- On August 19, 2024
- Form 5500
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, regardless of whether the plan is fully insured, self-funded, or level-funded. In addition to filing Form 5500 each year, applicable groups must send all of their plan participants a condensed version known as the Summary Annual Report or SAR.
Form 5500 must be submitted to the DOL and IRS electronically by the last day of the seventh month following the end of the plan year. Groups may obtain an automatic 2 ½ month extension by filing Form 5558 before their Form 5500 deadline. Then, the group has another two months to provide their SAR to all plan participants. For example, if a January 1 group is required to file a Form 5500 for the 2023 plan year, that form was due on July 31, 2024. The related SAR will be due to plan participants by September 30, 2024. If a January 1 group gets a Form 5500 filing extension, the employer must ensure their plan participants get their SAR by December 15, 2024.
The SAR needs to include the data listed below but to make it easier on employer plan sponsors, there is a federal template available:
- If the plan is self-funded or fully insured;
- Insurance carrier information (either the health carrier or the stop-loss entity), including the total premium paid and if the policy is experience-rated;
- A financial statement if the plan is funded by a trust (this is rare and generally only applies to self-funded plans) and;
- Information about how plan participants can get additional information from the plan and a full 5500.
The SAR must be distributed to plan participants, which means employees and any COBRA participants, using the ERISA distribution guidelines. The safest way to meet the ERISA distribution standard is to send the form via U.S. mail or physically hand it to a plan participant.