The U.S. Department of Labors Pension and
Welfare Benefits Administration today expanded its question-and-answer guidance
on the new Form M-1 annual report for multiple employer welfare arrangements
(MEWAs), based on calls regarding failure to meet the filing deadline and on
the scope of the reporting requirement.
Generally, MEWAs are arrangements that offer
medical benefits to the employees of two or more employers or to their
beneficiaries. Certain plans which are established or maintained under
collective bargaining agreements, by a rural electric cooperative or by a rural
telephone cooperative association are excluded from the MEWA definition.
In todays announcement, PWBA is reconfirming
its commitment to working with plan administrators to help them comply with
this filing requirement. For filings due this year, PWBA has a good faith
safe harbor and will not assess penalties in cases where there has been a
good faith effort to comply with the filing requirement.
Secondly, new questions and answers address
whether or not a filing is required this year in certain situations brought to
the attention of PWBA by commenters. One example discusses a merger after which
employees continue to be covered under the health plan of their former
employer. Another example addresses the situation where a very small number of
the participants in the plan are not employees of the employer sponsoring the
health plan (for example, independent contractors, members of the board of
directors, etc.).
PWBA published the Form M-1 annual report for
MEWAs in the Feb. 11, 2000 Federal Register. Under the new reporting
requirement, the one-page Form M-1 is generally required to be filed once a
year. During this first year of filing M-1s, the form was due May 1, 2000, but
administrators could request an automatic 60-day extension to July 1, 2000. The
next filing would not be due until March 1, 2001, and on every March 1
thereafter.
Copies of the Form M-1, the booklet, MEWAs:
A Guide to Federal and State Regulation as well as all of the
frequently-asked questions, including todays new responses, are available
from PWBAs publication hotline at 1-800-998-7542 and on the Internet at
www.dol.gov/dol/pwba (click on Newsroom and then click on
Whats New). Plan administrators also may contact the PWBA
help desk at 202/219-8818 for assistance with technical questions or in
completing the Form M-1.
In addition, PWBA is addressing the Form M-1
filing requirements as part of its Form 5500 educational outreach programs
currently underway and sponsored in partnership with the International
Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and several state societies of Certified
Public Accountants. Those events are also listed under the agencys
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