HIPAA and HITECH How it affects plan sponsors Background The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act requires HIPAA covered entities to provide notification to affected individuals and to the Secretary of HHS following the discovery of a breach of unsecured protected health information. Sounds straightforward but we all know that […]
HIPAA, HITECHMichelle’s Law goes into effect for group health plans on the first day of the plan year on or after October 9, 2009. Michelle’s Law is a federal law that prohibits a group health plan from terminating a dependent’s health coverage if the dependent requires a medically necessary leave of absence or a reduction in […]
compliance, ERISA, Michelle’s lawIn May, 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an alert to employers regarding the amendment of Medicare Secondary Payer provisions, Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act. Section 111 reporting requirements are in addition to existing Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) law and regulations. The new reporting requirements are […]
Medicare secondary payer, ReportingMarch 2009 Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008 President George W. Bush signed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008 (Wellstone/Domenici Act) into law on October 3, 2008. The Wellstone/Domenici Act preserves the restrictions on annual and lifetime maximums for mental […]
Mental health parity, MPHA, WellstoneJune 2009 Suspension or Reduction of Safe Harbor Nonelective Contributions Proposed Regulations On May 18, 2009 the IRS issued proposed regulations which will allow employers with safe harbor 401(k) plans who incur a substantial business hardship to reduce or suspend the nonelective contribution (QNEC). Currently, only the safe harbor matching contribution (QMAC) can be reduced […]
401k, defined contribution, safe harbor, suspension non-electiveFebruary 2009 COBRA Subsidy DOL Cobra site The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law on February 17th. ARRA contained provisions which immediately impact plan sponsors subject to COBRA. This ErisaALERT touches on a few of the immediate practical aspects of the new law; as with most laws, the devil is in […]
COBRA subsidyNovember, 2008 Fee Transparency Part 3 –2009 Schedule C As noted in Part 1 and Part 2 of our three part Fee Transparency series, there are three pieces of DOL guidance that Plan Sponsors should have on their list of “to dos”. Two are in the form of proposed guidance with the third in final […]
Fee Transparency, Form 5500, Schedule COctober, 2008 Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (impact on health care flexible spending accounts) The Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (HEART) was passed in June, 2008. The Act contained provisions impacting qualified plans as well as health plans, and specifically health care flexible spending accounts (FSA). On […]
HEART, Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax ActSeptember, 2008 Fee Transparency Part 2 – Reasonable Contract or Arrangement Under Section 408(b) (2)—Fee Disclosure As noted in Part 1 of our three part Fee Transparency series, there are three pieces of DOL guidance that Plan Sponsors should have on their list of “to dos”. Two are in the form of proposed guidance with […]
408b2, Fee Transparency, reasonable contractAugust, 2008 Fee Transparency Part 1 – Disclosures to Plan Participants There are three pieces of DOL guidance that Plan Sponsors should have on their list of “to dos”. Two are in the form of proposed guidance with the third in final form. Why should you have this on your “to do” list? Because they […]
408b2, Fee Transparency, Participant disclosures(c) 2015 Erisa Diagnostics - We focus on benefits, so you can focus on business