Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
Compliance and Your Business: Managing SCA Costs and Liability
Nuts and Bolts of SCA
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 4 of 5) – Retirement Plan Costs
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 3 of 5) – Medical Benefit Costs
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 2 of 5) – Identifying Potential Targets
COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
The September Monthly Minute highlights the DOL’s extension of existing cybersecurity guidance to health and welfare plans and also addresses the new HIPAA reproductive health privacy rule....more
The US Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) recently issued much-anticipated final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The newly issued...more
On September 9, 2024, the US Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) finalized a rule titled Requirements Related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction...more
In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued 3 documents outlining guidance on cybersecurity practices for benefits plans, which we discussed in a blog post at the time. The DOL recently issued revised versions of the...more
by Becky Achten New guidance from the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) affirms that both sides—retirement plans and welfare plans—must take steps to secure participant data from cybercrime. In 2021 the...more
On Friday, September 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor confirmed that its cybersecurity guidance applies to all employee benefit plans, including health and welfare plans. In 2021, the DOL issued guidance providing best...more
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
If our trade and industry sources have it right, we could see final regulations implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), as most recently amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021...more
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has again issued new Service Contract Act (SCA) health and welfare (H&W) rates. In July 2024, WHD increased the prevailing H&W fringe benefits from a rate of $4.98...more
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
During this election year, McDermottPlus is actively monitoring annual regulations that federal agencies are expected to release, as well as “ad hoc” regulations that will be released at the discretion of federal agencies. ...more
The agencies have finalized a portion of their proposed rules impacting so-called “junk insurance” regarding short-term limited-duration insurance, but deferred finalizing the more significant changes that would have impacted...more
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
“Georgia” on your mind? As we look towards the upcoming Masters golf tournament weekend, our minds turn to the condition of the greens (exquisite), the players tee off order (does afternoon help or hinder Tiger on an expected...more
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
This post continues our consideration of comments submitted in response to proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Our previous MHPAEA content is available...more
Last week, the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services (“the Departments”) issued an FAQ about the final Transparency in Coverage rules (“TiC Rules”). This FAQ addresses compliance with cost‑sharing...more
The Department of Labor recently announced the 2024 inflation adjustments for ERISA-related penalties applicable to health and welfare and retirement plans. Applicable penalties increased for 2024 as follows...more
Comments submitted in response to the proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) reflect a broad range of perspectives. Our previous MHPAEA content is available here....more
On January 2, 2024, McDermott filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) and the United States Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) in United Behavioral Health v. David K., No. 23-586, in the US...more
After a brief hiatus to discuss the pleading standards adopted by the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in E.W. v. Health Net Life Insurance Company, we return to our examination of the comments submitted in response...more
It was a lively year for health benefits. Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group unpacks 2023, from the end of the COVID-19 emergencies to the much-anticipated Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act...more
This post continues our focus on comment letters submitted in response to proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The proposed regulations were issued earlier this year by the US...more
This newsletter provides updates employers should be aware of heading into 2024, including an outline of the updated 2024 retirement and welfare plan limits, instructions related to the “gag order” attestation requirements...more
In our last post, we considered some of the comment letters submitted in response to proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) issued by the US Departments of Labor, Health and...more