Summer is ending and fall is rapidly approaching. For employee benefit professionals with calendar-year health and welfare benefit plans that means preparing for annual enrollment and year-end compliance requirements. This post provides a high-level overview of significant health and welfare benefits compliance issues new in 2024 that plan sponsors should consider as they prepare for
Benefits Law Update
Members of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group provide timely updates and commentary on developments affecting employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements. The blog is edited by Eric Altholz and Suzanne Meeker, with guest posts from other members of the group.
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IRS Issues Guidance Addressing Matching Contributions on Student Loan Payments
Section 110 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) permits employers maintaining a 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), or SIMPLE IRA plan to make matching contributions based on qualified student loan payments (“QSLPs”), effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2023.[1] On August 19, the IRS issued Notice 2024-63 (the “Notice”). The…
HHS Issues Model Attestation Required by Final HIPAA Regulations Supporting Reproductive Health Care Privacy
On April 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published Final Regulations under HIPAA’s Privacy Rule introducing greater protections for information related to reproductive health care. One aspect of the Final Regulations requires all covered entities, including self-insured group health plans and all business associates,…
A Primer on COBRA Continuation Coverage for Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts
It is a common practice for employers to offer employees a health care flexible spending account (“Health FSA”) option under a cafeteria plan. However, employers (and their COBRA administrators) may not be aware that Health FSAs are subject to COBRA continuation coverage requirements and may inadvertently fail to provide COBRA notices and election packages to…
Proposed Rules for Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Provide Some Helpful Information for Employers
Maine’s comprehensive paid family and medical leave (PFML) law, enacted in October 2023, establishes a state benefits program funded by employer and employee contributions (the “Program”). The PFML law provides for implementation of the Program in phases over several years:
- January 1, 2024–January 1, 2025—Setting up the administrative structure of the Program by appointment of
…
Novel 401(k) Plan Lawsuits Over the Use of Forfeitures—Swinging for the Fences or Plausible Claims?
In our December 7, 2023 post, we noted five class action lawsuits, all filed by the same law firm within two months, in which 401(k) plan participants allege plan fiduciaries violated ERISA by using plan forfeitures to offset employer contributions instead of paying plan expenses. Recently, judges in two of the lawsuits came to…
Can a Self-Funded Group Health Plan Exclude Coverage for Gender-Affirming Care?
We are sometimes asked whether a self-funded group health plan is required to cover gender-affirming medical services. As this post explains in detail, it is generally impracticable for a self-funded ERISA-covered plan to exclude coverage for gender-affirming care as there are significant risks of litigation, penalties, or loss of federal financial assistance in implementing such…
Section 457(f) Plans and Noncompete Clauses: What the IRS Gave, the FTC May Take Away
When the IRS published proposed regulations harmonizing key provisions of Code Sections 409A and 457(f) in 2016, executive compensation lawyers and consultants rejoiced. It was not just that a long wait was over (roughly nine years from the publication of IRS Notice 2007-62, which promised guidance on these issues). The proposed regulations provided much-needed clarifications…
Why Is There No IRS Correction Program for Non-Governmental 457(b) Plans?
This post examines excess deferrals under non-governmental 457(b) plans, including the approved method for correcting them and the penalty for failing to correct them, to make the case for a change in IRS policy on correcting administrative errors in such plans. Non-governmental 457(b) plans are sometimes called “eligible deferred compensation plans” of tax-exempt employers because,…
RxDC Reporting in Light of June 1, 2024 Deadline and Recent PBM Litigation
Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”), employer-sponsored group health plans, including medical-only plans, must submit information about their prescription drugs and health care spending.[1] This submission is often referred to as the Prescription Drug Data Collection report, or the RxDC report. The deadline for RxDC reports for 2023 is June 1, 2024.…