Benefits Forward

Document Excerpt This revenue ruling provides tables of covered compensation under § 401(l)(5)(E) of the Internal Revenue Code and the Income Tax Regulations thereunder, for the 2019 plan year. Link https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-19-06.pdf

Document Excerpt This notice is to inform taxpayers that the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) no longer intend to amend the required minimum distribution regulations under Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to address the practice of offering retirees and beneficiaries who are currently receiving annuity […]

Document Excerpt Certain employers are required to report to the IRS information about whether they offered health coverage to their employees and if so, information about the coverage offered. This information also must be provided to employees. These FAQs address these reporting requirements. Link https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/employers/questions-and-answers-on-reporting-of-offers-of-health-insurance-coverage-by-employers-section-6056

Document Excerpt Information reporting under section 6055 for health coverage providers. More information is available on the information reporting for providers of minimum essential coverage page. Link https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/questions-and-answers-on-information-reporting-by-health-coverage-providers-section-6055

Document Excerpt Link https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/pre-approved-retirement-plan-adopting-employers-faqs

Document Excerpt Link https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/201903017.pdf

Document /excerpt EBSA is responsible for administering and enforcing the fiduciary, reporting and disclosure provisions of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Under Part 5 of Subtitle B of Title I, EBSA has the authority to assess and collect a number of civil monetary penalties. ERISA civil monetary penalties […]

Document Excerpt This responds to your request on behalf of The Justus Group, L3C (Justus) to clarify its ability to act as an authorized representative for claimants in accordance with the Department of Labor’s claims procedure regulation, which implements section 503 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Justus acts as a […]

Document Request SUMMARY: This document is a request for information regarding grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage. Given the limited information available regarding such coverage, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services (the Departments)are issuing this request for information to gather […]

The DOL has announced inflation-adjusted penalties including for violations of ERISA. https://www.dol.gov/asp/2019-inflation-adjustments.pdf

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 […]

Document Excerpt On November 7, 2018 the Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor (the Departments) announced two final rules, on display at the Federal Register, that provide conscience protections to Americans who have a religious or moral objection to health insurance that covers contraceptive methods, including certain contraceptives that many view as […]

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 The PBGC has updated its online responses to frequently asked practitioner questions. Link https://www.pbgc.gov/prac/staff-responses-prac-questions?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Document Excerpt House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal introduced legislation designed to shore up failing multiemployer pension plans. The legislation known as the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act would establish a new federal agency known as the Pension Rehabilitation Administration with the authority to issue bonds to provide financing to such plans. Linkhttps://waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/neal-introduces-bipartisan-legislation-address-multiemployer-pension

In accordance with statutory authority, the PBGC announced updates to its maximum civil penalties. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-12-28/pdf/2018-28177.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: This rule amends the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s regulation on Allocation of Assets in Single-Employer Plans by substituting a new table for determining expected retirement ages for participants in pension plans undergoing distress or involuntary termination with valuation dates falling in 2019. This table is needed to compute the value of early […]

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 […]

Document Excerpt The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule on November 7, 2018 to strengthen program integrity for Exchanges with respect to subsidy payments in the individual market. The proposed rule is intended to advance the Administration’s goals of: •Strengthening CMS’ oversight over State-based Exchanges (SBEs) through monitoring,reporting, and oversight […]

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: This proposed rule would revise standards relating to oversight of Exchanges established by states, periodic data matching frequency and authority, and the length of a consumer’s authorization for the Exchange to obtain updated tax information. This proposed rule would also propose new requirements for certain issuers related to the collection of a […]

Document Excerpt On November 7, 2018 the Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor (the Departments) announced two final rules, on display at the Federal Register, that provide conscience protections to Americans who have a religious or moral objection to health insurance that covers contraceptive methods, including certain contraceptives that many view as […]

Document Excerpt SUMMARY: This guidance relates to section 1332 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and its implementing regulations. Section 1332 provides the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury (collectively, the Secretaries) with the discretion to approve a state’s proposal to waive specific provisions of the […]

Document Excerpt This proposed rule would revise the Federal Health Insurance Programs for the Aged and Disabled by amending the Medicare Parts A, B, C and D programs, as well as the Medicaid program, to require direct-to-consumer (DTC) television advertisements of prescription drugs and biological products for which payment is available through or under Medicare […]