Category Archives: Employee Benefits

Effective January 15, 2022, the Biden administration requires insurance companies and group health plans to cover the cost of up to 8 at-home COVID-19 test kits for each person covered by the insurance or plan. This means that a family of four covered by the plan can obtain up to 32 tests per month. The…

The federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”), signed into law last December, contains the No Surprises Act. This is very good news for health plan participants. The law protects plan participants from surprise medical billing and provides transparency about medical providers’ fees. However, these protections don’t kick in until 2022. Frequently, a person goes…

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), enacted in March 2021, authorizes temporary COBRA premium assistance to certain individuals and their dependents who have lost employer-sponsored health coverage due to involuntary termination of employment (other than for gross misconduct) or reduction of hours. The assistance reduces the amount of COBRA premiums to zero for the period…

If you are an essential worker, first responder, or healthcare worker, you may be eligible for New York State’s Empire Pandemic Response Reimbursement Fund. Announced on March 6, 2021, the Fund was designed to help eligible essential workers who responded to the public health emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic and are in financial need. Up…

In March 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law an economic stimulus bill called the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”). The law includes a special federal tax break for workers who received unemployment benefits in 2020: the first $10,200 ($20,400 if married and filing jointly) of unemployment compensation is not taxable. This benefit applies to…

If you are considering purchasing health coverage (perhaps using your $1400 stimulus payment) but haven’t yet, you still have time. In addition, that coverage might be less expensive. The 2021 Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment period to buy health coverage on the health insurance marketplace (also known as the exchanges) ended December 15, 2020….

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) brings welcome news to multiemployer, union-sponsored defined benefit plans that have become insolvent or are in danger of becoming insolvent. See LR’s What You Need to Know Now here, which discussed the COBRA subsidy provisions of the ARPA. A defined benefit plan is the traditional form of…

Did you lose your job during the pandemic and previously had employer-sponsored health coverage? Well, paying for continued health coverage through COBRA is about to become affordable for workers, but only temporarily. Under COBRA, workers who lose job-based health coverage because of termination of employment (other than for gross misconduct) or reduction in hours, may…

Earlier What You Need To Know Now postings here and here explained that, under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and CARES Act, health plans are required to cover the cost of COVID-19 diagnostic testing and vaccination without any cost sharing (co-pays, deductibles, coinsurance).  On February 26, 2021, in accordance with President Biden’s COVID-19 Executive…