Every few years, promoters resurface with new “double dip” health plan products promising employees more take‑home pay and employers big employment‑tax savings. The pitch is familiar: employees pay large pre‑tax “premiums” through a cafeteria plan, then receive substantial, “tax‑free” payments back through payroll that are just shy of the pre‑tax contributions. Because the contribution was
As described in earlier Thompson Hine blog posts (here, here, here, and here), Trump accounts continue to take shape as a new employer-sponsored benefit. On August 11, 2026, the Treasury Department and IRS published proposed regulations (REG-101355-26) that answer many of the open questions we flagged previously, most significantly, how
On August 11, 2026, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service published proposed regulations that, for the first time, provide comprehensive regulatory guidance on how to perform nondiscrimination testing for dependent care assistance programs (DCAPs) under Section 129 of the Internal Revenue Code. While the proposed regulations were prompted by the need to implement the
Employer-sponsored group health plans are facing a growing wave of ERISA class action lawsuits, and the claims are getting bolder, including claims of “financial dominance”. In our previous post on this topic, we analyzed Barbich et al. v. Northwestern University et al., No. 1:25-cv-06849 (N.D. Ill.), which introduced a novel “financial dominance” theory