The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is a broad federal law regarding health coverage. It contains provisions related to administrative simplification, including: privacy and security of personally identifiable health information (privacy and security rules); enforcement of HIPAA requirements, including investigations, hearings, and penalties for violations (enforcement rule); and reporting requirements for breaches of unsecured protected health information (breach notification rule). HIPAA’s administrative simplification rules generally apply to health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses (covered entities). In 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The HITECH Act strengthened the enforcement of HIPAA’s administrative simplification provisions. On January 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ...

On February 6, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by releasing a set of final FMLA regulations . The final regulations, which become effective on March 8, 2013, implement two statutory expansions of FMLA leave protections. According to DOL: The first expansion provides families of eligible veterans with the same job-protected FMLA leave currently available to families of military service members, and it enables more military families to take leave for activities that arise when a service member is deployed.  The second expansion modifies existing rules so that airline personnel and flight crews are better able to make use of FMLA protections.  In connection with the final regulations, DOL indicated that it updated some of its model FMLA forms, including the model FMLA poster. The model FMLA forms are available on the DOL’s FMLA Web page . Prior to the regulations’ effective date, em...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to provide all new hires and current employees with a written notice about ACA’s Health Insurance Exchanges, effective March 1, 2013. On January 24, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that employers will not be held to the March 1, 2013 deadline. They will not have to comply until final regulations are issued and a final effective date is specified. This HANYS Benefit Services Legislative Brief details the expected timeline for the Exchange notice requirements. Exchange Notice Requirements In general, the notice must: inform employees about the existence of the Exchange and describe the services provided by the Exchange;  explain how employees may be eligible for a premium tax credit or a cost-sharing reduction if the employer's plan does not meet certain requirements;   inform employees that if they purchase coverage through the Exchange, they may lose any employer contribution toward the cost of employer-...

As part of the agreement stemming from the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, Congress adopted tax changes in 2013 that could bring challenges for non-profit organizations and their senior executives and management staff. Executive compensation has always been a complex issue, and these new tax increases may present a greater need for executives and management staff to reduce their includable compensation to offset some of the anticipated tax increases. Tax changes taking effect this year that will likely affect highly compensated individuals include: an increase in the highest, marginal tax bracket to 39.6%, up from 35%; significantly reducing the impact of deductions for mortgage interest, state and local income taxes, property taxes, and charitable contributions; and an increase in the long-term capital gains and dividend taxes. Most individuals with enough income to make them subject to these tax increases will likely be eligible for a non-profit organization’s 457(b) retireme...

As part of the agreement stemming from the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, Congress adopted tax changes in 2013 that could bring challenges for non-profit organizations and their senior executives and management staff. Executive compensation has always been a complex issue, and these new tax increases may present a greater need for executives and management staff to reduce their includable compensation to offset some of the anticipated tax increases. Tax changes taking effect this year that will likely affect highly compensated individuals include: an increase in the highest, marginal tax bracket to 39.6%, up from 35%; significantly reducing the impact of deductions for mortgage interest, state and local income taxes, property taxes, and charitable contributions; and an increase in the long-term capital gains and dividend taxes. Most individuals with enough income to make them subject to these tax increases will likely be eligible for a non-profit organization’s 457(b) retireme...

If you sponsor a non-governmental 457(b) tax-exempt plan for your key management and highly compensated employees, perhaps the most significant administrative task occurs at the time participants sever employment.  Each 457(b) plan has a specified time period by which a participant may make an election to defer payment and timely postpone taxation by electing a future distribution date.  If no timely election is made by the end of the specified time period (“default date”), payment will commence within a generally brief period of time after the default date elapses, which may not be what the participant intended. Why must there be a default date? 457(b) tax-exempt plans are non-qualified plans, and in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code, all non-qualified plan assets are taxed at the point the funds are made available to the participant. This is also referred to as “constructive receipt.”  Regardless of whether the funds are actually distributed to the participant, ...