Last-Minute Reminders for Retirement, Health and Welfare Benefit Plan Sponsors

Timely January 31, 2022, reminders for retirement plan sponsors, plus checklist for first quarter 2022.

Thank you IslerDare PC for allowing us to share this checklist of end-of-the-month reminders for plan sponsors of retirement, health, and welfare benefit plans.

Plan Sponsor Actions Due by January 31, 2022

• Confirm retirement plan recordkeepers have provided Forms 1099-R to participants who received retirement plan distributions in 2021
• File Form 945 to report income tax withheld from retirement plan distributions in 2021
• Report value of health coverage and HSA contributions on Form W-2 (required for employers with 250+ W-2s)
• Massachusetts employers must distribute Form 1099-HC to satisfy requirements regarding state individual health coverage mandate
• California employers must distribute ACA information returns (e.g., Form 1095-C) to California residents to satisfy requirements of the California state individual health coverage mandate
• Rhode Island employers must distribute ACA information returns to Rhode Island residents to satisfy requirements regarding Rhode Island individual health coverage mandate

Other Retirement Plan and Other Benefits Plan Actions to Take Now

Now is the time to hold quarterly meeting of the Benefits Committee to review your retirement plans and their 2021 year-end investment performance, fees, plan administration data, and plan operational issues. At the meeting, ask your retirement plan vendor when they will begin complying with the lifetime income illustrations (due no later than August 14 for participant-directed retirement plans).

If you have a pre-approved volume submitter or prototype 401(k) plan or other defined contribution plan, be sure that you are working with your plan document vendor to restate the plan on its “Cycle 3 restatement”, which is due no later than July 31, 2022.

Obtain compensation disclosures from your health care brokers and consultants with respect to each of your group health plans, and review for reasonableness under the current good faith standard and temporary non-enforcement policy from the Department of Labor (DOL).

Work with your group health plan insurance carriers or self-funded plan administrators to ensure that they will be able to comply with data reporting and transparency requirements on July 1, 2022 (for certain machine-readable files) and December 27, 2022 (for certain medical claims and prescription drug data).

Work with FSA/125 plan recordkeepers or brokers to perform applicable non-discrimination testing, including 105(h), 125, and 129 testing for 2021 and projected testing for 2022.

Review comparative analysis documentation of group health plan design and application of nonquantitative treatment limitations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, first required in February 2021.

Confirm No Surprises Act notice is publicly available and posted on company intranet (for self-insured plans) or insurance issuer website (for fully insured plans).