Benefits

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently published an Information Letter that confirms the general preemption under ERISA of state civil laws that require employers to obtain written consent before withholding amounts from employees’ wages for contribution to a benefit plan subject to ERISA.

Employers who sponsor group health plans that cover any prescription drugs generally must disclose whether the plan provides creditable or non-creditable prescription drug coverage to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) within 60 days of the start of a new plan year.

In a recent article published by SHRM, our President and CEO Gary Kushner was cited as the main resource on dealing with active employees and their dependents upon their reaching Medicare-eligibility. Kushner mentioned many issues related to employer-based health and prescription drug benefits.

On December 14, 2018, a US District Judge in Texas issued a ruling that the entire ACA was unconstitutional given that the individual mandate contained in it no longer had a tax penalty, the basis of the 2012 US Supreme Court ruling upholding the ACA's constitutionality. 

The IRS has issued Notice 2018-94 extending the due date for the 2018 1095-B and 1095-C forms to be sent to employees from January 31, 2019 until March 4, 2019.

Gary Kushner, a frequent contributor to national and regional media, was quoted in the Washington Post responding to a question about open enrollment timelines.

The IRS has announced the limits for employee benefit plans for 2019.

The employer mandate penalty notices for 2016 have been mailed the week of November 12, 2018. Better known as Letter 226-J, these notices inform employers of a preliminary penalty under IRC Section 4980H.

The IRS has recently sort of, kind of, maybe, in special circumstances enabled employers to make a matching contribution to their 401(k) plan on behalf of eligible plan participants who, instead of contributing to the 401(k), make certain qualifying student loan repayments instead.

When Congress passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act in 2003 implementing prescription drug coverage under Medicare, it required all employers that offer prescription drug benefits to provide an annual notice to all Medicare-eligible plan participants.

A new Section 199A of the 2017 Tax Act passed by Congress in December of that year enables small business owners--especially sole proprietors, subchapter S corporations, and partnerships--to get up to a 20% deduction of qualified business income if they have total income below certain thresholds.

Gary Kushner, President and CEO of Kushner & Company was interviewed by Workforce Management magazine during the 2018 SHRM Annual Conference in Chicago about the most often missed items in employers' compliance with the ACA.