October was a busy month in the employee benefits world. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) renewed the public health emergency due to COVID-19 which took effect on October 23, 2020.

10/26/20 Update: Updated for the 2021 EBHRA limit, 2021 Health FSA limit, and 2021 QSE HRA limit. Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs) and health care flexible spending accounts (HFSAs) are generally referred to as account-based plans.

Part One

On October 29, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (collectively, Departments), released final rules on coverage transparency.

Companies are well aware that in today’s competitive job market, it is necessary to offer employees healthcare and voluntary benefits to attract and retain talent. Not surprisingly, more and more employers over the last five years have been willing to offer their workers perks that extend to their family pets.   

Part One

Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in as President Trump’s third U.S. Supreme Court (Supreme Court) Justice on October 26, 2020, to fill the seat vacated by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Justice Barrett’s vote could be a deciding factor on whether the ACA remains law.

The IRS recently released final instructions for both the 1094-B and 1095-B forms and the 1094-C and 1095-C forms and the final forms for 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C, and 1095-C. The forms have generally remained unchanged from prior years. As a reminder, individuals do not pay a penalty for failure to have health coverage.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020
2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT

Join us this month for an overview of the essential group health plan tasks that should be completed by the end of the plan year and considerations for running a compliant open enrollment period.

September was a relatively quiet month in the employee benefits world. President Trump issued an executive order on An America-First Healthcare Plan, noting the Administration’s actions on healthcare and planned actions going forward.

As the deadline for reporting of group health coverage offered in 2020 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) approaches, the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) has issued IRS Notice 2020-76 (Notice) regarding deadline extensions and requirements as it has done in prior years.

The Center for Medicare/Medicaid Service (CMS) requires employers to provide an annual “Notice of Creditable Coverage” to all Medicare-eligible employees and their beneficiaries, or ALL employees if you do not track Medicare-eligibility, before October 15 of this year.