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Department of Labor increases ERISA penalties, provides insight into 2021 enforcement activity

Department of Labor increases ERISA penalties, provides insight into 2021 enforcement activity

ERISA penalties adjusted for inflation The Department of Labor’s (DOL) enforcement wing, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), recently made inflation adjustments to penalty amounts for various ERISA welfare benefit plan violations. Federal regulations...

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What state legislatures don’t understand about health savings accounts – Oklahoma is the latest to pass legislation inadvertently barring HSA contributions

What state legislatures don’t understand about health savings accounts – Oklahoma is the latest to pass legislation inadvertently barring HSA contributions

When I was a boy, my dad used to tell me, “If you don’t know what you’re doing, just ask. Better to ask, son, than to have to come back later to fix something you messed up.” It’s a mantra that state legislators should take to heart. Oklahoma is the latest state to...

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The Fifth Circuit vacates, in part, the nationwide stay of the CMS vaccine mandate leaving the majority of states subject to compliance

The Fifth Circuit vacates, in part, the nationwide stay of the CMS vaccine mandate leaving the majority of states subject to compliance

Just when employers began to breathe a sigh of relief, the vaccine mandate implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is revived in 26 states. On Dec. 15, the Fifth Circuit concluded that the Louisiana district court which granted the...

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Ongoing legal challenges to all three federal vaccine mandates require employers to press the “pause” button

Ongoing legal challenges to all three federal vaccine mandates require employers to press the “pause” button

There’s been a flurry of activity in federal courts the past few weeks regarding the various federal vaccine mandates with new developments arising daily. States are increasing efforts to block mandates or expand exemptions for employees. Read below for a discussion...

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Feds confirm vaccine wellness programs are ok, and that employers may ask about vaccination status

Feds confirm vaccine wellness programs are ok, and that employers may ask about vaccination status

Federal authorities, in two new announcements, have validated employers’ use of healthcare plan-related wellness programs to incent employees to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine and confirmed that the HIPAA privacy rules do not prevent employers from asking employees or...

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Feds to require reporting of air ambulance claim data, tip their hand on impending broker compensation rules

Feds to require reporting of air ambulance claim data, tip their hand on impending broker compensation rules

The federal Departments of Health & Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury issued a second round of proposed rules late last week which, when finalized, will solicit utilization and cost data from health insurance carriers, group health plans and air ambulance...

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Smaller employers beware: IRS doesn’t want paper ACA filings next year (or paper W-2 and similar filings, for that matter)

Smaller employers beware: IRS doesn’t want paper ACA filings next year (or paper W-2 and similar filings, for that matter)

Start lining up a payroll and/or ACA reporting vendor now The IRS has proposed two significant changes to electronic filing requirements for various information returns including not just the Forms 1094-C and 1095-C filings required of many employers by the Affordable...

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