BenefitsWire

“Since July 2026, employers have been able to voluntarily contribute to Trump accounts (sometimes referred to as 530A accounts) of employees’ dependent children. Created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub.” MORE >>

Source: DOL

“Compliance News | September 8, 2026 The Federal IDR Team, which includes the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury, continue to work to implement the IDR operations final rule.” MORE >>

Source: IRS

“Insurance Business recently featured Groom Chair and Principal David Levine in the article, “The Lawyer at the Heart of America’s Benefits Revolution.” MORE >>

Source: Groom Law Group

“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updated the Part D risk adjustment model coefficients to reflect the redesigned benefit, but the structure of the model was unchanged. The model continues to predict drug costs from medical diagnoses without using individual beneficiaries’ prescription drug history, as has always been the case, and its coefficients are calibrated on claims experience from several years before the payment year. That lag has created challenges in the first few years of the redesign, because the change in beneficiary behavior following the redesign is far larger than the year-over-year variation the model normally absorbs.” MORE >>

Source: Milliman

“Plan sponsors can disregard the rule’s consumer notice requirements, which have been invalidated by a federal court. But the IRS hasn’t changed its position with respect to fixed-indemnity, wellness “double-dipping” schemes — that is, programs that impermissibly combine pretax premiums with tax-free benefit payments. This GRIST includes a summary of IRS guidance identifying a variety of fixed-indemnity designs (often paired with a wellness program) as improper double-dipping schemes. Employers evaluating such programs, which continue to emerge in the marketplace, should continue to exercise extreme caution and consult tax counsel.” MORE >>

Source: Mercer

The IRS is proposing regulations on allocating deductions to foreign source income for foreign tax credit limitation and deduction-eligible income calculations, affecting multinational corporations. MORE >>

Source: Federal Register

“On August 13, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued a memorandum to all personnel of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) newly created National Fraud Enforcement Division (the Fraud Division).” MORE >>

Source: Foley & Lardner

“Acknowledging that “the regulatory text of the 2013 final rules does not clearly require retroactive application of the reward,” the Departments state that until further guidance or regulations are issued, they will not take enforcement action against a group health plan for failing to provide the reward retroactively to the beginning of the plan year, so long as the plan: (1) provides the reward corresponding to the period after the reasonable alternative standard is satisfied, and (2) otherwise satisfies the wellness program requirements.” MORE >>

Source: Proskauer Rose LLP

“For real estate, though, returns are derived not only from existing income (current yield), but also from any income growth from rent growth, and operational improvements after capital expense (sometimes referred to collectively as net operating income, or NOI, growth). With more levers to pull, there are more options for achieving attractive performance.” MORE >>

Source: NCPERS

“Articles + Publications September 9, 2026 Todd L. Cooper Walter J. St. Onge, III Jennifer Capasso Mendonça Neal R. Pandozzi Stephanie H. Massey On September 4, 2026, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (REG-119986-25, RIN 1545-BS05) (Notice).” MORE >>

Source: Troutman Pepper Locke

“On August 26, 2026, the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”), issued important new guidance for plan sponsors addressing health-contingent wellness programs titled “FAQs About Affordable Care Act and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Implementation Part 74” (“2026 FAQs”). In response to the ongoing wave of tobacco surcharge lawsuits, the Departments issued the 2026 FAQs to address whether a health-contingent wellness program,1 like a tobacco surcharge program, must retroactively reimburse a participant for the entire plan year when a participant satisfies a reasonable alternative standard (such as completing a to” MORE >>

Source: mayerbrown.com