December 27, 2010 – 2010 Estate Tax Change
On December 17, 2010, the President signed into law the “Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010” (the Act). A sweeping tax package, the Act includes a two-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, temporary estate tax relief, a two-year patch to the alternative minimum tax, a two-percentage-point reduction in employee-paid payroll taxes and the self-employment tax for 2011, plus many other tax breaks for individuals and business.
 
What follows is a summary of the provisions of the Act related to estate planning. (No attempt was made to summarize all 1,900 pages of the bill.) Since most of the provisions are only one or two year extensions, prompt action will be required to maximize the Act’s tax benefits. Please click here to read more . . .

November 2, 2010 - 2011 Cost of Living Adjustments Announced
WASHINGTON — On October 28, 2010, the Internal Revenue Service announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2011. In general, these limits will either remain unchanged, or the inflation adjustments for 2011 will be small.

This eActionAlert contains the full text of IRS Information Release 2010-108 dated October 28, 2010. We felt providing you with the full text was the best way to ensure that you would be up-to-date on all of the announced changes. To read the entire Release, click here.

August 6, 2010 – Overview of the Preventative Care Regulations
New Interim Final Regulations (Regulations) released by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Treasury and the Department of Labor require health plans to cover specified preventive care services without charging participants any deductible, copayment, or similar cost-sharing amount. The Regulations apply to plan years beginning on and after September 23, 2010. For calendar year plans, the rules take effect January 1, 2011.

These preventive care services are specified in guidelines issued by federal governmental health agencies and are quite lengthy. This eActionAlert is an overview of the regulations and also provides a link to the full text of the Guidelines. We strongly urge all our readers to review the detailed information. Simply click here.

June 22, 2010 - When Does a Health & Welfare Plan Lose its “Grandfathered” Status?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Treasury have issued interim and final regulations for group health plans and health insurance coverage relating to status as a grandfathered health plan under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148). The regulations, which also call for comment, were published in the June 17 Federal Register and have been synthesized for easy reading. To read the entire article click on the title.

March 30, 2010 - Post Script to the eActionAlert dated March 24, 2010
We have welcome news for employers with existing group health plans. After a detailed examination of both the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590, a.k.a. the “health care reform bill”) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HR 4872, a.k.a. the “fix it bill”), we have confirmed that existing group health plans are ‘grandfathered’ from having to make several of the changes identified in our Alert dated March 24, 2010. To read this entire article, click on the title above.

March 24, 2010 - The Landmark Health Care Reform Bill
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the bill (HR3590) originally passed by the Senate on December 24, 2009 and approved by the House on March 21, 2010. Later that Sunday night the House also passed the reconciliation bill (HR4872). That bill (HR 4872) has now moved to the Senate for the "reconciliation" process. It must receive 51 "yes" votes in the Senate to pass. Although passage is not certain, it is expected. Once that is done, the implementation process will begin; a process that will take several years. The financial impact of this legislation will be significant and tax increases will almost certainly be required to provide the necessary funding. To read this entire article, click on the title above.

Our first order of business was to bring you up to date on the changes that are likely to survive the reconciliation process. You can expect additional updates from us as events unfold. To read this entire article, click on the title above.

February 28, 2010 - Self Reporting of Single Employer Welfare Plan Compliance Failures
Employers need to know that the formalization of the self-reporting of compliance failures became effective January 1, 2010. This means that all group health plan sponsors are now required to assess their compliance with COBRA, HIPAA and other regulations and report compliance failures to the IRS. Failure to do so carries significant penalties. Because this is such a significant issue, we’ve prepared a comprehensive chart to help our clients assess the impact on their companies. Additional information can be found in the forms available at the websites listed at the end of the Chart. To read this entire article, click on the title above.