Update: On April 10, 2023, President Biden signed into law legislation ending the COVID-19 National Emergency prior to the previously announced May 11, 2023 date.  See our blog on this new development here.  The legislation does not impact the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. 

Earlier this week, the Departments of Labor, Treasury,…

The Biden Administration recently announced that the COVID-19 National Emergency will end on May 11, 2023. This means that the requirement to extend various benefit plan deadlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic will end as well.

By way of brief background, early during the pandemic, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury adopted relief pursuant…

Remember the DOL/Treasury relief that tolled the COBRA election and payment deadlines for up to one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic (referred to below as “Tolling Relief”)? If you have been wondering whether, under that relief, a qualified beneficiary may wait one year to elect COBRA and then wait another year to make their…

The IRS just released some new supplemental guidance on the COBRA premium subsidy in the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARP”). IRS Notice 2021-46, released July 26, 2021 provides additional color on a handful of discrete subsidy issues that had been addressed in earlier guidance but still caused some confusion. The guidance, in Q&A format, addresses:…