The IRS Increases Medical FSA Limit to $2,600:
The IRS announced today (10/25/2016) that the Medical FSA and Limited Purpose FSA cap will increase to $2,600 (an increase $50) for plan years beginning on or after January 1st, 2017. If your plan document was created by 24HourFlex the language will reference the maximum amount permitted, in which case no change is required.
Keep reading below for commonly asked questions related to this update.
The Winter Olympics begin this week in Sochi and we are all excited to watch athletes from around the world compete. These athletes have trained four plus years for events spanning mere minutes. From eating well, getting plenty of sleep, strength training and conditioning they have prepared in every way imaginable. While most of us aren't competing for gold over the next month we can all train to do our jobs better which includes utilizing tools that can make our jobs easier.
Tags: COBRA, COBRA Administration
Michael Scott, the lead character from NBC's hit show The Office, once said that the fifth style of conflict is a win win win scenario, where everyone wins. Companies and employees often feel the tension between the traditional win/lose mentality where benefit changes are good for one group and terrible for the other.
Tags: 500 Carryover, Flexible Spending Account Carryover, FSA Carryover, FSA Carryover Provision
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance for a few outstanding issues related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its impact on certain employer sponsored benefit plans. Notice 2013-54 (IRS version, DOL version) outlined three key changes employers need to be aware of as 2014 quickly approaches that impact FSAs, HRAs, and individual insurance premium reimbursement accounts.
On August 29th, 2013, the IRS and Treasury announced (IRS ruling, 2013-17) that all legal same-sex marriages will be recognized for federal tax purposes, even in states that do not recognize same-sex marriages. This means that a same-sex couple who has been legally married in one of thirteen states (CA, CT, DE as of 7/1/2013, IA, MA, ME, MD, MN as of 8/1/2013, NH, NY, RI as of 8/1/2013) will be treated as being married for Federal tax law relating to employee benefits in any state, even those that do not recognize same-sex marriages.
Tags: DOMA FSA HSA
Audits of any kind are not pleasant, especially ones involving disgruntled former employees. Penalties for non-compliance include an IRS excise penalty of $100/$200 per day, an ERISA penalty of $110 per day per Qualified Beneficiary (QB), and legal fees, court costs and any medical claims not covered by insurance for the QB(s). Thankfully there are a few steps employers can take to prepare for a COBRA audit before one occurs.
Tags: COBRA Administration, COBRA Audit, COBRA TPA
Tags: COBRA
