Core Documents

The ERISA Wrap SPD plan document requirement has been around for years. It’s the Department of Labor’s (DOL) document for communicating plan rights and obligations to participants and beneficiaries of employer-sponsored group health insurance plans. Wrap SPD Plan Document It wasn’t until January 1, 2014, when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) added many new employee notification requirements, and stiff new $110 per day/per participant fines for non-compliance, that most employers became aware of and motivated to meet the Wrap SPD plan document requirement. The term “wrap” comes from original DOL guidance suggesting that the Wrap SPD plan document had to be formally bound to the insurance carrier’s benefit plan booklet. The combination of the two documents would upon distribution to employees represent a compliant Wrap SPD plan document for a particular benefit plan. Obviously, times have changed, and many of these documents are now provided electronically; thus, the “wrap-around” con...

The Section 127 Student Loan Repayment and Educational Assistance Program allows employers to reimburse employees up to $5,250 per year for tuition, books, supplies, fees, and student loan repayment. The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) provided a way for employers to help repay employee student loans, with tax-free benefits for both the employer and employee. Section 127 Student Loan Repayment The most recent COVID-19 relief bill, attached to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, approved on December 21, 2020, extended the tax-free status of employer payments toward employee student loans through 2025. Core Documents provides employers with everything they need to establish an IRS- and DOL-compliant Section 127 Student Loan Repayment and Educational Assistance Program plan document in PDF format for as low as $99. This cost reflects a one-time setup fee, not an annual charge. Here are the areas the employer can control when setting up a Se...

The IRS requires employers who want to set up a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) to establish a written HRA Plan Document.  An HRA is an employer-sponsored limited self-funded group health plan. HRA Plan Documents available in 2023 from Core Documents Section 105 HRA for one employee or spouse   available since 1954. Section 105 HRA is unique because the Affordable Care Act (ACA) did not consider a one-employee HRA a group health plan. It escaped many of the limitations of the 2+ employee HRA plans after the ACA. HRA Plan Document Group Coverage HRA (GCHRA) for 2+ employees  available since 1954, dubbed HRA in 2004 by the IRS and limited in 2014 by ACA. After the Affordable Care Act, the HRA for 2 or more employees had to be integrated with employer-sponsored group health insurance. The following six HRA design options are available. A comprehensive   HRA Plan Document can pay any or all expenses not covered by the insurance plan (see  IRS...

The Section 125 Premium Only Plan (POP) Document complies with IRS, DOL, and ACA requirements for employers to allow their employees to eliminate payroll taxes on their portion of group health and supplemental insurance premium. The IRS requires that the Plan be in writing. The Department of Labor (DOL) requires that you provide each employee participating in the Section 125 Premium Only Plan with a Summary Plan Description (SPD) and forms to enroll, select premium elections, and make changes when needed.   Section 125 Premium Only Plan This saves the employee up to 40% in payroll and FICA taxes. The employer also saves in reduced matching FICA (SS & Medicare) taxes of 7.65%. The cost of setting up the plan document is recouped by the employer quickly. The employer saves $76.50 on every $1,000 in premium diverted through a Section 125 Premium Only Plan. These additional options are available on all Section 125 POP document order forms: The Health FSA Plan can be added t...