Apparently rhetoric matters. Although the former President eventually embraced the term himself, “Obamacare” was originally a derogatory term used for health care reform by Obama’s opponents in Congress. Anecdotal evidence...more
Members of Saul Ewing’s Tax and Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practices have outlined the recently announced 2017 dollar limits on the Social Security Wage Base, compensation and deferrals for retirement plans,...more
Over the years, we have seen numerous class action lawsuits against plan fiduciaries, starting with claims relating to mega 401(k) plans and, more recently, claims against the fiduciaries of very large University-sponsored,...more
Final rules were issued in December that update the claim procedure that ERISA Plan Administrators must follow to determine whether benefits are due or payable on account of the a plan participant’s disability. The new rules...more
President Obama has signed into law the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act), that expands funding for medical research. Hidden within the Cures Act is a provision entitled “Exception from Group Health Plan Requirements for...more
Employers of all sizes are receiving notices from Health Insurance Marketplaces (“Notice” or “Marketplace Notice”) alerting them that an employee or employees have obtained Exchange coverage and are eligible for and receiving...more
Upcoming changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act salary-basis test may convert many of your smartphone-toting exempt employees into non-exempt employees, requiring you to track the evening and weekend time these employees...more
3/31/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Faculty ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Free Speech ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Pensions ,
Professional Misconduct ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retirement ,
Termination ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan is the fourth decision by the U.S. Supreme Court addressing the subrogation rights of self-insured ERISA-covered health plans. Three...more
Perhaps you have put your compliance efforts on the back burner, hoping the ACA will just go away. We have heard many reasons for this procrastination, including the constitutional challenge to the individual mandate, the...more
In Roe v. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, No. 12–cv–04788 (NSR), 58 EBC 1077, 2014 WL 1760343 (S.D. N.Y. May 1, 2014), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held a self-insured health plan that...more
SUMMARY: Final Rules were released late in the day on February 10, 2014 implementing the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act (pay or play rules or employer mandate)....more
Some cafeteria plans already contain optional grace period provisions that modify the strict “use it or lose it” rules for Health Flexible Spending Accounts (“Health FSA” or “FSA”). These grace period provisions permit FSA...more
With a News Release, Answers to Frequently Asked Questions and a Revenue Ruling, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides guidance on how the Supreme Court’s recent Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) decision impacts its...more
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), individuals and small businesses will be able to purchase health insurance coverage online through the new health insurance coverage exchanges (now known as “Marketplaces”)....more
Media coverage of the one year delay in certain Affordable Care Act provisions might mislead some employers into thinking they have no obligations. Many requirements still take effect this year and in 2014. Here is one of the...more
7/25/2013
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Compliance ,
Data Protection ,
Deadlines ,
Employer Mandates ,
Fees ,
Form 720 ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Omnibus Rule ,
PCORI ,
Self-Insured Health Plans
The Affordable Care Act (a/k/a Health Care Reform, or the ACA) is complicated. While there is nothing in the ACA that requires any employer to provide group health care coverage to its employees, the failure to do so can come...more
7/2/2013
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employer Mandates ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Grandfathered Obligations ,
Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Healthcare ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Open Enrollment ,
Pay or Play ,
Penalties ,
Self-Insured Health Plans
On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court held that the Defense of Marriage Act (known as DOMA) is unconstitutional. What does this mean for your company’s employee benefit plans?...more
7/2/2013
/ COBRA ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
DOMA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Protection ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Stocks ,
US v Windsor
The Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services jointly issued final regulations on June 3, 2013 addressing wellness programs under the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) and the HIPAA non-discrimination rules. ...more
The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) employer shared responsibility provisions (commonly called “pay or play”) impact “large” employers and go into effect in 2014. Although effective in 2014, employers must plan NOW. Advance...more
For better or worse, the ACA or Health Care Reform is still with us. If you do not want to end up in the penalty box in 2014, you must know whether you are subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions of the ACA...more