CEBS flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Summary Plan Description Deadline

ERISA requires the administrator to furnish the SPD within 120 days of a new plan's effective date and within 90 days after a participant enters the plan.

COBRA Continuation Periods

Group health continuation lasts 18 months for termination or reduced hours and up to 36 months for death, divorce, or Medicare entitlement; employers with 20 or more employees are covered.

HIPAA Special Enrollment Period

A 30-day window to enroll applies after marriage, birth, or adoption, and 60 days applies after loss of other coverage; otherwise the employee waits for open enrollment.

Medicare Secondary Payer Working Aged

For employers with 20 or more employees, the group health plan pays primary and Medicare pays secondary for active employees and their spouses aged 65 or older.

ACA Dependent Coverage Age 26

Non-grandfathered group health plans must extend dependent coverage to adult children under age 26, regardless of marital status, student status, or financial dependence.

Canada Provincial Health Insurance

Provinces fund coverage for medically necessary hospital and physician services; employers add extended health, prescription drug, dental, and paramedical coverage on top of that public base.

Employment Insurance Sickness Benefit

Canada's EI pays 55% of insurable earnings for up to 26 weeks of illness after a one-week waiting period; employer sick pay plans typically integrate with this benefit.

Specific Stop-Loss Deductible

The per-claimant threshold a self-funded plan pays before the stop-loss carrier reimburses excess claims, frequently set between $50,000 and $250,000 per person per year.

Aggregate Stop-Loss Attachment Point

A plan-level threshold, usually near 125% of expected annual claims, above which the stop-loss carrier reimburses total claims paid for the whole covered group.

Health Savings Account Eligibility

An HSA owner must be covered by a qualifying high-deductible health plan, hold no disqualifying coverage, and not be enrolled in Medicare or claimed as a dependent.

FSA Carryover Amount

A health flexible spending account may allow up to $660 of unused funds to carry into the next plan year, offered as an alternative to a grace period of up to 2.5 months.

FMLA Coverage Threshold

FMLA leave applies to private employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles, providing up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per 12-month period.

LTD Elimination Period

The waiting period, commonly 90 to 180 days, between the onset of disability and the start of long-term disability payments; short-term disability income often overlaps this period.

Benefits Benchmarking Percentile

A target position against market survey data, where the 50th percentile reflects median practice and the 75th percentile is used to lead the market for critical roles.

Plan Loss Ratio

Incurred claims divided by premium or plan contributions over a defined period; a ratio above 1.0 means the plan paid out more than it collected.

408(b)(2) Fee Disclosure

ERISA requires covered service providers to disclose fees and compensation in writing to the plan fiduciary so the fiduciary can judge whether the arrangement is reasonable.

CAP Guidelines Canada

CAPSA guidelines requiring sponsors of member-directed defined contribution plans to provide investment information, offer a suitable fund lineup, and monitor investment performance on an ongoing basis.

Form 5500 Annual Filing

ERISA welfare and pension plans with 100 or more participants generally must file an annual return reporting financial condition, operations, and participant counts with the federal government.

Retirement Readiness Replacement Ratio

Projected post-retirement income divided by pre-retirement income; a common planning target is 70% to 80% for moderate earners, counting Social Security or CPP income.

Elective Deferral 402(g) Limit

The annual cap on employee pre-tax and Roth 401(k) deferrals, set at $23,500 for 2025, plus a $7,500 catch-up contribution for participants aged 50 and older.

Annual Additions Limit 415(c)

Total contributions credited to a defined contribution plan participant in a year cannot exceed the lesser of $70,000 for 2025 or 100% of compensation.

ADP Nondiscrimination Test

Compares average deferral percentages of highly compensated and non-highly compensated employees; safe harbor plan designs eliminate the need to run this annual test.

Top-Heavy Minimum Contribution

When key employees hold more than 60% of plan account balances, the employer generally must contribute at least 3% of compensation for each non-key employee.

RRSP Contribution Limit

Canada caps registered retirement savings plan contributions at the lesser of 18% of prior-year earned income and the annual dollar limit, $32,490 for 2025, reduced by any pension adjustment.

Safe Harbor 401(k) Designs

Plans using a 3% nonelective contribution or a basic match of 100% on the first 3% and 50% on the next 2% of pay are deemed to pass ADP and ACP testing.

PBGC Variable-Rate Premium

Flat-rate and variable-rate premiums fund the PBGC insurance program; the variable-rate premium is assessed on unfunded vested benefits of single-employer defined benefit plans.

ERISA 404(c) Protection

When participants direct their own investments from a broad menu and receive required disclosures, plan fiduciaries are not liable for the resulting investment losses.

Plan Loan Maximum

A participant loan cannot exceed the lesser of $50,000, reduced by the highest outstanding loan balance in the prior 12 months, or 50% of the vested account balance.

Hardship Distribution Safe Harbor

Deferrals may be distributed for IRS-defined events such as medical expenses, tuition, eviction or foreclosure prevention, and casualty loss, limited to the demonstrated amount of need.

RRIF Minimum Withdrawal

Registered retirement income funds require annual minimum payments based on a prescribed factor and the start-of-year account value; withdrawals are fully taxable as income.

Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity

ERISA requires a married participant's pension to be paid as a joint and 50% survivor annuity unless the spouse consents in writing to a different payment form.

Cash Balance Plan Design

A defined benefit plan expressed as a hypothetical account credited each year with a pay credit and an interest crediting rate, with the promised benefit funded actuarially.