Benefit plans: Upcoming compliance deadlines and end-of-year-planning

Bret Clark and Bret Busacker, 

The Daily Record Newswire

Now that fall is officially underway, we thought this would be a good time to summarize some of the key employee benefit plan deadlines that are approaching between now and the end of the year:

October 14

Medicare Part D Notice of Creditable Coverage. Employers who offer prescription drug coverage to employees and retirees should provide a notice to plan participants and beneficiaries who are eligible for Medicare Part D (or to all participants) by October 14, 2014, stating whether the employer prescription drug coverage is creditable coverage.

November 5

Deadline to Obtain Health Plan Identifier. All self-insured larger group health plans (those with annual costs of $5 million or more) must obtain a unique group health plan identification number (HPID) from CMS by November 5, 2014. The HPID will be used in electronic communications involving plan-related health information. For this reason, third party administrators (TPAs) of self-insured plans will either obtain the HPID or will coordinate with the plan sponsor in obtaining the HPID.

Employers should confirm with their TPA that the plan will have an HPID by the deadline. Please note that employers should obtain an HPID for each group health plan they maintain. Accordingly, employers who have established a single wrap-around group health plan that incorporates all of the group health plans of the employer may only need to obtain a single HPID. However, employers who maintain separate HRA, FSA, and/or medical/dental/vision plans may be required to obtain one HPID for each such group health plan. Smaller group health plans have until November 5, 2015, to obtain an HPID.

November 15

Transitional Reinsurance Fee Enrollment Information Due. Self-insured health plans must submit their enrollment information to HHS by November 15, 2014, for purposes of calculating the 2014 Transitional Reinsurance fee for 2014. Self-insured health plans that are self-administered are exempt from the Transitional Reinsurance Fee in 2015 and 2016, but must pay the fee for 2014. Based on the enrollment information provided to HHS in 2014, self-insured plans will pay the fee beginning in January 2015.

December 1

Qualified Default Investment Notice. When retirement plan participants fail to make investment elections, their accounts are invested in a default investment chosen by the employer. If an employer selects a default investment that satisfies the qualified default investment requirements and provides an annual notice explaining the qualified default investment by December 1, 2014 (for calendar year plans), they minimize their fiduciary liability.

Safe Harbor Notice. Retirement plans that provide safe harbor contributions in order to satisfy certain nondiscrimination requirements are required to provide an annual notice explaining the contributions by December 1, 2014 (for calendar year plans).

Automatic Contribution Notice. For retirement plans that automatically enroll participants in deferrals and/or automatically increase participants' deferral elections, an annual notice must be provided to participants explaining the automatic contributions by December 1, 2014 (for calendar year plans).

December 31

Amend Retirement Plans to Recognize Same-Sex Spouses. In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision requiring the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage, the IRS has provided guidance requiring qualified retirement plans to recognize valid same-sex marriages. Plans should be amended for consistency with this requirement by December 31, 2014.

General Fall Planning (no specific deadline)

ACA Shared Responsibility Planning. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer shared responsibility penalties will begin to be imposed on employers with 100 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees beginning January 1, 2015. Employers should start now to establish a policy for purposes of determining whether the employer will be subject to the ACA employer shared responsibility penalties and whether the employer is covering those full-time employees that must be offered coverage in order to avoid the shared responsibility penalty.

Summary of Benefits and Coverage, Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act Notice, Medicaid/CHIP Premium Assistance Notice, HIPPA Notice of Privacy Practices, and Exchange Notice. Employers should confirm that these notices are included with the enrollment materials provided to participants during open enrollment and to participants at the time of any mid-year enrollment due to becoming newly eligible for the plan. If these notices are not included with enrollment materials prepared by your provider, consider supplementing the enrollment materials with these notices. Employers should also confirm that their COBRA notices have been updated to reflect recent changes to the model COBRA notice to reflect the establishment of the ACA Healthcare Marketplaces.

Participant Fee Disclosure Notice. Retirement plan sponsors must provide an annual notice to participants explaining plan fees and investment options. The notice is generally required to be provided within 12 months of the date the prior year's notice was provided.

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The statements in this column are meant to offer general information. You should consult your tax and securities adviser regarding your specific situation. Bret Busacker is an attorney at Holland & Hart. He can be reached at bfbusacker@hollandhart.com.

Published: Fri, Oct 10, 2014