Posts by Allen Steinberg

A new proposed regulation represents the latest phase of the Administration’s efforts to reshape the American health care system. The proposed regulation, issued in response to President Trump’s October 12 executive order, opens the way to expand association health plans (AHPs). An AHP is a health plan sponsored by a group of unrelated employers, linked […]

The Senate has now passed its version of a revamp to the tax code (H.R. 1). The legislation makes significant changes to many provisions of the code, including dramatic changes to corporate and individual taxation. The bill now goes on to a conference committee to reconcile differences with the bill passed by the House of […]

The U.S. Department of Labor has taken a series of legal actions against a multiple employer welfare association (MEWA) plan operated by Black Wolf Consulting. The actions taken by the DOL against this plan (the AEU Holdings LLC Employee Benefits Plan) include freezing bank accounts, replacing the plan fiduciaries, and issuing an order to dozens […]

The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) remains on the books, despite all of the rhetoric about potential legislative and/or administrative changes. And, in a significant new development, the IRS is poised to begin levying penalties on employers, under the ACA’s employer mandate, for 2015. This is important for a number of reasons: •      Regardless of what happens […]

On October 27, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued new proposed regulations regarding the operation of health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Much of this 365-page document consists of more routine updates to rules governing the operation of exchanges under ACA. In addition to these routine provisions, however, the […]

The proposed Tax Cut and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) has generated big news stories with big numbers, such as $1.0 trillion to lower some individual tax rates and $1.5 trillion to lower corporate tax rates. But, also lurking in the 430-page draft, are many important “smaller” provisions that will affect compensation and benefits programs. Overall, TCJA […]

Presidential Order Seeks to Expand Alternative Coverages

A little over a year ago a series of lawsuits were filed against major universities. The lawsuits alleged that these schools violated their fiduciary obligations under ERISA by failing to properly manage plan costs and investment performance. In effect, these lawsuits were the higher ed/tax sheltered annuity version of the 401(k) litigation that has been […]

As the political battles – and stalemate – over the Affordable Care Act continues, employers may find themselves with the worst of all worlds. The portions of the ACA that create the greatest burdens on employers, such as the mandates, taxes and administrative obligations under the ACA stay in place. At the same time, uncertainty in the individual markets creates blowback that hurts employers in a number of ways.