On November 13, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2025-67, which sets forth the 2026 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the health savings account (HSA)
Benefit Notes
Understanding Employee Benefits
Benefit Notes, published by Stinson LLP, focuses on legal developments and compliance issues related to employee benefit plans and retirement plans. The blog covers topics such as annual limits and cost-of-living adjustments for qualified retirement plans, risk management in retirement plan litigation, legislative changes affecting health savings accounts and flexible spending arrangements, and regulatory updates impacting health plan compliance including HIPAA and mental health parity laws. It provides guidance on plan administration, fiduciary responsibilities, and the implications of recent court rulings and federal agency actions for employers and plan sponsors.
Blog Authors
Latest from Benefit Notes
Managing Retirement Plan Litigation Risk – Know Your IPS
There are always plenty of new retirement plan investment performance and fee cases, and it’s hard for a plan sponsor, even one that is doing everything properly, to be assured that it won’t be the target of a lawsuit.
A…
Federal Court Strikes Down HIPAA Reproductive Health Privacy Rule – What it Means for Health Plan Compliance
By: Lisa Rippey and Elena Humphrey
In a landmark decision, a federal district court in Texas struck down nearly all of the 2024 amendments to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, known as the Reproductive Health Privacy Rule (the “Rule”), ruling that…
Federal Agencies Hit Pause on MHPAEA 2024 Final Rule Enforcement
On May 15, 2025, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued a statement of non-enforcement (the “Statement”) announcing that they will not enforce the 2024 Final Rule under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction…
HSA/HDHP Limits for 2026
On May 1, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2025-19, which provides the 2026 inflation adjusted limits related to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs).
The following charts summarize the 2026 limits…
New Year Brings New Automatic Enrollment and Escalation Requirements for Some Recently Adopted 401(k) and 403(b) Plans
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 requires certain 401(k) and 403(b) plans to include automatic enrollment and escalation features for the first plan year beginning after December 31, 2024, meaning that for those plans with a calendar plan year, the…
IRS Introduces Official Section 83(b) Election Form
On November 7, 2024, the IRS introduced Form 15620, a new standardized form for taxpayers opting to make a Section 83(b) election. Previously, taxpayers needed to send a letter to the IRS with the required information to make the…
DOL Settlements Remind Employers to Avoid Collecting Premiums Until Evidence of Insurability is Approved
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced two settlements with major insurance companies this month that highlight the importance of employers avoiding the collection of group life insurance premiums from employees until the insurer has approved them for coverage, including…
IRS Announces Delay of Implementation of SECURE 2.0 Act’s Roth Catch-up Contribution Provision for Two Years
As signed into law, Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) required that effective as of January 1, 2024, participants in 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, or governmental 457(b) plans, who were age 50 or older and…
Congress Delivers SECURE 2.0 for the Holidays
Revised January 11, 2023
Congress made several changes to retirement plans as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which recently passed both the House and Senate. The final bill contains several provisions affecting retirement plans under Division…