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Updated Federal Penalties for Health Plan Violations

  • On September 3, 2024
The federal Department of Health and Human Services released updated penalty amounts for certain health plan violations that may occur on or after January 15, 2025. These penalty increases are separate from any penalty increases the federal Department of Labor may announce later this year for ERISA violations. The new penalty amounts by infraction are […]
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Is Your Clients’ Generosity Hurting Their Benefit Plan?

  • On August 26, 2024
Employer-sponsored group benefit plans are generally designed to cover only employees who actively work a minimum number of hours. When employees take short-term leave for vacations, holidays, or sick days during the normal course of business, their benefits continue uninterrupted. Generosity begins to hurt employer benefit plans when they are improperly administered during leaves of […]
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Don’t Forget Summary Annual Reports

  • On August 19, 2024
If a group health plan covers 100 or more participants on the first day of the plan year, then the plan sponsor (usually the employer) must file an annual report with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service, known as Form 5500. This requirement applies to all group health plans meeting the size threshold, […]
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HSA/HDHP Increased Limits for 2025

  • On August 6, 2024
In Revenue Procedure 2024-25, the IRS announced the inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and qualified high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2025. These limits include: These limits vary based on whether an individual’s HDHP coverage is self-only or family (one or more dependents). Effective Dates The HSA contribution limits for HSAs are effective starting […]
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New Fee Lawsuit Excellent Reminder of Fiduciary Duty

  • On August 6, 2024
Last week, employees of Wells Fargo filed a lawsuit against their group health plan, Navarro et al. v. Wells Fargo Company, charging their employer plan sponsor with not upholding its fiduciary duty to plan participants. Similar to a case filed last February, Lewandowski v. Johnson and Johnson et al., the plaintiffs in the new lawsuit charged that […]
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New Federal Marketplace Action to Block Unauthorized Enrollments

  • On July 29, 2024
As of July 19, 2024, CMS will block certified health insurance brokers from making any changes to an enrollee’s Marketplace account unless the broker is already associated with the consumer’s enrollment. Brokers who perform unauthorized enrollments are already terminated from offering services through the marketplace if caught, but this action should help further reduce the problem caused by fraudulent actors.
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