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  • June 2022

The Vita Blog June 2022

  1. PCORI Fees Are Still Alive and Well

    System Administrator – Mon, 13 Jun 2022 15:00:00 GMT – 0
    The IRS has just released IRS Notice 2022-4 which announced the annual update to PCORI fees. PCORI fees were instituted as part of the ACA and fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The new fee applies for health plan years ending on or after October 1, 2021, and before October 1, 2022 (which includes 2021 calendar year plans). The fee increased by $0.13 to $2.79 per covered individual.

    PCORI fees are based on the average number of lives (not employees) covered by a health plan or policy.

    For 2021 plans, fees are to be reported and paid annually to the IRS by August 1, 2022, via the second quarter Form 720. (Normally, the deadline is July 31st, but this year it falls on a Sunday.)
     

    10-Year Extension of PCORI Fees

    Originally, PCORI fees were set to sunset plan years ending after September 2019. However, Congress extended these fees for an additional 10 years (through September 30, 2029) as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020.
     

    Which Plans Are Subject?

    It is generally known that Employer sponsored health plans are subject to the PCORI fees, but common questions exist as to who “pays” the fee from a practical standpoint and which plans are subject to the fees. The following is a high-level overview, as well as a link to a detailed chart, put together by the IRS which addresses essentially every scenario:
     
    • Fully Insured Plans: Paid and filed by the insurance carrier (fees subsumed in premiums)  
    • Self-Insured Plans: Paid and filed by the employer plan sponsor
    • HRA Plans (Integrated with Fully Insured Health Plan): If integrated with fully insured plan, Employer must pay and file (because it is considered a stand-alone self-funded plan)
    • HRA Plans (Integrated with Self-Insured Health Plan): No payment or filing required (because it is considered part of the underlying self-funded plan)
    • HRA Plans (EBHRA): Paid and filed by Employer plan sponsor
    • COBRA Participants: COBRA participants are to be counted as part of the underlying participant count of the health plan. Who pays and files for COBRA participants follows the process outlined above for fully insured or self-insured plans.
    • Stop-Loss Policies: No payment or filing requirement
    • Detailed IRS Listing
     

    Calculating PCORI Fees

    The IRS provides employers with several options for determining the average number of covered lives under their plan. Note that the fee is not calculated based on the number of employees covered under the plan. Rather, each employee, spouse and child dependent covered by the health plan is counted. The PCORI fee is sometimes known as a “Belly Button” fee because it is calculated by counting each belly button, not each employee. The IRS has stated employers may use any of the following methods to calculate the average number of covered lives under their plan:
     
    • Actual Count Method: Add the total of lives covered for each day of the year and divide by the total number of days in the plan year. (This is a cumbersome method and used by very few employers.)
    • Snapshot Method: Add the total lives covered on one date in each quarter of the plan year. Average the totals for each of the four dates.
    • Snapshot Factor Method: Similar to the snapshot method, on one date each quarter, count participants with self-only coverage as one life and count those with coverage other than self-only as 2.35 lives. Average the totals for each of the four dates.
    • Form 5500 Method: Use a reasonable formula to approximate the actual lives covered that includes the number of participants reported on the Form 5500 for the plan year. Typically, the average of the number of participants on the first day and the last day of the plan year is used. (This method cannot be used with 5500 extensions.)
     

    Reporting and Paying the Fee

    PCORI fees are reported and paid as part of the second quarter Form 720. The Form 720 is typically filed quarterly. However, PCORI fees are reported and paid annually, and fees are “dropped into” the second quarter’s filing of Form 720. Payment is due no later than July 31 of the calendar year immediately following the last day of the plan year. For example, PCORI fees for calendar year 2021 plans are due on July 31, 2022. Plan sponsors who must pay the PCORI fee but are not otherwise required to report any other liabilities on Form 720 are only required file Form 720 only once a year (for the second quarter). No other filing is required in the first, third or fourth quarters of the year. Deposits are not required for PCORI fees, so plan sponsors are not required to pay the fee using EFTPS.
     

    Next Steps

    Vita clients can expect to receive communication from their account team to assist in the calculation of populations and fees due.
     

    More Details

    Please see the Instructions for Form 720 for more details on how to fill out the form and calculate the fee. 
    • Compliance
  2. New DOL Guidance on FMLA Leave for Mental Health Conditions

    System Administrator – Mon, 13 Jun 2022 15:00:00 GMT – 0
    In connection with Mental Health Awareness Month, the Department of Labor (DOL) has sought to assist employers in better understanding how to comply with the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regarding mental health conditions. On May 25, 2022, the DOL issued new guidance and FAQs on requirements for providing FMLA leave to employees to address their own mental health conditions or to care for a covered family member with a mental health condition. (Click here for Quick Basics on FMLA)
     

    Leave for Mental Health Conditions under FMLA

    Eligible employees may take FMLA leave for their own serious health condition or to care for a spouse, child, or parent because of a serious health condition. The guidance confirms that a mental health condition can constitute a “serious health condition” if the condition requires either:
     
    • Inpatient Care: A serious mental health condition that requires inpatient care includes a situation in which the individual stays overnight in a hospital or other medical care facility. Examples include rehabilitation centers for drug addiction and treatment centers for individuals with eating disorders.
    • Continuing Treatment by a Healthcare Provider: Mental health conditions that require continuing treatment by a health care provider include:
      • Conditions that incapacitate an individual for more than three (3) consecutive days and require ongoing medical treatment.
      • Chronic conditions that cause occasional periods when the individual is incapacitated and requires treatment by a health care provider at least twice a year.

    Ongoing medical treatment for a mental health condition can be multiple appointments with a health care provider or a single appointment and follow-up care. Examples of such treatment include behavioral therapy, prescription medications, or rehabilitation counseling. Examples include anxiety, depression, and dissociative disorders.
     

    Leave Documentation Guidelines

    Employers may require an employee to submit a certification from a health care provider to support the need for FMLA leave. The information provided on the certification must be sufficient to support the need for leave, but a diagnosis is not required.
     

    Employee or Family Member

    Eligible employees can take FMLA leave to care for their own serious mental health condition or to care for a covered family member with a serious mental health condition. For example, the FAQs explain that an eligible employee would be entitled to FMLA leave to attend a family counseling session for a spouse who is in an inpatient treatment program for substance abuse or to assist a parent receiving medical treatment for depression with day-to-day activities.
     

    Caring for a Covered Military Servicemember or Veteran

    The FMLA also provides eligible employees with up to 26 workweeks of military caregiver leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember and certain veterans with a serious injury or illness. An employee may be an eligible military caregiver if they are the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of the servicemember. Eligible employees may take military caregiver leave under the FMLA for a covered service member or veteran with a serious mental health condition when the condition (1) was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty and (2) makes them unfit to perform their military duties. Although the mental health condition must be incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, it does not have to manifest itself before the service member leaves active duty for the employee to use FMLA leave. Examples include caring for a veteran whose mental health condition, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or depression, manifested after the individual became a veteran but is related to their military service.
     

    Confidentiality

    The FMLA requires employers to keep employee medical records confidential and maintain them in separate files from more routine personnel files. However, supervisors and managers may be informed of an employee’s need to be away from work or if an employee needs work duty restrictions or accommodations.
     

    Protection from Retaliation

    Employers are prohibited from interfering with, restraining, or denying the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any FMLA right. Examples include refusing to authorize FMLA leave or disclosing or threatening to disclose information about an employee’s or an employee’s family member’s mental health condition to discourage them from taking FMLA leave.
     

    A Word of Caution

    Employers should be reminded not to discourage taking FMLA leave. An employer can run afoul of the FMLA rules if the employer “denies or interferes with FMLA benefits to which an employee is entitled resulting in harm to the employee.” 

    A recent case from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Ziccarelli v. Dart et al.) highlights how employers can be vulnerable to the “interferes with” standard. Importantly, the FMLA does not require an actual denial of FMLA benefits for a violation to occur. Instead, an employer violates an employee’s FMLA rights when it denies, interferes with, or restrains the employee’s exercise or attempt to exercise such rights. Following is a quick overview of the case:

    FMLA Request: During the current leave year, an employee has used more than 300 hours of leave and, at his doctor’s recommendation, asks his employer for an additional 8 weeks of leave for treatment of his serious health condition. Specifically, the employee asks the employer about the possibility of using his available FMLA leave as well as his sick leave and other employer-provided leave benefits. 

    Employer Response: In response, the employer’s representative states that the employee has taken a significant amount of FMLA leave and tells him not to take any more FMLA leave, or he will be disciplined. Based on this conversation, the employee decides not to take any more leave and, instead, chooses to retire. The employee then files a complaint alleging that the employer interfered with his rights under the FMLA. 

    Examples of prohibited interference or restraint include refusals to grant or accept proper requests for FMLA leave, burdensome FMLA approval processes, informing an employee with FMLA leave available that missing additional time will have consequences, and other actions that discourage employees from requesting FMLA leave. Concerning Mr. Ziccarelli, the court concluded that he had more than a month of FMLA leave available at the time he requested FMLA leave from his employer and, therefore, the alleged statement that Mr. Ziccarelli would be disciplined if he took any more FMLA leave was sufficient to support an FMLA interference claim and allow the matter to proceed to trial.
     

    Quick Basics on FMLA for Reference

    Employees are eligible for FMLA benefits if they work for a covered employer for at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12 months before the leave, and work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.

    Covered employers include private employers if they employed 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. Public agencies, including local, state, or Federal government agencies, and public and private elementary and secondary schools are FMLA-covered employers regardless of the number of employees they employ.

    FMLA requires employers to:
     
    • Provide 12 work weeks of FMLA leave each year,
    • Continue an employee’s group health benefits under the same conditions as if the employee had not taken leave, and
    • Restore the employee to the same or virtually identical position at the end of the leave period.

    FMLA may be unpaid or may be used at the same time as employer-provided paid leave.
     

    Link to Guidance

    https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/28o-mental-health
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