This article appeared in Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms, an ALM/Law Journal Newsletters publication covering all financial aspects of managing law firms, including: building a law firm budget; rates and rate arrangements with clients; coordinating benefits for law firm partners; and the newest strategies to grow your firm and your career.

On Dec. 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) was signed into law. In addition to funding the government and further COVID-19 relief, the CAA included significant provisions impacting health benefit coverage.

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Dependent Care Assistance Flexible Spending Arrangements

In 2020, the Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2020-29 that provided an extended grace period for unused funds in health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) and dependent care FSAs (DCAPs), as well as additional opportunities to change elections for health coverage and FSA benefits. The IRS also released Notice 2020-33, which increased the amount of the carryover permitted for health FSAs to $550 due to inflation indexing.