Employee Benefits for Domestic Partners

Design, Taxation, and Administration

Available immediately

Same-sex marriage and similar developments have captured recent headlines and focused attention again on benefits for domestic partners. As the legal rules and compliance issues evolve, more questions arise for employers, plan service providers, and other benefits professionals. Whether you or your clients already provide domestic partner benefits or are considering adding those benefits, join our experts for this 90-minute web seminar. They will update you on recent developments, help distinguish between what’s required and what’s permitted, and provide practical advice on dealing with the design, tax, and administrative issues raised.

Originally presented on September 24, 2009.

Seminar Level


Intermediate Difficulty

Topics Covered

Here’s some of what was covered:

  • What’s the latest on domestic partners and same-sex spouses at the state level? What impact does it have for ERISA benefit plans? Why does the federal Defense of Marriage Act make plan definitions of “spouse” and “dependent” so important?
  • What are the tax consequences of providing health benefits to domestic partners (including same-sex spouses)? When can a health FSA or HRA reimburse the medical expenses of domestic partners? How can pension plans provide for domestic partner benefits?
  • What kind of certification of domestic partner status should cafeteria, health and other plans require? What policies, procedures, and forms should be in place to make administration of domestic partner benefits easier?
  • Are mid-year changes to cafeteria plan elections permitted when domestic partnerships or same-sex marriages begin or end?
  • How should plans handle COBRA continuation coverage and HIPAA special enrollment rights for domestic partners?

Details

Speakers: Howard D. Bye, Esq., and Brigid Carroll Anderson, Esq. Mr. Bye is Of Counsel to Stoel Rives, LLP in Seattle and is a Contributing Author to EBIA’s HIPAA Privacy, Portability & Security manual and a Contributor to EBIA’s Employee Benefits for Domestic Partners. Ms. Anderson is an attorney, Director of Seminars at EBIA and the lead Contributor and Editor of EBIA’s Employee Benefits for Domestic Partners.

Handouts: A handout of the seminar slides and other information is provided through download.

Viewing Details

Accessing the recorded web seminar: After you purchase a recorded web seminar, you will receive an email with access information. You and your co-workers may then view the recording as many times as you wish for 60 days. An internet connection is required to view the recording; it can be stopped and started as needed and has a table of contents for easy navigation.

Recordings are accurate as of the date presented: Our recordings are accurate as of the presentation date of the live seminar. We supplement handout materials with articles from the EBIA Weekly covering significant later developments. You must check the table of contents at your access link for updates before viewing a recorded seminar.

Please respect our copyright: Do not record the web seminar, share the access link, or duplicate materials. For details on our copyright policy, please visit our Copyright page.

System Requirements for Recorded Web Seminars

EBIA uses WebEx technology for the seminar. You may wish to view system requirements, test your system and download any necessary WebEx software here:

http://www.webex.com/lp/jointest/

If you are not able to complete the WebEx installation, please contact WebEx technical support at (866) 863-3904.