution of excess, and Bank calculated excess earnings. Bank used the entire account balance (cash and investment portions) to calculate earnings on the excess, and distributed $110 earnings on a $1,825 excess. The excess was a result of a severance from service and the taxpayer no longer participated in a HDHP -- Bank told taxpayer he could fund the remaining HSA contribution available from private funds as opposed to payroll deductions (this was not correct). Upon severance, taxpayer was able to draw down from cash/investments, but the investment account was frozen for additional contributions. I understand the HSA excess/earnings rules follow IRA rules, but is there a different calculation for earnings when the contribution went into a segregated cash account and distributed from that cash account (.01% APY), and never subject to investment experience in the mutual funds?"

BenefitsLink Message Boards

Press Releases

401k Averages Book Finds 401(k) Partcipant Investment Fees Declined 3%

401k Averages Book

5 Ways to Save on Everyday Healthcare Items and Avoid Losing Money to the March 15 Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Grace Period Deadline

Health E-Commerce

Sequoia Introduces a New Capability to Help Employers Build, Manage, and Share Pay Ranges

Sequoia

Marpai Introduces Provider Price Transparency Tool for Health Plan Members

Marpai

Blue Ridge ESOP Associates makes majority investment into Workplace Development Inc.

Blue Ridge ESOP Associates

Savant Wealth Management Acquires $3.3 Billion Capital Directions

Savant Wealth Management

WTW Launches Pooled Employer Plan in the U.S.

WTW

Webcasts and Conferences
(Health & Welfare Plans)

Understanding CAA Transparency & Fee Disclosure Rules

March 14, 2023 WEBINAR

Corporate Synergies

Group Health Plan Implications of the Termination of the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations

March 15, 2023 WEBINAR

Miller Johnson

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Employee Benefit Plans

March 18, 2023 in MD

Worldwide Employee Benefits Network [WEB] - Baltimore Chapter

Employee Benefits Breakfast Roundtable

March 23, 2023 in NY

Epstein Becker & Green

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

Update on Air Ambulance Reporting Deadlines

Willis Towers Watson

2022 RxDC Reporting: What All Plans Should Know

HUB International

IRS 2022-2023 Priority Guidance Plan: 2nd Quarter Update (PDF)

Internal Revenue Service [IRS]

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

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