On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law H.R. 1319, the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021” (APRA). The latest in an extended series of COVID-19 economic relief bills, with a price tag of $1.9 trillion and weighing in at an impressive 628 pages, ARPA will bring cumulative US federal pandemic relief spending to approximately $5.7 trillion. At Ascentis, we’ve hauled out our trusty “HCM radar detector” to hone in on just those provisions which may impact and delight (or maybe not?) employers, and the HR community, around the country.

Learning Objectives:-

• Extensions and “sweeteners:” the provisions of prior pandemic relief programs that have been extended or enhanced by ARPA
• The “big sale on COBRA:” when it comes to premiums, “everything must go!” and how the unprecedented new zero-premium COBRA coverage could impact your plan qualifiers
• Notifications: Big changes in COBRA mean big changes in required employee notifications
• The compromise change in tax law around student loan debt may totally re-shape tuition reimbursement plans for years to come
• Another expansion of PPP funding; the Paycheck Protection Program will cover more employers than ever before
• How HCM and HR technology will be affected by these provisions.