The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 required, for the first time, that administrators of defined contribution plans (such as 401(k) plans) provide participants with disclosures...more
The Department of Labor (DOL), joined and coordinated in part by the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, and Department of Health and Human Services, has released several documents providing deadline extensions...more
In Revenue Procedure 2019-19, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) significantly expanded the availability of the Self-Correction Program (SCP) that plan sponsors may use to self-correct failures in their qualified retirement...more
4/30/2019
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPCRS ,
Filing Requirements ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Revenue Procedures ,
Tax Audits ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Voluntary Correction Program
As more fully described in our earlier newsletter, in Revenue Procedure 2016-37 the Internal Revenue System (IRS) made significant changes in the procedures governing the issuance of favorable determination letters to the...more
Last year, in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a special type of “church plan,” intended to be exempt from Title I of ERISA and many Internal Revenue Code requirements, does not...more
9/14/2018
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Church Plans ,
Churches ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Religious Institutions ,
Tax Exemptions
The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that employee benefit plans sponsored by certain church-affiliated organizations do not have to be established by a church to be considered a “church plan,” which is exempt...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released General Counsel Memorandum 201634021 (“Memorandum”) concluding that the employees of a disregarded single member limited liability company (SMLLC) (1) must be allowed to...more
Late last year, another lawsuit was brought on behalf of participants in a 401(k) plan alleging breaches of fiduciary duties resulting from allegedly high plan fees. This type of case is not novel; the law firm that brought...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently settled a case involving an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) that provides guidance but also a warning for trustees and employers contemplating ESOP transactions that later go awry....more
In Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that there is no presumption of prudence for fiduciaries of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) who invest in employer securities. The case...more
In Roe v. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, a federal district court addressed the issue of whether a self-funded health plan could include language that denied dependent coverage to same-sex spouses without violating Section...more
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in U.S. v. Windsor that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) is an unconstitutional “deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment of...more
Plan sponsors should review wellness programs for compliance with recently issued final rules, which among other things increase the maximum permissible award for certain wellness programs. On May 29, the Internal Revenue...more
Employers have until October 1, 2013, to provide notice to current employees of coverage options available through the Health Insurance Marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act. On May 8, 2013, the U.S....more
Plan sponsors, particularly those that sponsor self-funded health plans, should review plan document provisions in light of the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen. In...more
Having survived the election and a Supreme Court challenge (for the most part), the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is here to stay. Employers should evaluate the requirements under ACA that apply to their group health plans for...more
The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services (“OCR”) has issued final regulations modifying the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy, Security, Breach...more
2/8/2013
/ Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Enforcement ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Omnibus Rule ,
HITECH Act ,
Notice Requirements ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Privacy Policy