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Benefit Plan Sponsors Employer Liability Issues

Verrill

A Brief Guide to Qualified Disclaimers for Retirement Plan Administrators

Verrill on

A “qualified disclaimer” is a tax-effective way to refuse a transfer of property that would otherwise occur on someone’s death. From time to time, retirement plan administrators may be contacted by a beneficiary who wants a...more

Verrill

Student Loans and Code Section 127 Educational Assistance Programs: A Reminder from the IRS, FAQs, and a Sample Plan Document

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On August 28, the IRS issued IR-2024-227, reminding employers of the following key aspects of educational assistance programs under Internal Revenue Code Section 127: -They can be used to help reimburse the costs of or...more

Verrill

Prepare for Cooler Weather, Annual Enrollment, and 2025

Verrill on

Summer is ending and fall is rapidly approaching. For employee benefit professionals with calendar-year health and welfare benefit plans that means preparing for annual enrollment and year-end compliance requirements. This...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - August 2024

The August Monthly Minute highlights new IRS guidance addressing student loan matching programs, HHS’s increases to civil monetary penalties and Form 5330 paper filing updates....more

McDermott Will & Emery

The Case for the Welfare Plan Fiduciary Committee

Recent lawsuits filed against the group health plans of two large US employers underscore the importance of implementing formal welfare benefit plan governance structures that include fiduciary committees comparable to the...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

The New Fiduciary Rule (40): Rollovers and the Insurance License Issue

The Department of Labor’s final regulation defining fiduciary status for investment advice to retirement investors will be effective this September 23. Where a fiduciary recommendation results in additional compensation for...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Every Retirement Plan Needs Practices and Procedures for Self-Correction

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

Stinson - Benefits Notes Blog

DOL Settlements Remind Employers to Avoid Collecting Premiums Until Evidence of Insurability is Approved

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced two settlements with major insurance companies this month that highlight the importance of employers avoiding the collection of group life insurance premiums from employees until...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Group Medical Captives, Level Funding and US Healthcare Policy

McDermott Will & Emery on

In a recent article in Managed Healthcare Executive, Peter Wehrwein examines the trend of self-funding of group health benefits by smaller employers who used to depend mainly or entirely on fully insured programs....more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

How SECURE 2.0 Options Impact Form W-2 and Form 1099-R Reporting

IRS reminds employers that implementing certain optional retirement plan provisions of SECURE 2.0 affect Form W‑2 and Form 1099‑R reporting starting in 2023 - The IRS recently issued Fact Sheet 2024‑18 to highlight how...more

Verrill

Retirement Plans: What Categories of Employees may be Excluded?

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We are often asked about the permissibility of excluding certain categories of employees from participating in an employer’s tax-qualified retirement plan. This post provides a high-level summary of what is and is not...more

Verrill

Cross-Plan Offsetting in Group Health Plans—The DOL Makes its Position Clear

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Under Section 404 of ERISA, plan fiduciaries must act for the exclusive benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries and use plan assets only to provide benefits and defray reasonable expenses of administering the plan. In...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - February 2024

The February Monthly Minute discusses a class action suit alleging a breach of fiduciary duties in connection with ERISA benefit plan prescription drug pricing and the latest IRS guidance on defined contribution plan...more

Fenwick & West LLP

The Shifting Regulatory Landscape for Level-Funded Plans: An Alternative for Group Health Insurance

Fenwick & West LLP on

In the constantly changing health insurance landscape, level-funded health plans are steadily gaining ground as a viable middle approach between fully insured health plan and self-funded health plans—arguably offering...more

McDermott Will & Emery

How Pending Fishing Boat Cases at the Supreme Court Could Rock the Benefits Plan Boat

McDermott Will & Emery on

Thanks to two cases about federally mandated observers on fishing boats, judicial deference to agencies is likely to soon get weaker – and more unpredictable – with wide-ranging impacts for employee benefits. Less deference...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

You Live, You Learn… Correcting “Qualification Failures” under the Self-Correction Program

The Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), as set forth in Revenue Procedure 2021-30, allows plan sponsors to correct “Qualification Failures,” which are defined as any plan document, operational, demographic...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

IRS Announces Phase 2 of Pre-Examination Compliance Pilot Program

Recently, the IRS announced phase two of its expansion of the Pre-Examination Compliance Pilot Program. Under the pilot program, an employer may limit or entirely avoid an impending IRS audit if they promptly correct any...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

Managing Welfare Plan Risk: The Fiduciary Committee

Fiduciary committees have long been established in connection with retirement plans to manage the investment, legal compliance, and operational risks that can arise under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

UPDATE: Planning for Open Enrollment? Note the ACA Affordability Threshold Drop

This post was updated on February 6, 2024, to reflect the 2024 Federal Poverty Level announced in January 2024. On August 23, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service issued Rev. Proc. 2023-29, announcing that the Affordable...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Unicorn, Ostrich or Okapi? Fiduciary Duties for Governmental Retirement Plan Sponsors

Bricker Graydon LLP on

Most retirement plan sponsors know that ERISA - the federal law that imposes duties (and liability for breaching those duties) on certain individuals and entities that are defined as plan fiduciaries – is the primary source...more

McAfee & Taft

Bitcoin ETFs and workplace retirement plans: DOL has ‘serious concerns’

McAfee & Taft on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved applications from large investment firms to offer spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Retail investors can now buy bitcoin ETFs on traditional...more

McDermott Will & Emery

IRS Says Keep Those Class Exclusions Classy Under Long-Term, Part-Time Employee Rules

McDermott Will & Emery on

In this series of articles, we explore the implications of the long-term, part-time employee rules under the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 and the impact those rules have on employers and their workforces. Together, the...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute UPDATE: Secure 2.0 Implementation Guidance

The IRS just couldn’t wait for Christmas to gift everyone Miscellaneous Changes Under the Secure 2.0 Act of 2022! Notice 2024-2 is meant to provide guidance on discreet issues to assist with SECURE 2.0 implementation...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - November 2023

The November Monthly Minute digs into the new proposed LTPT regulations, 2024 benefit limits, and the NBA health plan fraud verdict. Indigestion from Turkey and Stuffing or the IRS’ Proposed LTPT Regulations? ...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Holidays and Happier at Work: Tips for Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace

Tips to Change the Mental Health Culture in Your Workforce - Let’s face it—while the stigma about mental health issues has gotten better, much work is still needed. It is up to all of us to help improve the dialogue and tone...more

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