There has been a rash of lawsuits recently challenging how forfeitures are used in retirement plans. (Forfeitures are the amounts remaining when the unvested portion of a participant’s account is forfeited.) The novel theory...more
Administering a retirement plan is a complicated task fraught with potential missteps. Fortunately, employers are now able to self-correct most errors and thereby avoid the considerable time and expense of filing an...more
A distribution policy is a helpful tool for ESOP companies to comply with distribution requirements while retaining maximum flexibility. In a prior article, we reviewed the rules governing ESOP distributions. In this article,...more
Under the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021 (CAA), group health plans and health insurance issuers are prohibited from entering into agreements with service providers restricting certain information that the plan may...more
Enacted last December as part of omnibus appropriations legislation, the “Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022” (SECURE 2.0) includes a number of provisions that have an impact on retirement plan administration. In...more
In light of the March 30 Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra decision, the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Treasury (the “departments”) have issued FAQ guidance on how the...more
4/21/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance ,
New Guidance ,
Preventive Health Care ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wellness Programs
With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) set to end on May 11, 2023, the Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Health and Human Services (the “departments”) have published FAQs explaining...more
4/14/2023
/ Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
Medicaid ,
Public Health Emergency ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
A federal judge has struck down a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandating group health plans and insurers to cover a long list of preventive services without cost-sharing from participants. The March 30 decision...more
With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) set to end on May 11, 2023, federal agencies have published FAQs explaining how the end of the PHE will affect previously extended deadlines relating to COBRA, HIPAA special...more
4/6/2023
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Public Health Emergency
All employers are faced with challenges and compliance risks associated with providing benefits to their employees. However, these risks and challenges can vary greatly by industry. Employers (and their advisors) who...more
1/25/2023
/ 457(b) Plans ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Definition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Students ,
Universities
In response to the continued proliferation of lawsuits against retirement plan fiduciaries, fiduciary liability insurers are raising rates, limiting coverage, and expanding their due diligence of fiduciary processes...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule that explicitly allows—but does not require—retirement plan fiduciaries to take climate change and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into...more
As costly class action retirement plan litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) proliferates, mandatory individual arbitration has become an increasingly appealing alternative for certain benefit...more
As we discussed in a prior article, it is now more important than ever for employers to ensure they fully and accurately complete IRS Forms 1094-C and 1095-C — forms required to be filed and/or furnished to employees under...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published proposed regulations that, if finalized, will ease some of the requirements imposed on employers reporting offers of minimum essential health coverage, including a permanent...more
11/24/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Deadlines ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Extensions ,
Good Faith ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Reporting Requirements
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-02 to further delay enforcement of Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (PTE 2020-02), which sets forth several requirements that financial...more
10/28/2021
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
IRA Rollovers ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management have issued "Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part I," an interim final rule to implement the No...more
7/9/2021
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
New Rules ,
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Physicians ,
Surprise Medical Bills ,
U.S. Treasury
In Notice 2021-31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides broad guidance in a question-and-answer format on the application of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) regarding premium assistance under the...more
6/2/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IRS ,
Notice Requirements ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Termination Clauses
Group health plans and insurers have been required since 2008 to ensure that any “nonquantitative treatment limitations” (NQTLs) imposed on mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are comparable and no more...more
5/19/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
IRS ,
Mental Health ,
Noncompliance ,
NQTLs ,
State Legislatures ,
State Regulators ,
Substance Abuse
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published Notice 2021-26 to provide answers regarding the taxability of benefits received in 2021 and 2022 under a dependent care assistance program (DCAP) that permits carryovers or...more
5/13/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carryover Basis ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Tax Code
As we discussed in a previous article, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), provided premium assistance and an extended election period under COBRA and similar state laws for “assistance eligible individuals” (AEIs)....more
In EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a critical interpretation of prior guidance that extended certain deadlines for employee benefit plans, participants, and beneficiaries due to...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has released a short statement announcing that it will not enforce the final rule on “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments” that it published on November 13, 2020. The statement also...more
In Notice 2021-15, the IRS provides many answers to questions regarding the temporary special rules introduced as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) for health flexible spending accounts (health FSAs) and...more
3/2/2021
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carry-Over Basis ,
COBRA ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Grace Period ,
IRS
In EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a critical interpretation of prior guidance that extended certain deadlines for employee benefit plans, participants, and beneficiaries due to...more