United States of America
In a decision that critics say is likely to increase litigation over employee benefit denials, the United States Supreme Court ruled on June 19, 2008 that an entity — be it an employer or an insurance company — has an inherent conflict of interest when it both decides claims under an employee benefit plan and funds payment of those claims.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released the long-awaited "grab bag" of health savings account (HSA) guidance. Although much of Notice 2008-59 reiterates prior guidance, it contains several new rules that affect employers.
On May 30, 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reissued Q&As from December 2005 pertaining to who is and who is not a qualifying covered retiree (QCR) for Medicare Part D retiree drug subsidy (RDS) purposes.
The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration published corrections in April 2008 amending the final regulation on qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs). At the same time, EBSA issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2008-03 providing further guidance on QDIA rules.
On June 17, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (HEART Act) (P.L. 110-245).
New York State will recognize same-sex marriages validly entered into in another jurisdiction.
On May 13, 2008, the IRS issued the inflation-adjusted limits for contributions to a health savings account for calendar year 2009 (Revenue Procedure 2008-29).
On March 5, 2008, the IRS released Notice 2008-30 providing guidance on three provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) relating to distributions from defined benefit and defined contribution plans, and final regulations under Code section 402(g).
On March 20, 2008, the IRS issued proposed regulations on the notice requirements in Section 204(h) of ERISA and Section 4980F of the Internal Revenue Code.
The President signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits employers from using genetic information to discriminate in health benefits and other terms of employment.
In the comment letter, Hewitt recommends that the IRS require the taxable amount of a rollover distribution from an eligible retirement plan into a Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) be reported by the receiving IRA instead of on the Form 1099-R issued by the employer plan.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a revised proposed rule to supplement the Social Security number no-match rule published in August 2007.
New Jersey lawmakers enacted a law in May 2008 that provides employees with paid family leave benefits for up to six weeks in any 12-month period.
The federal and state governments are looking more closely at legislation that would provide incentives to employers for offering wellness initiatives in the workplace.
Venezuela
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2008-52, which provides guidance on the health savings account (HSA) contribution limits provided by the Health Opportunity Patient Empowerment Act of 2006 and addresses other HSA contribution rules.
