• Providing employee benefits in the COVID-19 era – Health & Welfare plans

Between Executive Orders, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), and the CARES Act, group health plans are facing new benefit mandates and compliance challenges. Topics include:

• Mandatory coverage changes to group health plans, both temporary and permanent
• The changing landscape of the telehealth industry
• Furloughs, lay-offs, and continuation of coverage issues during unpaid leave
• New COBRA Notice released, potential for COBRA premium subsidy
• Reimbursement of over-the-counter medications
• Eligibility for life and disability insurance during layoffs – life insurance conversion

• Providing employee benefits in the COVID-19 era – Retirement plans

The CARES Act provides some administrative and financial relief for plan sponsors and relaxes employees’ access to retirement funds. Topics include:

• Reducing or suspending discretionary matching or nonelective contributions
• Temporary reductions to safe harbor contributions due to COVID-19 economic loss
• Expansion of In service distribution rules (loans and hardship withdrawals)
• Suspension of minimum distribution requirements
• Delayed payments to single-employer plans

• Impact of Economic Downturn on DC Retirement Plans
• Other benefits implications due to COVID-19
  • Tax free payments under Section 139 – qualified disaster relief payments
  • Employer sponsored student loan repayment
• COVID-19 Relief for benefit-related deadlines
  • HIPAA special enrollment, COBRA, appeals, external reviews
  • Plan amendments as required by CARES Act, Form 5500, DOL guidance on relaxation of ERISA fiduciary requirements

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• The SECURE Act – the sweeping changes made to the retirement plan landscape in December 2019 was the hottest topic in the market prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics include:
  • Pooled Employer Plans (also the small pre-SECURE Act extension to Association plans)
  • Part-time Eligibility
  • Expansion of 401(k) Safe Harbors
  • Changes to Distribution Rules
  • Expanded Employer Tax Credits for Small Business
  • Increased Penalties for Failure to File
  • Other changes
• Nondiscrimination Testing Basics
  • The potential impact of COVID-19 on nondiscrimination testing
• Issues in HIPAA Compliance
  • OCR Phase 2 audits with focus on Business Associates such as health plan sponsors
  • Breach reporting / hacking and other cybersecurity
• Defined Contribution Healthcare plans
  • ICHRAs and Excepted Benefits HRAs (repeal of Cadillac tax)
  • Fear of ACA repeal and states creating state individual mandates
• ERISA Lawsuits – Hot Topics for Plan Sponsors
  • Excessive Fees and Breach of Fiduciary Duties lawsuits proliferate
  • Fiduciary duties and cybersecurity – Abbott / Alight (administrator)
  • Intel loses ERISA lawsuit over 3-year statute of limitations, increased lawsuits?
• Plan Administrators: Enhancing Communication and Avoiding Pitfalls
  • Focus on various administrative functions with respect to employee benefit plans including a detailed discussion of electronic plan administration guidance and other recent developments.

This program has been approved for 9 hours of (HR (General)) recertification credit towards aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HRCI.

Once an organization has registered a representative for the full 2020 Employee Benefits Law Update, subsequent registrants from the same organization who attend any IAML seminar or conference are entitled to a discount. A $200 discount will be given for each subsequent full program registrant.

Discounts must be requested at the time of registration and are not combinable with other discount offers.

Very attractive discounts are available to organizations which enroll 5 or more participants to IAML seminars in any 12 month period. Participants do not necessarily need to attend at the same time.