As an employer, you may be asking yourself, “What is a wrap document, and why is it important?” Before we get into the full definition, let’s review the history behind wrap documents to better understand how they originated and why they’re important. The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 set minimum standards for employee benefit plans maintained by private-sector employers. Under ERISA, employer-sponsored welfare benefit plans, such as group health plans, must be described in a written plan document. In addition, employers must explain the plans’ terms to participants by providing them with a summary plan description. The insurance certificate or benefit booklet provided by an insurance carrier or other third party for a welfare benefit plan typically does not satisfy ERISA’s content requirements for plan documents and summary plan descriptions. However, employers may use wrap documents in conjunction with the insurance certificate or benefit booklet to satisfy E

  The IRS has updated penalty amounts for 2024 related to the employer shared responsibility (pay or play) rules under the Affordable Care Act. For calendar year 2024, the adjusted ACA pay or play penalty amounts increased as follows: $2,000 penalty amount is now $2,970; and $3,000 penalty amount is now $4,460. Pay or play penalty calculations Under ACA pay or play rules, an applicable large employer is only liable for a penalty if at least one full-time employee receives a subsidy for exchange coverage. Employees who are offered affordable, minimum value coverage are generally not eligible for these exchange subsidies. Depending on the circumstances, one of two penalties may apply under the pay or play rules: the  4980H(a) penalty  or the  4980H(b) penalty . Under Section 4980H(a), an applicable large employer will be subject to a penalty if it does not offer coverage to “substantially all” (generally, at least 95%) of its full-time employees (and dependents) and any one of its full-t

IRS Announces Employee Benefit Plan Limits for 2024 On Nov. 9, 2023, the 2024 IRS employee benefit plan limits were released. Employers should review the increase in annual dollar limits, as many employee benefits are subject to annual dollar limits that are updated for inflation before the beginning of each calendar year. Note that some benefit limits are not adjusted for inflation, such as the contribution limit for dependent care flexible spending accounts and the catch-up contribution limit for health savings accounts. Employers should confirm that payroll systems are updated for the 2024 limits and that the new limits are communicated to employees. The following benefit limits apply for 2024: HSA Contributions Single coverage: $4,150 (up $300 from 2023) Family coverage: $8,300 (up $550 from 2023) Catch-up contributions: $1,000 (not adjusted for inflation) Health FSA Limits Employee pre-tax contributions: $3,200 (up $150 from 2023) Carryover of unused funds: $640 (up $30 from 202

The IRS released the final 2023 forms and instructions for reporting under Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056: 2023 Forms 1094-B and 1095-B (and instructions ) will be used by those offering minimum essential coverage, including self-insured plan sponsors that are not applicable to large employers, to report under Section 6055. 2023 Forms 1094-C and 1095-C (and instructions ) will be used by applicable large employers to report under Section 6056, as well as for combined Section 6055 and 6056 reporting by ALEs that sponsor self-insured plans. No major substantive changes were made to the final forms and instructions for 2023 reporting. However, the 2023 instructions include information on the new electronic filing threshold for information returns required to be filed on or after Jan. 1, 2024, which has been decreased to 10 or more returns (originally, the threshold was 250 or more returns). Employers should become familiar with these forms and instructions for 2023 calen

  FDA approves OTC daily oral contraceptive; IRS issues draft forms for ACA reporting FDA approves first over-the-counter daily oral contraceptive On July 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive to prevent pregnancy. This drug is expected to become available to consumers without a prescription from stores and online retailers in early 2024. Insurance coverage The Affordable Care Act requires most group health plans and health insurance issuers to provide first-dollar coverage of certain specified preventive services for women, including all FDA-approved contraceptives, as prescribed by a healthcare provider. The ACA’s contraceptive coverage mandate does not cover over-the-counter oral contraceptives that are obtained without a prescription. It is possible that the Biden administration or Congress will take action to expand insurance coverage of over-the-counter oral contraceptives. In the meantime, employers should review t

On May 16, the IRS released  Revenue Procedure 2023-23 , which provides the inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans for 2024. The IRS is required to publish these HSA and HDHP limits by June 1 of each year. These limits include: the maximum HSA contribution limit; the minimum deductible amount for HDHPs; and the maximum out-of-pocket expense limit for HDHPs. These limits vary based on whether an individual has self-only or family coverage under an HDHP. Eligible individuals with self-only HDHP coverage will be able to contribute  $4,150  to their HSAs for 2024, up from $3,850 for 2023. Eligible individuals with family HDHP coverage will be able to contribute  $8,300  to their HSAs for 2024, up from $7,750 for 2023. Individuals age 55 or older may make an additional $1,000 “catch-up” contribution to their HSAs. The minimum deductible amount for HDHPs increases to  $1,600  for self-only coverage and  $3,200  for family coverage for 2024, up