Category: Regulatory Compliance

On an annual basis, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) require all employers who provide a group health plan to their employees to disclose whether the plan has creditable drug coverage under Medicare Part D. Employers must notify CMS and all Medicare eligible participants in the health plan of the plan’s drug coverage […]

The Internal Revenue Service has released the 2020inflation adjustment for High Deductible Health Plansand Health Savings Accounts. The table belowsummarizes those adjustments and other applicable limits. Out-of-Pocket Limits Applicable to Non-Grandfathered Plans The ACA’s out-of-pocket limits for in-network essential health benefits have also been announced and have increased for 2020. Note that all non-grandfathered group health plans […]

It’s that time of year again; the annual Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funding fee is due July 31st, 2019 for the 2018 plan year. For self-insured health benefit programs, the employer/plan sponsor is responsible for submitting the fee and accompanying paperwork to the IRS by the July 31st deadline. For fully insured programs, the […]

District Court Judge in Texas Strikes Down the ACA – But Law Remains In Effect for Now On Friday, December 14, a federal judge in Texas issued a partial ruling that strikes down the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) as unconstitutional. The White House has stated that the law will remain in place, however, pending […]

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows for employers to take time off to care for family during medical emergencies. But is it that easy? Not necessarily. Under this law, employers can require the employees to utilize their remaining PTO time while they are on FMLA leave, which is unpaid. In general, FMLA is […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Notice 2018-94, extending the deadline for furnishing 2018 Forms 1095-B and 1095-C to individuals from January 31, 2019 to March 4, 2019, including penalty relief for good-faith reporting errors.  The due date for filing the forms with the IRS was not extended and remains February 28, 2019 (April 1, 2019 if […]

On November 15, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2018-57, which raises the health Flexible Spending Account (FSA) salary reduction contribution limit by $50 to $2,700 for plan years beginning in 2019. The Revenue Procedure also contains the cost-of-living adjustments that apply to dollar limitations in certain sections of the Internal Revenue Code. Qualified Commuter […]

Before we begin, lets agree that perhaps the worst venue for vitriol-laden political debate is our shared happy space, fondly referred to as Human Resources. And while taking partisan positions in said space, is highly discouraged from a best-practices standpoint – we do need to be open and honest when considering what impact political and social movements […]

The Department of Labor (DOL) issued Opinion Letter, FMLA2018-1-A on August 28, 2018. This letter looks at the interplay between the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and an employer’s use of a no-fault attendance policy. When an employee uses FMLA, the employer cannot consider time off an absence under its no-fault attendance policy. The […]