Thursday, February 17, 2011 | Robert A. (Rob) Browning
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Fringe Benefits, Health Plans
In an apparent change of position, the IRS has now indicated (in Announcement 2011-14) that breast pumps and supplies that assist lactation qualify as medical care expenses under Code Section 213(d) because they are for the purpose of affecting a structure or function of the lactating woman’s body.
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 | Chadron Patton
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Health Care Reform, Health Plans
By now, most people involved in the administration of group health plans are familiar with the requirement that plans offering dependent coverage make that coverage available to adult children until they attain age 26. This new requirement applies to both insured and self-insured plans (regardless of the plan’s status as a “grandfathered” plan), and is effective for plans years beginning on or after September 23, 2010 (January 1, 2011, for calendar-year plans). Many of us, however, are not as familiar with the corresponding change to the Tax Code that allows these benefits to be provided on a tax-free basis.
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Thursday, November 18, 2010 | Chadron Patton
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Fringe Benefits, Health Care Reform
Amid the year-end rush to comply with the reform provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) for group health plans, it is easy to overlook the ACA’s effects on other health plan arrangements. As discussed in our
May 2010 article, cafeteria plans, health flexible spending accounts (“FSAs”), health savings accounts (“HSAs”), and health care reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”) are subject to several of the same requirements that apply to group health plans.
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | Lawrence Jenab
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Health Care Reform, Health Plans, Legislation
While the focus of the Affordable Care Act is clearly on the nation’s health insurance system the Act does include several rifle-shot changes to the Tax Code’s cafeteria plan rules.
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 | David Stevens
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Health Plans, Legislation
As we
reported last year, the Mandatory Medicare Secondary Payer Reporting Program went into effect as of January 1, 2009. Since our initial report on this Program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) have issued several updated versions of the Group Health Plan User Guide for use by responsible reporting entities (“RREs”). An RRE is defined as “an entity serving as an insurer or third-party administrator for a group health plan … and, in the case of a group health plan that is self-insured and self-administered, a plan administrator or fiduciary.”
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Friday, February 27, 2009 | Kenneth A. Mason
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Health Plans, Legislation
Congress has recently expanded the Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) in several significant respects. Many of these changes will directly affect employer-sponsored health plans by April 1, 2009.
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Saturday, September 01, 2007 | Kenneth A. Mason
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Fringe Benefits, Legislation
Missouri has followed the lead of Massachusetts and a handful of other states in mandating that most employers establish a cafeteria plan through which their employees may pay their health insurance premiums on a “pre-tax” basis. This cafeteria plan mandate is just one aspect of the “Missouri Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act” (or “Missouri HIPAA”), as enacted by the Legislature during its 2007 session.
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Wednesday, August 01, 2007 | Kenneth A. Mason
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Fringe Benefits
The Internal Revenue Service has withdrawn several sets of proposed and temporary regulations under Section 125 of the Tax Code (some dating back to 1984) and then reproposed those regulations in a substantially reorganized format. Though the substantive changes made by these regulations are few, the comprehensive nature of the regulations will make them of great interest to sponsors and administrators of cafeteria plans.
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 | Julia M. Vander Weele
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans
The IRS has issued additional guidance regarding the use of debit cards, credit cards, and stored value cards for flexible spending accounts (“FSAs”) and health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”). The new rules may spark a renewed interest among employers in offering an electronic payment card feature with their FSAs and HRAs. The IRS had previously addressed substantiation of electronic payment transactions for health FSAs and HRAs in 2003. Under the old rules, automatic substantiation for debit or credit card transactions linked to health FSAs and HRAs was subject to the following key conditions:
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly
Sunday, January 01, 2006 | Julia M. Vander Weele
Filed under:
Cafeteria Plans, Legislation
As we reported in the November 2004 issue of Benefits in Brief, the Working Families Tax Relief Act (WFTRA) took effect January 1, 2005. The WFTRA changed the definition of dependent found in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). One key change included the addition of a gross income limitation to the Code’s definition of a qualifying relative. As we reported in the November 2004 issue of Benefits in Brief, the Working Families Tax Relief Act (WFTRA) took effect January 1, 2005. The WFTRA changed the definition of dependent found in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). One key change included the addition of a gross income limitation to the Code’s definition of a qualifying relative.
View Full Article | Printer-Friendly