DOL to Host Webinar on EFAST2 and 2009 Form 5500

The US Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will be hosting a EFAST2 and 2009 Form 5500 compliance assistance webinar on June 3, 2010 at 1:00pm EDT. 

From EBSA:

"Now that electronic filing is here, and you are using the EFAST2 system and preparing to file the 2009 Form 5500, we know that you have questions. This webcast will provide tips and address some of the most frequently asked questions the Department has received as all parties involved in filing begin to use the EFAST2 system and prepare the 2009 Form 5500.  The webcast will also feature a discussion of the new e-signature option for Form 5500 and 5500-SF that is designed to simplify the electronic filing process, especially for small businesses that use service providers to complete and file their annual reports.

 

The 2009 Form 5500 has a number of changes, including a new simplified annual reporting form for small plans with easy to value investments; expanded reporting by large plans of compensation received by plan service providers; and realignment of the reporting rules for Internal Revenue Code section 403(b) pension plans subject to Title I of ERISA to make them on par with 401(k) plans.   The EFAST2 system is a new, modernized system to handle the electronic filing of the Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF that also provides electronic public disclosure of filings."

Click here to read more and to sign up for the webcast.

Guidance on Adult Dependent Coverage Released

Today the Department of Labor (DOL), the Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released clarifying guidance on the provisions in the new health reform law that require group health plans to cover adult dependent children up to age 26.

Highlights of the new regulation include:

• Except for children age 26 or older, the terms of the policy cannot vary for dependent coverage based on age of a child
• Additional charges (e.g. surcharges, fees, etc.) are not allowed unless the surcharge applies regardless of the age of the child
• Married adult dependents are eligible for this new benefit. However, coverage does not have to be offered to the adult child's spouse or children.
• Plans must provide a special enrollment period - that includes written notice - for at least 30 days to adult children whose coverage may have ended under a plan or who may have been previously denied coverage. This is effective no later than the first day of the first plan year beginning on or after September 23, 2010 (i.e., January 1, 2010 for most employer-sponsored plans).
• Because of the special enrollment period, the adult child is treated as a special enrollee per HIPAA laws. Therefore, employers must:
• Make available to adult children all benefit packages that are offered to other similar individuals who did not lose coverage because they lost dependent status; and
• Charge the same premium price that they charge other similar individuals who did not lose coverage because they lost dependent status
• Financial contributions set aside for this new benefit may be excluded from the employee's income for the entire taxable year the child turns 26 so long as the coverage continues until the end of that given taxable year.

On a related note, HHS released cost estimates of this new benefit, concluding that it will cost $3,380 for each dependent and thus will raise premiums by 0.7 percent in 2011 for employer plans. A little over one million young adult dependents are expected to sign up, with HHS estimating that more than half of them would have been uninsured if not for this program. While this aspect of the health reform law is effective September 23, 2010, many insurers across the country have already pledged to cover this population far in advance of September. A list of these insurers can be seen in the below referenced DOL Fact Sheet.

Click here to access the regulation.
Click here to view the DOL fact sheet.
Click here to read the FAQs, courtesy of DOL.

Mental Health Parity Regulations Released

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has posted the public inspection version of the interim final rules for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ("MHPAEA"). Expanding upon laws enacted by the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, these news laws require group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as co-pays, deductibles) and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) applicable to mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical/surgical benefits.

Generally, the law became effective for plan years beginning on or after October 3, 2009, and thus January 1, 2010 for calendar year plans. The Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury will publish in the Federal Register final regulation that is effective April 5, 2010, and applicable to plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010.

EBSA has published a fact sheet that can be found by clicking here.
Click here for the related press release.

COBRA and Form 550 Compliance Webcasts

The Department of Labor and the Employee Benefits Security Administration recently hosted two compliance webcasts designed to provide plan administrators guidance on administering COBRA premium reduction subsidies and filing the 2009 Form 5500.

Both archived webcasts can now be found online on the EBSA website.

To access the webcast on COBRA premium reduction subsidies, click here.

Click here to view the 2009 Form 5500 webcast.