Industry News

On May 21, 2020, the law firm of Ice Miller released its publication, COVID-19 Extensions Are Not Mandatory for Governmental Plans.  On May 4, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in the Department of Labor (DOL) issued new guidance on delays due to COVID-19 affecting health and retirement plans.  The IRS and EBSA published a Joint Notice extending numerous deadlines applicable to retirement and health plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  The Joint Notice provides that group health plans and plan participants and beneficiaries have additional time to comply with certain deadlines affecting COBRA continuation coverage, special enrollment periods, claims for benefits, appeals of denied claims, and external review of certain claims.

On May 14, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a memorandum clarifying that non-Federal governmental plans (i.e., plans that are sponsored by states, counties, school districts, and municipalities) are not required to adopt the extensions provided in the Joint Notice.  However, HHS suggests that sponsors of those plans should provide relief to participants similar to the relief included in the Joint Notice.  If a plan sponsor adopts one or more of the extended deadlines, they should notify the plan participants of the applicable relief.  By doing so, sponsors of such plans would have the flexibility to provide appropriate relief to plan participants while maintaining sound administrative and fiscal control over their plans.

The brief is available here.