Jacob Mattinson
Subscribe to Jacob Mattinson's PostsJacob M. Mattinson focuses his practice on employee benefits and matters related to 401(k), 403(b), pension, executive compensation, health care reform, and cafeteria and welfare plans. Jacob assists clients in drafting employee benefit plan documents and amendments. He represents clients in matters before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), US Department of Labor (DOL) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation with respect to plain qualification issues. Read Jacob Mattinson's full bio.
COVID-19 Relief Bill Offers COBRA Reform and Temporarily Increases DCAP Maximum
By Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on Mar 25, 2021
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Privacy and Data Security
On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) providing Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) reform provisions and an increase in Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) maximum deferrals. While details from the agencies are forthcoming, here is an overview of these provisions of the ARPA. Access the...
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DOL Issues Clarification for ERISA-Governed Group Health Plans
By Jacob Mattinson and Teal Trujillo on Mar 17, 2021
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
Two days before the one-year anniversary of the official start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a last-minute notice clarifying its prior guidance that relaxed the deadlines for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act-governed group health and welfare plans (ERISA) related to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and...
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IRS Delivers COVID-19 Surprise to Workers: A Chance to Redo Their 2021 Health Plan and FSA Choices
By Jacob Mattinson on Mar 10, 2021
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
Wish you could change your health plan for 2021? In newly released guidance on new flexible rules for healthcare and dependent care Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has included a new COVID-19-relief surprise: Employers can allow employees to make changes prospectively to health care coverage for 2021. In a recent article...
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EEOC Proposes New Rules on Wellness Programs
By Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on Jan 26, 2021
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Privacy and Data Security
On January 7, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued proposed guidance regarding employer-sponsored wellness programs and the level of incentives employers may offer employees who participate in these programs in the form of two proposed rules. On January 20, 2021, the Biden administration ordered agencies to immediately withdraw most unpublished rules, including the...
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Consolidated Appropriations Act: Health and Welfare Benefits Provisions
By Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on Jan 20, 2021
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
The Consolidated Appropriations Act (the Act) was signed into law by the president on December 27, 2020, and includes significant health and welfare benefits provisions that affect group health plans and health insurance issuers. The Act is the most comprehensive single piece of legislation to impact group health plans since the Affordable Care Act. Access...
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Virus Stokes Telemedicine, Mental Health Benefits’ Popularity
By Jacob Mattinson on Jan 19, 2021
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Retirement Plans
The COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged 2020 spurred workers to take advantage of telemedicine and mental health benefits more frequently, and demand for those services isn’t expected to wane in the near future, experts say. A recent article in Law360 examined three ways the pandemic had an impact on employee benefits over the past year, with...
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Healthcare and Childcare FSA Fix for 2021, Finally: Special Carryover Rules and More
By Jacob Mattinson on Jan 14, 2021
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
The Consolidated Appropriations Act provides tax relief for workers who socked away pre-tax money into flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for 2020 and couldn’t use it because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now employees may be able to carry over all of their unused funds to use later. Even ex-employees might get more time to spend down...
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Agencies Issue Final Employer Healthcare Price Transparency Rule
By Jacob Mattinson and Sarah Raaii on Dec 10, 2020
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
On October 29, 2020, the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (collectively, the Departments) issued the Transparency in Coverage final rule (the Rule), along with a fact sheet, setting forth requirements for group health plans and health insurance issuers to disclose cost-sharing information upon request to participants, as well as additional...
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IRS Announces 2021 Employee Benefit Plan Limits
By Jeffrey Holdvogt, Jacob Mattinson and Brian Tiemann on Oct 28, 2020
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Health and Welfare Plans, Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced the cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for various employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans for 2021. Nearly all of the dollar limits currently in effect for 2020 will remain the same, with only a few amounts experiencing minor increases for 2021. Access the article.
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“Because of Bostock” – Court Delays HHS Rule Re-interpreting Section 1557 Discrimination “Because of Sex”
By Jacob Mattinson, Todd Solomon, Gregory Fosheim and Winnie Uluocha on Aug 25, 2020
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
One day before an updated rule of the US Department of Health and Human Services regarding Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act took effect, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordered a stay and issued a preliminary injunction precluding the most recent final rules from becoming...
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