Benefits Forward

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: The Internal Revenue Service, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning the Annual Return/Report of […]

Document Excerpt The Operational Compliance List (“OC” List) is provided per Rev. Proc. 2016-37, Section 10, to help plan sponsors and practitioners achieve operational compliance by identifying changes in qualification requirements effective during a calendar year. The OC List: Identifies matters that may involve either mandatory or discretionary plan amendments depending on the particular plan. […]

Document Excerpt This revenue procedure, consistent with the process described in Rev. Proc. 2016-37, 2016-29 I.R.B. 136, provides for a limited expansion of the determination letter program with respect to individually designed plans. Under this limited expansion, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will accept determination letter applications for (i) individually designed statutory hybrid plans during […]

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: This notificationis to inform the public that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is exercising its discretion in how it applies HHS regulations concerning the assessment of Civil Money Penalties (CMPs) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), as such provision was amended by the Health […]

Document Excerpt Link https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-19-19.pdf

Document Excerpt An individual who is a 2-percent shareholder of an S corporation pursuant to the attribution of ownership rules under § 318 is entitled to the deduction under § 162(l) for amounts that are paid by the S corporation under a group health plan for all employees and included in the individual’s gross income, […]

Document Excerpt Effective May 15, 2019, the address for the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP) lockbox changed to: DFVCP, PO Box 6200-35, Portland, OR 97228-6200. We will also begin accepting overnight delivery at US Bank, Attn: DFVC 6200-35, 17650 NE Sandy Boulevard, PD-OR-C1GL, Portland, OR 97230. There is no address to receive submission from […]

Document Excerpt On March 28, 2019, in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated portions of the Department of Labor’s (Department’s) final rule on Association Health Plans (AHPs). The AHP rule, published on June 21, 2018, established a new test as […]

Document Excerpt he Administration wants to ensure patients are not price gouged in emergency situations by out-of-network providers they could not choose. In emergency situations, balance billing for amounts above the in-network allowed amount should be prohibited. The Administration wants to bring transparency to the confusing and opaque pricing system patients face when scheduling care. […]

Document Excerpt Link https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/final-conscience-rule.pdf

Document Excerpt The CMS Division of National Standards, on behalf of HHS, is launching the Compliance Review Program to ensure compliance among covered entities with HIPAA Administrative Simplification rules for electronic health care transactions. In April 2019, HHS will randomly select 9 HIPAA-covered entities—a mix of health plans and clearinghouses—for Compliance Reviews. Any health plan […]

Document Excerpt Association Health Plans (AHPs), under the Department of Labor’s (Department) final rule, are group health plans that employer groups and associations offer to provide health coverage to employees. The Department’s final rule on AHPs was published on June 21, 2018, and established a more flexible test to facilitate the adoption and administration of […]

Document Excerpt Section 4043 of ERISA requires that plan administrators and sponsors notify PBGC of the occurrence of certain events that may signal problems with a pension plan or business. PBGC’s regulation on reportable events and large cumulative funding underpayments describes the events and notice requirements in detail (see 29 CFR Part 4043). In most […]

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is requesting that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, a collection of information necessary for PBGC to determine whether a plan is covered under title IV of the Employee Retirement Security Income Act of 1974. This notice informs the […]

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is amending its multiemployer reporting, disclosure, and valuation regulations to reduce the number of actuarial valuations required for smaller plans terminated by mass withdrawal, add a valuation filing requirement and a withdrawal liability reporting requirement for certain terminated plans and insolvent plans, remove certain insolvency notice and […]

Document Excerpt PBGC staff is available to help filers, especially first-time filers, understand the filing requirements. During a pre-filing consultation, we will provide an overview of the process, share helpful tips on how to use the e-filing software and how to avoid common errors. To schedule a pre-filing consultation, email ERISA.4010@pbgc.gov or call (202) 326-4000 […]

Document Excerpt The purpose of this summary is to provide, in one place, a summary of current interest rates that relate to various calculations required under Title IV of ERISA. PBGC posts this summary each month, as soon as all of the new information is available. Rate‑specific webpages containing additional information about and historical data […]

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation proposes to amend its regulations on Allocating Unfunded Vested Benefits to Withdrawing Employers and Notice, Collection, and Redetermination of Withdrawal Liability. The proposed amendments would implement statutory provisions affecting the determination of a withdrawing employer’s liability under a multiemployer plan and annual withdrawal liability payment amount when […]

Document Excerpt he Administration wants to ensure patients are not price gouged in emergency situations by out-of-network providers they could not choose. In emergency situations, balance billing for amounts above the in-network allowed amount should be prohibited. The Administration wants to bring transparency to the confusing and opaque pricing system patients face when scheduling care. […]

Document Excerpt Link https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/final-conscience-rule.pdf

Document Excerpt The CMS Division of National Standards, on behalf of HHS, is launching the Compliance Review Program to ensure compliance among covered entities with HIPAA Administrative Simplification rules for electronic health care transactions. In April 2019, HHS will randomly select 9 HIPAA-covered entities—a mix of health plans and clearinghouses—for Compliance Reviews. Any health plan […]

Document Excerpt WASHINGTON, DC – This morning, under the leadership of Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA), the Ways & Means Committee passed H.R. 1994, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019, legislation that expands opportunities for Americans to increase their retirement savings and improves the portability of lifetime income options from […]

Document Excerpt Eleven states and the District of Columbia have sued the Department of Labor (“DOL”), 1 alleging that its final rule interpreting the definition of “employer” in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 88 Stat. 829, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 […]

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to assist OCR in identifying provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy and security regulations that may impede the transformation to value-based health care or that limit or discourage coordinated care among individuals and covered entities […]