Compliance Stuff

  Congratulations! You made it to summer, that wonderful time of year when things at work (hopefully) slow down a bit and you’re able to take some well-deserved time off. Though before you Go-Go(‘s) (do you see what I did there?), be sure your July employee benefits compliance deadlines are covered.   July 29 – Summary of Material Modifications (SMM)   – Were any of your organization’s plans materially amended last year? If so, you may be required to furnish an SMM to participants (or a revised summary plan description). Those SMMs must be provided no later than 210 days after the end of the plan year in which the change was adopted. So, for a 2023 change, the SMM deadline would fall on July 29 (you get an extra day this year because 210 days falls on July 28, a weekend). July 31 – Form 5500/Form 8955-SSA  – If your organization sponsors a calendar year benefit plan with a Form 5500 filing requirement, the Form 5500 (and, if applicable, the audited financial stateme...

  The  Affordable Care Act (ACA)  requires health insurance issuers and self-insured plan sponsors to pay Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute fees (PCORI fees). Issuers and plan sponsors are generally required to pay the PCORI fees annually by  July 31  of each year.   What Is the PCORI Fee?   The PCORI fee is a fee for issuers of specified health insurance policies and plan sponsors of applicable self-insured health plans that help to fund the  Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) . The institute helps patients, clinicians, purchasers, and policymakers make better-informed healthcare choices by advancing clinical effectiveness research.  PCORI fees under the Affordable Care Act were scheduled to end after September 30, 2019; however, Congress extended these fees to be assessed by the IRS under the  Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020  for another ten years, until at least September 30, 2029...