American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

How Do Multiemployer Plans Claim COBRA Premium Assistance Credit?

How Do Multiemployer Plans Claim COBRA Premium Assistance Credit?

Jenny Gartman, CEBS
 

​The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Notice 2021-31 which provides guidance for multiemployer plans and plan administrators regarding the new credit available to them for providing continuation health coverage to certain individuals under COBRA. We summarized the COBRA changes under American […]

Three Key Takeaways: What ARPA Means for Green Zone Pension Plans

Three Key Takeaways: What ARPA Means for Green Zone Pension Plans

Jenny Gartman, CEBS
 

It was big news back in March when the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was enacted to provide grants, called “special financial assistance,” to boost the solvency of eligible critical and declining status or insolvent plans under the Pension Benefit […]

DOL Releases Model Notices for COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

DOL Releases Model Notices for COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA)

Jenny Gartman, CEBS
 

​Thirty-five years ago this month, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) was signed into law. COBRA provides a way for workers and their families to temporarily maintain their employer-provided health insurance during situations such as job loss or a […]

Changes to Single Employer Pension Plan Funding With the American Rescue Plan Act

Changes to Single Employer Pension Plan Funding With the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS
 

Provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) have the potential to help many single employer pension plan sponsors weather the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic while providing time to consider how to integrate their business and pension funding strategies, suggests […]

Important FFCRA Leave Updates for Employers in the American Rescue Plan Act

Important FFCRA Leave Updates for Employers in the American Rescue Plan Act

Amanda Wilke, CEBS
 

Here we go again: yet another new relief bill sends employers heads spinning. On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law. Among the many changes, ARPA extends the timeframe for employers to receive tax […]

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and COBRA Subsidies

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and COBRA Subsidies

Anne Newhouse, CEBS
 

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) passed by Congress and signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021 contains various employee benefits provisions, including premium assistance for participants of group health plans through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of […]

How the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Impacts Dependent Care Assistance Programs

How the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Impacts Dependent Care Assistance Programs

Anne Newhouse, CEBS
 

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 includes an optional (but not required) temporary change for the calendar year of 2021 to increase the maximum pretax contribution limit from $5,000 to $10,500 for dependent care assistance programs (DCAPs). For individuals who are […]

What the American Rescue Plan Act Means for Financially Troubled Multiemployer Pension Plans

What the American Rescue Plan Act Means for Financially Troubled Multiemployer Pension Plans

Jenny Gartman, CEBS
 

Listen to this post here. After years of debate on the topic of funding relief for multiemployer pension funds, Congress acted this week with the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Rescue Plan)—likely one of the most significant pieces […]