Kushner & Company Blog

The Kushner & Company blog brings current legal, regulatory, and items of interest to our business executives and HR professionals in all areas of HR and benefit design and administration. The extensive library of blogs is fully searchable and contains many ideas, tips, and updates on all things HR and benefits.

Employers that offer High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) that provide telehealth benefits before the participant meets their annual deductible may need to amend their plan prior to their plan's year-end. The reason for this is that...

Posted on December 5, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
Administration, 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
COBRA, 
ERISA-ACA Compliance, 
Health and Welfare Team, 
Health Savings Accounts (HSA), 
HR Compliance, 
Summary Plan Descriptions

The IRS has now released all of the 2025 benefit limits. These include both the cafeteria and health plan limits as well as all of the qualified retirement plan limits. Earlier this year, they also released the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and Health Savings Account (HSA) limits.

Posted on November 1, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
401(k), 
All Articles, 
Blog, 
Defined Contribution Plan, 
FSA / HSA / HRA, 
Health Savings Accounts (HSA), 
Profit Sharing, 
Retirement Plans, 
Team Rewards, 
Total Rewards

In an era where attracting and retaining employees is paramount to an organization’s success, a Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) is a valuable addition to employee benefits. LSAs can significantly boost employee engagement by providing flexibility and control over their benefits.

Posted on October 8, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), 
FSA / HSA / HRA, 
Health and Welfare Team, 
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), 
Health Savings Accounts (HSA), 
Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA), 
Total Rewards

For plan years beginning in 2024, this new optional opportunity is for the plan to treat Qualified Student Loan Payments (QSLPs) as if they were elective deferrals to the plan (even though they were not contributed to the plan) and to provide a matching contribution to the plan as if they were.

Posted on October 1, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
401(k), 
Administration, 
Blog, 
Combo Plans, 
Defined Contribution Plan, 
Educational Assistance, 
Retirement Plans

Employers that offer prescription drug benefits are required to provide an annual notice to all Medicare-eligible plan participants and qualified beneficiaries before October 15th of each year, the start of the Medicare open enrollment period. Most send it to all participants.

Posted on September 23, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
Administration, 
All Articles, 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
ERISA-ACA Compliance, 
Health and Welfare Team, 
HR Compliance, 
Total Rewards

In a recent PLR from the IRS, an interesting optional approach to allow an employee to direct their employer contributions to a qualified retirement plan (such as a 401(k) plan) opens the door to some possibilities for employers looking to expand their benefit offerinngs without increasing costs.

Posted on September 18, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
401(k), 
Administration, 
Blog, 
Combo Plans, 
Defined Contribution Plan, 
Plan Document Services (RPS), 
Profit Sharing, 
Retirement Plans, 
Team Rewards

The IRS has released the 2025 ACA affordability percentage. Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) are subject to the affordability rules of the ACA. ALEs are defined as those employers who have 50 or more full-time equivalents during the appropriate Measurement Period.

Posted on September 9, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
ERISA-ACA Compliance, 
Health and Welfare Team

Rather than seek out retirement plan consulting, many employers offer a take-it-or-leave-it retirement plan design from their payroll or other provider. They assume that all 401(k) plans are the same, not paying attention to the details. After all, don't we just have to say we have a plan?

Posted on July 15, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
401(k), 
Administration, 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
Defined Contribution Plan, 
Money Purchase, 
Plan Document Services (RPS), 
Profit Sharing, 
Retirement Plans, 
Total Rewards

We're often asked if vitamins of any kind (multivitamin, specific vitamins [such as B12, D, or K for example]) or others are eligible for reimbursement under a health care flexible spending account (FSA) or health reimbursement arrangement (HRA).

Posted on June 19, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
Administration, 
Benefit Card, 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
ERISA-ACA Compliance, 
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), 
FSA / HSA / HRA, 
Health and Welfare Team, 
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), 
Talent Management, 
Team Rewards

Spousal Incentive HRAs aren't new. But they're getting new exposure as a means of helping employers control health care costs, increasing employee recruiting and retention, and aiding employees when they have choices between two group health plans to elect a spouse's coverage over the employer's.

Posted on June 12, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
ERISA-ACA Compliance, 
FSA / HSA / HRA, 
Health and Welfare Team, 
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), 
Team Rewards, 
Total Rewards

As we explained previously, funding for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) was supposed to end with filings and fees for plan years that began before October 1, 2019. In the words of the great philosopher Emily Litella, “Never mind.”

Posted on June 10, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
Administration, 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
COBRA, 
ERISA-ACA Compliance, 
FSA / HSA / HRA, 
Health and Welfare Team, 
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA)

In a CNBC article, Kushner & Company President Gary Kushner is quoted on the issue of coverage of newer weight-loss prescription drugs in small to mid-sized employers' group health plans.

Posted on May 31, 2024 By Kushner & Company
Categories: 
Administration, 
Benefits, 
Blog, 
ERISA-ACA Compliance, 
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), 
FSA / HSA / HRA, 
Health and Welfare Team, 
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), 
Health Savings Accounts (HSA), 
Qualified Small Employer HRA (QSEHRA), 
Total Rewards