Proposed regulations published on March 21, 2013 addressed not only the 90-day waiting period rule discussed below but also the eventual elimination of notices of creditable coverage under HIPAA’s preexisting condition exclusions rules.
The 2010 health care reform law prohibits group health plans from imposing preexisting condition exclusions, effective for plan years beginning on or
Eighty-nine pages of proposed regulations confirm that employers may not impose a group health plan waiting period of more than 90 days. No surprise there – the prohibition already was set forth in the 2010 health care reform law. A waiting period that provides for coverage to start on the first day of the month following 90
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released a minimum value calculator to determine whether the percentage of the total allowed costs of benefits provided under a group health plan is at least 60% – a requirement in order for the employer plan to be treated as
As explained in an earlier post, the 2010 health care reform law requires health plans to provide women’s preventive care and services without cost sharing. Regulations issued August 1, 2011 included all FDA-approved contraception for women in the definition of women’s preventive care and services. That includes abortion and abortifacient drugs (like the so-called
As expected, the government issued guidance (in the form of frequently asked questions posted on the Department of Labor’s website) postponing the due date for employers to issue notices regarding the availability of health coverage under state exchanges.
Under the 2010 health care reform law, a provision added to the Fair Labor Standards Act requires
The IRS released proposed regulations last week that amplify and modify earlier guidance issued on the 2010 health care reform law’s employer penalty provision.
Highlights of the proposed regulations include:
The Internal Revenue Service issued updated correction procedures for employer-sponsored retirement plans on New Years’ Eve. Revenue Procedure 2013-12 updates the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”) previously set forth in Revenue Procedure 2008-50. Now, nonprofit employers sponsoring 403(b) plans can correct document failures with the IRS’s blessing.
A 403(b) plan document failure can be corrected
Employers wrestling with how to budget for the additional costs associated with the 2010 health care reform law have one more cost to consider: the “transitional reinsurance program” fee. Barely discussed in the public forum up to now (probably because the amount per plan was not determinable), the government has clarified how this fee could impact
Many employers put off making plans to deal with the employer shared responsibility penalty provision of the 2010 health care reform law until after the November elections. With President Obama’s re-election and no real possibility of legislative repeal, procrastinating further would be ill-advised. Employers need to understand now the way the penalty can be triggered
The IRS has extended the deadline for amending many defined benefits pension plans under Internal Revenue Code Section 436. Section 436 was added by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) and provides a series of limitations on the accrual and payment of benefits under an underfunded plan. (For more information, see Your Defined Benefit