On Dec. 22, 2017, President Donald Trump signed into law the tax reform bill, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, after it passed both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill does not impact the…

The IRS has again determined that some employers, insurers and other providers of Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) need additional time to gather and analyze the information and prepare the 2017 Forms 1095-B and 1095-C to be furnished to individuals. Therefore,…

The IRS recently updated one of their Q&As to outline their upcoming issuing of ACA penalty demand letters. According to question 55 of the Q&A, employers will receive Letter 226J if the IRS determines at least one full-time employee received…

Many employee benefits are subject to annual dollar limits that are periodically increased for inflation. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced cost-of-living adjustments to the annual dollar limits for various welfare and retirement plan limits for 2018. Although some…

The New Hampshire Insurance Department cautions those with individual coverage that some will experience steep rate increases for 2018. “... the 24,000 residents who don’t qualify for a federal subsidy or who buy a plan outside HealthCare.gov will see an…

Qualified Retirement Plan Limits for 2017 and 2018

On Oct. 19, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2017-58 which increased the FSA dollar limit on employee salary reduction contributions to $2,650 for taxable years beginning in 2018. It also includes annual inflation numbers for 2018…

The ACA created two federal health insurance subsidies - premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions - to help eligible individuals and families purchase health insurance through an Exchange. The premium tax credit assists eligible individuals with the cost of the…

On Oct. 12, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to change certain rules under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The order does not make any changes to existing regulations. The order would relax regulations on association health…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require employers to provide long-term leave as a “reasonable accommodation” for individuals with disabilities. The decision in Severson v. Heartland…

On Oct. 6, 2017, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury (Departments) issued two interim final rules expanding certain exemptions from the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive coverage mandate. The first interim final rule…

On Sept. 28, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released final 2017 forms for reporting under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Sections 6055 and 6056. The 2017 forms are substantially similar to the 2016 versions, except that sections related to expired…