Compliance Updates
With ever-changing legislation and regulations, Department of Labor (DOL) and IRS audits, Affordable Care Act compliance and reporting, and adhering to necessary safe harbors that change every year, achieving and maintaining compliance is a continuing challenge for employers of all sizes.
Kelly Benefits’ Compliance team distributes regular guidance and briefings in response to recent developments on regulatory changes in the world of benefits. These updates and alerts outline the latest federal, state, and local actions that directly impact employee benefit plans to ensure our clients always remain up to date. Our recent releases are available for viewing and download below.
There’s been a lot of talk and limited information about Gag Clause Attestation, but Kelly Benefits Compliance is here to assist. We want to ensure everyone is aware of the upcoming deadline on 12/31/2023 and offer guidance on how to handle this challenging requirement. Check out our On-Demand Webinar on Gag Clause Compliance for answers to your questions. Feel free to contact the Kelly Benefits team with any inquiries.
CLICK HERE to watch video.
On November 9, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Procedure 2023-34 that establishes various 2024 tax-related limits that have been adjusted for inflation. The table below identifies updates to the 2024 health and fringe benefit plans addressed in this notice.
CLICK HERE to read more.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee established by the Affordable Care Act helps fund research to evaluate and compare health outcomes, clinical effectiveness, risks, and benefits of medical treatment and services. The fee is currently in place through 2029. In Notice 2023-70, the IRS announced that the PCORI fee for plan years ending between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024, is $3.22. This is an increase from the $3.00 payment for policy or plan years that ended between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023. Employers and plan sponsors with self-funded plans are typically responsible for submitting IRS Form 720 and paying the PCORI fee by July 31 of the calendar year immediately following the last day of the plan year, meaning that payments for plan years that end in 2023 will be due in July of 2024.
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released draft instructions for preparing, distributing, and filing 2023 Forms 1094-B/C and 1095-B/C. These instructions largely mirror guidance the IRS has published in previous years, except that the electronic filing threshold has been reduced from 250 forms to ten forms in aggregate.
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By October 13, 2023, plan sponsors that offer prescription drug coverage must provide notices of creditable or non-creditable coverage to Medicare-eligible individuals. While plan sponsors are typically responsible for providing these notices by October 14th every year, this year’s notice is due by October 13th because the 14th falls on a Saturday.
Just when we thought affordability percentages couldn’t possibly go lower than the 2023 rate of 9.12%, the Internal Revenue Service released Revenue Procedure 2023-29 declaring the Affordable Care Act (ACA) benchmark for determining the affordability of employer-sponsored health coverage will significantly decrease to 8.39% of an employee’s household income for the 2024 plan year. This almost ¾ percentage point is a significant decrease for several reasons.
CLICK HERE to read more.
On Tuesday, July 25th, the federal Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (“the Departments”) introduced a much-anticipated update to current regulations dealing with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA).
These newly proposed regulations continue to shine a bright light on the need for parity between medical/surgical (M/S) and mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits in all non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs).
CLICK HERE to read more.
The federal Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury recently issued a proposed regulation that would significantly change how many employer-sponsored hospital indemnity, specified disease, and other fixed indemnity insurance plans are designed. These plans are generally known as fixed indemnity plans.
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Late last week, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (the Departments) published a set of FAQs that clarify how certain surprise billing protections interact with the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) maximum out-of-pocket limit (OOP) requirements. The FAQs also clarify whether facility fees are subject to specific transparency in coverage requirements.
CLICK HERE to read more.
Late last week, the IRS published additional guidance modifying the COVID-19 coverage that high deductible health plans (HDHPs) can provide while maintaining their HSA-qualified status. This notice was provided in response to the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) and National Emergency Period.
CLICK HERE to read more.
Kelly Benefits is not a law firm and cannot dispense legal advice. Anything contained in this communication is not and should not be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice, please contact your legal counsel.