Benefits

The IRS has now released all of the 2024 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.

When it comes to FSA, HRA, and HSA administration, plans are technical and require significant oversight. But by working with a highly skilled third-party administrator (TPA), employers can be supported in these tasks, assured their plans run smoothly, and in compliance with all requirements.

Medicare requires all employers that offer prescription drug benefits to provide an annual notice to all Medicare-eligible plan participants and qualified beneficiaries before October 15th of each year. Here's all you need to know about that filing.

Employers who maintain a retirement plan for their employees are very familiar with the requirement to file an IRS Form 5500 and associated schedules each year.  However, many employers are unaware that they may also have a 5500 requirement for their health and welfare plans.

On August 25, 2023, the IRS published Notice 2023-62, putting an “Administrative Transition Period” of two years on the SECURE 2.0 requirement that all participants earning $145,000 or more in the prior calendar year must make all catch-up contributions as Roth.

The Affordable Care Act set affordability limits on group health plans. It also set significant penalties for failure to offer affordable plans. Potentially there's a huge increase coming in 2024 for employers' share of the costs.

The IRS has released a new Notice that provides transition relief for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) under the SECURE 2.0 Act passed in December, 2022.

All 401(k) catch-up contributions must be Roth (after-tax), starting in 2024 for anyone earning $145,000+. That's only the beginning.

In response to the pandemic, the IRS issued rules in 2020 that COVID-19 testing and treatment benefits could be provided by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) without a deductible or with a deductible below the HDHP minimum deductible. With the end of the emergency, those rules are now changed.

As we explained in 2020, 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.”

Working with an employee benefits consultancy ensures that you stay informed, minimize costs, and receive sound advice about the wellbeing of your employees. With the ability to walk you through your decision-making process, consultants can ensure that you’re looking at appropriate plans.