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FATCA Reporting Requirements Apply to Interests in Foreign Benefit Plans
Apr-05-2012 — FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, requires U.S. taxpayers who hold more than $50,000 of foreign financial assets to report those assets to the IRS with their tax returns, beginning with returns due on April 17, 2012. More...
New York Takes Aim At Nonprofit Executive Compensation
Mar-12-2012 — Recently, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have separately announced proposals that may significantly impact executive compensation practices of New York nonprofits. Other important changes, intended to improve nonprofits' governance practices and reduce regulatory and cash flow burdens, have also been proposed. More...
New Regulations on Health Plan Summaries Add to Employer Disclosure Duties
Mar-01-2012 — Federal regulators recently issued final regulations and related guidance that implement the requirement under the 2010 health care reform law that group health plans and health insurers furnish participants with a “summary of benefits and coverage” for the plan. The new rules impose significant new duties on health plan sponsors that are already obligated under federal law to furnish a summary plan description and a number of other notices to health plan participants and eligible employees. More...
Important Dates For Employers Under Health Care Reform
Nov-07-2011 — Important Dates For Employers Under Health Care Reform Except where otherwise indicated, each changes is effective for plan years beginning on or after the stated date. More...
IRS Announces 2012 Cost of Living Adjustments
Oct-31-2011 — The Internal Revenue Service recently announced cost-of-living adjustments to dollar limits that impact 401(k), defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans. More...
June 30, 2011 Deadline for Cafeteria Plan (FSA) Amendments
Jun-14-2011 — The health care reform law passed last year provides that certain employer health plans, including health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) cannot reimburse expenses incurred for over-the-counter drugs unless they are prescribed by a physician or are insulin. Employers who sponsor FSAs may need to amend their plans by June 30, 2011 to comply with this new restriction. More...
IRS Delays Nondiscrimination Rules For Insured Health Plans
Dec-23-2010 — The Internal Revenue Service announced on December 22, 2010 that insured group health plans will not be required to comply with the new nondiscrimination rules under the health care reform law until the IRS issues further guidance. The new rules were scheduled to take effect for plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010. More...
Stand-Alone HRA May Violate the Health Care Reform Law
Nov-18-2010 — The health care reform law severely restricts the ability of group health plans to impose annual dollar limits on benefits. Surprisingly, the new restriction applies to some health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), even though virtually all HRAs have annual limits. Specifically, the new restriction applies to a "stand alone" HRA unless the HRA secures a waiver from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The waiver application must be filed no later than 30 days before More...
Robert W. Patterson and Michele O. Heffernan to Present on Health Care Reform at Commercial Business Seminar
Oct-25-2010 — BUFFALO, NEW YORK — Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel, LLP, a full service corporate law firm announces that Robert W. Patterson and Michele O. Heffernan will serve as a presenters on the topic of Health Care Reform at "Success 2011: Be Prepared for Upcoming Changes," sponsored by Lumsden & McCormick, LLP on Monday, November 1st. More...
Health Care Reform Begins In Earnest Today (September 23, 2010)
Sep-23-2010 — The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care reform law, was enacted on March 23, 2010. Although a few provisions took effect immediately, and some fundamental reforms do not take effect until 2014, many of the most important new requirements for employer health plans take effect today — September 23, 2010, six months after the date of enactment. More...
For Retiree Health Plan Sponsors, Immediate Action Is Needed
Jun-30-2010 — As described in our prior Alerts, the new health care reform law provides a federal subsidy for health plans that cover early retirees, to help offset the cost of such coverage. Both private and public sector plans are eligible. Limited funds were allocated to this program and the funds are to be disbursed on a "first come first served" basis until exhausted. Applying early is critical for plans seeking subsidy funds. More...
New Rules on Grandfathered Plans May Limit Health Plan Changes
Jun-22-2010 — One of most controversial provisions of the new health care reform law is the so-called "grandfathered health plan" rule, which exempts health plans in existence on March 23, 2010 (the date of enactment) from many of the new law's requirements. The law itself doesn't state what actions by plan sponsors, if any, might cause a grandfathered plan to lose its protected status. More...
HHS Releases Draft Application for the Retiree Reinsurance Program
Jun-09-2010 — The health care reform law provides a federal subsidy for some health plans that cover early retirees, to help offset the cost of such coverage. The subsidy program became effective as of June 1, 2010. Only limited funds were allocated to the program and are to be disbursed on a "first come first served" basis until exhausted; accordingly, it behooves a health plan sponsor who might qualify for the subsidy to apply as soon as possible. The final application is reportedly to be released later thi More...
IRS Guidance on the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
Jun-03-2010 — The new health care reform law provides a valuable tax credit to some small employers that provide health insurance coverage to their employees. The credit is available beginning this year to employers that pay at least half the cost of their employees' h More...
Extended Coverage For Young Adult Dependents
May-19-2010 — The Affordable Care Act, the new health care reform law, requires group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide dependent coverage of children to continue to make such coverage available until the child turns 26 years of age. On May 13, 2010 the three federal agencies primarily responsible for administering the Affordable Care Act (the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury) issued interim fina More...
Health Care Reform Alert - Immediate Action Needed Under Retiree Reinsuranc
May-12-2010 — The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the recently enacted health care reform law, establishes a federal subsidy for health plans that cover certain early retirees. Under the Retiree Reinsurance Program, a qualifying plan can receive a subsidy equal to 80% of its annual costs that are more than $15,000 but not more than $90,000 for a retiree. Only limited funds were allocated to the program and they will be disbursed on a "first come first served" basis until exhausted, at which point More...
Immediate and Long-Term Challenges For Employers Under Health Care Reform
May-05-2010 — After a year of heated debate in Congress, Federal health care reform is finally a reality. The new legislation will substantially change the way health care is provided and paid for, and creates both immediate and long term challenges for employers who sponsor group health plans. More...
COBRA Premium Subsidy Extended Again
Apr-19-2010 — On April 15, 2010, President Obama signed into law another extension of the COBRA premium assistance program. Under the latest extension, the COBRA premium subsidy will be available to eligible individuals who are involuntarily terminated from employment through May 31, 2010. The subsidy had previously expired and, until extended, did not apply to involuntary terminations after March 31, 2010. Because the latest extension is retroactive, those employees involuntarily terminated on and after Apri More...
HIRE Act Provides Tax Breaks for Hiring and Retaining Unemployed Workers
Apr-06-2010 — In a renewed attempt to encourage new employment and stimulate the economy, Congress recently passed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act ("the HIRE Act"), which President Obama signed into law on March 18, 2010. Under the HIRE Act, a partial payroll tax "holiday" is available to qualified employers that hire unemployed workers, and a business tax credit is available if the employer retains such employees for at least a year. Companies that intend to hire new employees during the rema More...
Congress Extends (for the Second Time) and Expands the COBRA Premium Subsi
Mar-04-2010 — On March 2, 2010 Congress again extended the COBRA premium assistance law, which had expired on February 28, 2010. The 65% federal subsidy will now be available to employees involuntarily terminated on or before March 31, 2010. In addition, the new law makes the premium subsidy available to employees who first qualify for COBRA as a result of a reduction of hours and later are involuntarily terminated. Employers or plan administrators must notify these newly eligible employees within 60 days More...
Attachments - Department of Labor Draft COBRA Subsidy
Jan-13-2010
Department of Labor Issues Draft COBRA Subsidy Extension Notices
Jan-13-2010 — On December 17, 2009, Congress passed legislation that extends eligibility for the 65 percent COBRA premium subsidy to employees who are involuntarily terminated during the first two months of 2010 (previously, only employees terminated by December 31, 2009 were eligible), and increases the maximum subsidy period to 15 months. The longer subsidy period (it was previously 9 months) applies retroactively, and health plan administrators must provide a supplemental notice to affected individuals no More...
COBRA Premium Subsidy Extension Signed into Law
Dec-23-2009 — On December 19, 2009, Congress passed legislation that extends the eligibility period for the 65 percent COBRA premium subsidy from December 31, 2009 to February 28, 2010, and increases the maximum subsidy period from 9 to 15 months. The longer maximum subsidy period applies retroactively, and health plan administrators must provide a supplemental notice to affected individuals no later than February 19, 2010. More...
Public Company Employment Agreements May Need to be Amended Before 2010
Nov-23-2009 — In January 2008 the IRS issued a private letter ruling which stated that a bonus payable under an executive employment agreement did not qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) because the agreement provided that in the event of the executive's termination of employment without cause, any performance goal would be treated as having been achieved and the awards would vest to the extent such awards would have become vested had the executive's employment continued for two yea More...
Annual Medicare Part D Notices Must Be Distributed by November 15, 2009
Nov-09-2009 — Under Medicare Part D, a "Notice of Creditable Coverage" must be provided to all Medicare-eligible participants in employer-sponsored group health plans prior to November 15th of each year. More...
NYS Enacts Important Health Law Changes
Aug-28-2009 — New York State recently amended its health insurance laws in order to permit terminated employees and young adult children of covered employees to continue group coverage in certain situations where coverage would otherwise end. These changes will affect nearly all insured employer group health plans in New York. More...
New COBRA Obligations Effective March 1, 2009
Feb-25-2009 — President Obama has now signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic stimulus bill passed by Congress earlier this month. The Act contains several provisions that will significantly impact COBRA coverage under employer group health plans. The COBRA changes go into effect March 1, 2009. Employers will have to move very quickly to address these important new requirements. More...
Employee Benefits Alert: Stimulus Bills Contain Major COBRA Changes
Feb-13-2009 — The House of Representatives and Senate have each passed an economic stimulus bill, and both bills include provisions that would significantly expand the COBRA obligations of group health plan sponsors. More...
Employee Benefits Alert: The IRS is Investigating 403(b) Plans
Jul-11-2007 — For the past year, the Internal Revenue Service has been investigating 403(b) plans sponsored by school districts, to determine whether such plans are in compliance with applicable tax rules. More...
Employee Benefits Alert: IRS Issues Final Section 409A Regulations
May-25-2007 — On April 10, 2007, the IRS and the Treasury Department issued the long awaited final regulations under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code ("Code"). More...
Employee Benefits Alert: IRS Settlement Program Regarding Discounted Stock
Feb-19-2007 — On February 8, 2007, the IRS announced a new settlement program that will allow certain employers to address tax issues that may have been triggered by the issuance of discounted stock options and stock appreciation rights ("SARs"). More...
Medicare Part D Deadlines Approaching
Oct-01-2005
IRS Allows More Flexibility in Flexible Spending Accounts
May-19-2005