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.
Transgender Health Benefits: Best Practices and Legal Considerations
By Erin Steele, Jacob Mattinson and Todd Solomon on Sep 3, 2019
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans
A growing number of medical organizations, courts and administrative bodies have stated that transition-related medical care is medically necessary and should be covered by employer-sponsored medical plans. Access to employer-sponsored healthcare coverage for transgender workers has become an issue of focus for civil rights advocacy groups such as Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties...
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Genetic Testing Kits and FSAs
By Jacob Mattinson and McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 27, 2019
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
The IRS issued a private letter ruling (PLR) this week indicating that an FSA (and presumably an HSA and HRA) may reimburse a portion of the purchase of genetic testing and reports regarding ancestry and health. The IRS noted that the health services portion of such a cost is a reimbursable medical expense under Code...
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A New Day for the HRA
By Jacob Mattinson, Megan Mardy and McDermott Will & Emery on Jul 30, 2019
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services have released final rules removing the prohibition on pairing HRAs with individual health policies. The final rules also allow certain HRAs and other account-based group health plans to qualify as limited excepted benefits. These rules are generally effective for plan years beginning on or after...
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IRS Expands Scope of Preventive Care Under Health Savings Account Rules
By Erin Steele and Jacob Mattinson on Jul 25, 2019
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
A new IRS notice will allow many with chronic health conditions who participate in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) with health savings accounts (HSAs) to receive necessary care that may otherwise be out of financial reach. The notice expands the list of preventive care benefits that can be covered by an HDHP prior to a participant...
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IRS Announces 2020 Limits for Health Savings Accounts and High-Deductible Health Plans
By Jacob Mattinson and Megan Mardy on May 30, 2019
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans for 2020. Nearly all of the dollar limits currently in effect for 2019 will change for 2020. See a comparison of the applicable dollar limits for HSAs and HDHPs for 2019 and 2020....
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HHS Proposes Changes to 2016 Regulations for ACA Non-Discrimination Rule
By Jacob Mattinson on May 28, 2019
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
On Friday, March 24, 2019, the US Department of Health and Human Services issued a proposed rule (along with a related fact sheet) under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that would make significant changes to the final regulations issued in 2016. Section 1557, in effect since the ACA was enacted in 2010,...
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IRS Expands Self-Correction Program, Provides Welcome Relief for Plan Sponsors
By Erin Steele, Jacob Mattinson and Sarah L. Engle on May 23, 2019
Posted In Employee Benefits, Retirement Plans
The IRS recently released an updated version of EPCRS, the IRS’s program for correcting errors that occur under tax-qualified retirement plans. The latest version of EPCRS makes it easier for plan sponsors to self-correct certain types of plan loan, operational and plan document failures without filing a VCP submission. Access the full article.
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Court Puts Association Health Plans in Limbo
By Jacob Mattinson and Megan Mardy on Apr 9, 2019
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
On March 28, a District of Columbia federal court agreed with a New York-led challenge by a group of 11 states and the District of Columbia and found that the Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2018 association health plan (AHP) rule (the Final Rule): Is contrary to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)’s...
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ERISA Plan Documents Must State Procedures for Authorizing a Representative under a Plan
By Jacob Mattinson and Megan Mardy on Mar 19, 2019
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Retirement Plans
In an Information Letter dated February 27, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) clarified that an ERISA plan must include any procedures for designating authorized representatives in the plan’s claims procedure and summary plan description (SPD) or in a separate document that accompanies the SPD. In response to a request by a patient advocate and...
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A Momentary Victory for the ACA: Federal Judge Issues a Nationwide Injunction against Trump Administration’s Contraceptive Coverage Carve Outs
By Jacob Mattinson and Megan Mardy on Jan 24, 2019
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
On January 14, 2019, US District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s carveouts to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive coverage mandate. One day prior, US District Judge Haywood Gilliam in the US District Court for the Northern...
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