Alphabet Soup & CV-19: The Latest

“The COVID-19 relief measures and benefit plan compliance changes keep coming at a rapid pace. Recently, the IRS issued additional notices (beyond the provisions of the CARES Act and the DOL guidance released on April 29th) that further relax rules related to group health coverage and Section 125/FSA benefits.”

Specifically, this news applies to an employer’s POP (Premium Only Plan), also frequently (and not quite accurately) called a Section 125 Pan.

Briefly, a POP plan is what enables an employer to deduct the employees’ portion of the group health insurance premium pre-tax, which generally result in decent savings for both the employer and the emnployee. The plan document is the magic wand that allows this to be considered legit by the IRS.

Oh, and what are those changes?

For example:

“Employees may make a new election to enroll in employer-sponsored health coverage on a prospective basis if the employee initially declined to elect employer-sponsored health coverage.”

And there’s more – click here for the whole picture.