News & Analysis as of

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Employer Group Health Plans Employee Benefits

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - September 2024

Saul Ewing LLP on

This month’s Friday Five discusses cases addressing the effect of continuing to receive benefits during the period of alleged disability, reliance on an employer’s records in making a disability determination, the...more

Lathrop GPM

Fifty Years of ERISA

Lathrop GPM on

On Labor Day fifty years ago, September 2, 1974, President Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) into law. It is a combination of tax and labor law incorporating trust law like fiduciary...more

Hall Benefits Law

Federal Agencies Issue Updated Instructions for Annual Submission of Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation

Hall Benefits Law on

​​​​​​​The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have updated the Submission Instructions and User Manual for the Gag Clause Prohibition...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

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Hole in the Bottle… Employer Considerations After Another Lawsuit Against an Employer Health Plan

Last week, former Wells Fargo employees filed a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo and its health plan fiduciaries alleging that Wells Fargo’s self-funded health plan violated ERISA by paying its pharmacy benefits...more

Kilpatrick

ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans

Kilpatrick on

The Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the US Department of Health and Human Services recently released a final rule (“Final Rule”) to update the HIPAA Privacy Rules for reproductive health care information. The Final Rule...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Health Plan Hygiene Part 1: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

During the next several weeks, we will publish a series of articles that dive deeply into “health plan hygiene” relating to health and welfare benefit plan fiduciary issues and how employers can protect themselves in this...more

Fisher Phillips

Don't Forget About ERISA in Your Health Plan’s Cybersecurity Efforts: Important Reminders for Plan Fiduciaries in the Wake of...

Fisher Phillips on

Earlier this year, a cyberattack on a leading healthcare claims processing provider had an unprecedented impact on patients and healthcare providers across the country. While group health plans were not directly targeted in...more

McDermott Will & Emery

It’s the Plan Assets, Stupid: Why Group Medical Stop-Loss Captives and Level-Funded Plans Don’t Mix

McDermott Will & Emery on

A question in response to last week’s post on self-funding of employer group health plans assumed that stop-loss coverage under a level-funded plan could be provided under a group captive medical captive. However, it cannot...more

Robinson+Cole ERISA Claim Defense Blog

Ninth and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals Rule that Preauthorization Process Does Not Impose Independent Contractual Liability on...

Within days of one another, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Second Circuits ruled—on issues of first impression for both—that ERISA expressly preempts state law breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims...more

Littler

July is Still the New January! Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute’s Mid-Year Legislative Report

Littler on

Hot off the press – here is Littler’s mid-year report!  As federal regulators, states and cities continue to pass new workplace regulations through the calendar year, we summarize each state’s notable labor and employment law...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

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - June 2024

Saul Ewing LLP on

This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions with issues spanning physician power of attorney to preexisting exclusions and the fiduciary duty of an insurance company....more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

ERISA Group Health Plans – The New Target in Fee Cases

Earlier this year, a Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) employee brought a class action complaint (the “Complaint”) against J&J alleging fiduciary breaches under ERISA related to the prescription drug coverage under J&J’s self-funded...more

Woodruff Sawyer

Navigating Mid-Year Benefit Election Changes

Woodruff Sawyer on

One of the most common questions that we receive is whether an employee can change their benefits elections after the plan year has already started (also referred to as a mid-year change).  The answer is very fact-specific...more

Hall Benefits Law

The DOL’s New “Economic Realities” Test to Determine Employee Status: ERISA Considerations for Benefit Plan Sponsors

Hall Benefits Law on

The Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued final regulations, effective March 11, 2024, which are intended to serve as a practical guide to employers on how the DOL determines whether a worker is an employee...more

Verrill

Health and Welfare Benefit Plan Fiduciary Governance in the Wake of the Johnson & Johnson Lawsuit

Verrill on

For the past few years, we have encouraged plan sponsors to focus on matters of fiduciary governance for their health and welfare benefit plans (see our 2021 blog post). Yet many plan sponsors overlook the fact that the...more

Dickinson Wright

Why Establish a Fiduciary Committee for Welfare Benefit Plans?

Dickinson Wright on

Many plan sponsors have read about the lawsuit filed against Johnson & Johnson alleging that it breached its fiduciary duties with regard to the prescription drug component of its group health plan, causing participants to...more

DRI

What Is the Future of Monetary Relief under ERISA, Section 502(a)(3)?

DRI on

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), as amended, regulates virtually every private employee benefit program in the United States. Among other things, ERISA contains its own civil enforcement section,...more

McGuireWoods LLP

A New Frontier for ERISA Fee Suits: Group Health Plans

McGuireWoods LLP on

Best practices in the area of ERISA health and welfare plan governance are evolving. Concerned group health plan fiduciaries have been evaluating compliance processes while facing a set of rigorous fiduciary duties imposed by...more

Verrill

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

Verrill on

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

Polsinelli

Department of Labor Settles with TPA to End Cross-Plan Offsetting Practice

Polsinelli on

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently entered into a settlement agreement with a New York-based insurer and third-party administrator (“Company”) of employer group health plans governed by the Employee Retirement...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Left Coast Appeals

This Week At The Ninth: Common Issues and ERISA Assignment

This week, the Ninth Circuit considers when common issues predominate in wage-and-hour litigation and analyzes the assignment of the right to sue for nonpayment of benefits under ERISA. MILES v. KIRKLAND'S STORES, INC....more

Venable LLP

Fast-Approaching Deadlines for Employee Benefit Plans

Venable LLP on

The end of 2023 brings important deadlines for employers that sponsor 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and group health plans....more

Baker Donelson

Surprise! Gag Clause Attestation Due by 12/31/2023

Baker Donelson on

As part of the No Surprises progeny of legislation seeking transparency in health care, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 prohibits the use of "gag clauses" in group health plan agreements. All group health plans...more

259 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 11

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide