June 6, 2023
401(k) CURRENT EVENTS: IRS RELEASES NOTICE 2023-43, INTERIM GUIDANCE ON SECURE 2.0 EPCRS EXPANSION
As we have previously reported, the SECURE 2.0 Act (SECURE 2.0), signed into law on December 29, 2022, represents a huge package of provisions affecting retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, that will have an enormous overall effect over the next several years. Of the over 90 individual provisions contained in SECURE 2.0, one which is… Continue Reading 
May 17, 2023
FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEAL STAYS DECISION OF TEXAS DISTRICT COURT THAT INVALIDATED THE REQUIREMENT THAT HEALTH PLANS COVER CERTAIN PREVENTIVE SERVICES
We previously reported that a District Court in Texas had found the ACA’s requirement that plans provide certain preventive services on a first-dollar basis without cost-sharing was unconstitutional. See our Blog on this decision here. The government appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and asked that the lower court decision be… Continue Reading 
May 2, 2023
IRS REMINDS EMPLOYERS WITH HEALTH FSAs OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SUBSTANTIATING CLAIMS
In a Memorandum from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, the IRS has reminded employers that sponsor health FSAs that all claims for benefits from the FSA must meet the substantiation rules. Those rules, simply put, are that all claims must be substantiated by an independent third party. An employee cannot self-certify claims. An employee… Continue Reading 
April 18, 2023
TEXAS COURT VACATES REQUIREMENT THAT HEALTH PLANS COVER CERTAIN PREVENTIVE SERVICES
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes a provision that requires non-grandfathered health plans to cover certain preventive health services on a first dollar basis without cost sharing. The ACA didn’t specify what services had to be covered. Instead, it delegated that task to three agencies: the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF); the Health Resources… Continue Reading 
April 10, 2023
401(k): WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SECURE 2.0? OVERVIEW OF SIGNIFICANT PROVISIONS, PART III
As we have previously reported, Congress passed the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”), a vast collection of retirement-related provisions having a profound effect on 401(k) plans, as part of the larger Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (“CAA”) in late December of 2022. President Biden signed the legislation on December 29, 2022. SECURE 2.0 supplements and… Continue Reading 