Under the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021 (CAA), group health plans and health insurance issuers are prohibited from entering into agreements with service providers restricting certain information that the plan may...more
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management have issued "Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part I," an interim final rule to implement the No...more
7/9/2021
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
New Rules ,
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Physicians ,
Surprise Medical Bills ,
U.S. Treasury
Group health plans and insurers have been required since 2008 to ensure that any “nonquantitative treatment limitations” (NQTLs) imposed on mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are comparable and no more...more
5/19/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
IRS ,
Mental Health ,
Noncompliance ,
NQTLs ,
State Legislatures ,
State Regulators ,
Substance Abuse
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published Notice 2021-26 to provide answers regarding the taxability of benefits received in 2021 and 2022 under a dependent care assistance program (DCAP) that permits carryovers or...more
5/13/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carryover Basis ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Tax Code
In Notice 2021-15, the IRS provides many answers to questions regarding the temporary special rules introduced as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) for health flexible spending accounts (health FSAs) and...more
3/2/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carry-Over Basis ,
COBRA ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
IRS
The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act, recently passed as part of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” has significantly extended the tax exclusions for employer-paid student loan repayment assistance...more
1/7/2021
/ CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Taxable Income ,
Relief Measures ,
Student Loans ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration
The recently enacted COVID-19 Related Tax Relief Act of 2020 and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, both of which are part of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” includes the following...more
1/4/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration