Section Newsletters

Articles From Wesley Covert

Group Health Plans Must Now Cover Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests By Wesley Covert Employee Benefits, February 2022 Pursuant to recent federal guidance, group health plans and insurers must now cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests without cost-sharing, prior authorization, or other medical management requirements effective January 15, 2022.
Employee Benefit Issues for Employers to Consider at the Year End and for the Coming New Year By Wesley Covert Employee Benefits, December 2021 Summaries of common end-of-year employee benefits deadlines and new requirements employers typically face.
New Federal Guidance Extends Many Employee Benefit-Related Deadlines and Provides Additional Relief for Plan Administrators By Wesley Covert Trusts and Estates, August 2020 Pursuant to authority granted under the CARES Act, the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service issued joint guidance on April 28, 2020, extending a number of election periods and deadlines prescribed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. 
New Federal Guidance Extends Many Employee Benefit-Related Deadlines and Provides Additional Relief for Plan Administrators By Wesley Covert Elder Law, June 2020 Pursuant to authority granted under the CARES Act, the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service issued joint guidance on April 28, 2020, extending a number of election periods and deadlines prescribed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. 
New Federal Guidance Extends Many Employee Benefit-Related Deadlines and Provides Additional Relief for Plan Administrators By Wesley Covert Employee Benefits, May 2020 Pursuant to authority granted under the CARES Act, the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service issued joint guidance on April 28, 2020, extending a number of election periods and deadlines prescribed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. 
Pension plan sponsors should be mindful of a new wave of class action lawsuits By Wesley Covert Employee Benefits, April 2019 In December 2018, class action ERISA lawsuits were filed against several large single-employer defined benefit plans. The suits focus on the calculation of joint and survivor annuities and/or early retirement benefits that are available in these plans.
New Illinois law expands the rights of nursing mothers in the workplace By Wesley Covert Employee Benefits, October 2018 Effective August 2018, Illinois Public Act 100-1003 expanded protections for employees under the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act.
New IRS audit guidelines address missing participants and unpaid retirement benefits By Wesley Covert Employee Benefits, December 2017 On October 19, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released guidance for when a plan’s efforts to locate missing participants and beneficiaries should be challenged on audit.
Pension plan and health plan limitations for 2018 By Wesley Covert Employee Benefits, December 2017 In October 2017, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2017-64 and Revenue Procedure 2017-58, containing the cost-of-living adjustments applicable to retirement plan limitations under the Internal Revenue Code and health flexible spending accounts under a Code §125 cafeteria plan and the parking and transit account limits under an Code §132 Transportation Plan.
ACA & ERISA update By Wesley Covert Employee Benefits, September 2017 To date, the IRS has yet to issue an enforcement letter for the ACA’s Employer Shared Responsibility Mandate (which penalizes large employers that do not offer certain qualifying health coverage to full-time employees).

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