On March 26, 2021 the IRS released Announcement 2021-7, which provides that amounts paid for personal protective equipment for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19 are treated as amounts paid for medical care under Section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code.  This means that amounts paid for things such as masks, hand sanitizer…

Earlier this month, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) became the latest COVID relief package passed by the federal government. ARPA, just like the many COVID relief packages that came before it, contains a number of changes that benefits professionals will want to become familiar with. Only for 2021, ARPA allows employers to…

Late last week, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), which makes COBRA continuation coverage free for certain qualifying-individuals and their families from April 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021.  This free coverage is available to those who lose group health plan coverage because either: they are terminated (not including resignations);…

You might recall that in December 2020, Congress passed the year-end funding bill known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”), which contained provisions that provide significant flexibility for flexible spending accounts (“FSAs”) and dependent care assistance plans (“DCAPs”) in 2020 and 2021.  Last week, on February 18, 2021, the IRS released Notice 2021-15 to…

On December 6, 2020, we posted an article on this blog titled “RADICAL New Transparency Rules Likely Apply to Your Health Plan in One Year.”  The regulations are a little more than 150 pdf pages long.  The following is intended to provide a condensed but more comprehensive summary of the requirements described in our December…

Much like our frigid weather, the courts continue their chilly reception of ERISA stock-drop claims.   Just earlier this month in Varga v. Gen. Elec. Co., No. 20-1144-cv, 2021 WL 391602 (2nd Cir. February 4, 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of an ERISA lawsuit for breach…