PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0 Act - More Relief for Plan Administrators
Recent Tenth Circuit Decision in John Q Hammons Fall Following SCOTUS’ Decision in Siegel v. Fitzgerald Could Result in Significant Refunds for Certain Chapter 11 Debtors
Nuts and Bolts of a Repayment Investigation: Keys to Conducting Investigations Under the 60-Day Repayment Rule
Hospice Audit Series: The Latest Developments and Strategies for Success in the Ever-changing Audit Landscape
Recently, the Second Circuit became the latest circuit refusing to enforce individual arbitration of an ERISA class action, joining the Third, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits. The Ninth Circuit, by contrast, has held that class...more
This month’s Friday Five explores decisions regarding the transfer of an ERISA action that was filed in a state where an insurer did not maintain sufficient minimum contacts, an award of attorneys’ fees, costs, and...more
As previously discussed, the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) was signed into law on December 29, 2022 as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, and included a myriad of required and optional plan design...more
by Lyn Domenick Many retirement plan errors are inadvertent and involve small dollar amounts. However, the work involved in correcting such errors can be time consuming and burdensome. Fortunately, SECURE 2.0 provides that...more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) greatly expands the availability of self-correction of compliance failures involving employer retirement plans and IRAs. On May 25, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2023-43, which...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which was signed into law on December 29, 2022, includes numerous provisions impacting retirement savings plans, which are collectively referred to as SECURE 2.0. SECURE 2.0...more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 was enacted at the end of last year as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The act sets forth a number of changes affecting retirement plans that go into effect over several years....more
As part of our ongoing series on SECURE 2.0, this post discusses three significant changes to corrections of common retirement plan errors: (1) New rules for correcting overpayments, (2) expansion of the Self-Correction...more
SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Biden on December 29, 2022 (the date of enactment), as part of the larger government funding bill. The Act makes numerous changes affecting retirement plans....more
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to: (1) whether claim administrators can recover overpayments through a breach of contract claim under state law; (2) whether claim administrators can rely solely on a claimant’s...more
A qualified retirement plan paying more in distributions than a participant is entitled to occurs frequently. Common reasons for overpayments include miscalculation of benefits due to systemic error, the plan sponsor being...more
The Sixth Circuit’s recent decision in Zirbel v. Ford Motor Company (2020 BL 445882, Nov. 16, 2020) provides a useful illustration of the key issues that arise when ERISA plans seek to recover money from participants or...more
In its decision, the Court concluded that UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (“United”) was not authorized to engage in “cross-plan offsetting.” What is cross-plan offsetting? It is a “self-help” practice that third party...more
On January 15, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit considered whether certain plan documents allowed UnitedHealth Group Inc. and affiliates (“United”) to engage in a practice known as “cross-plan...more
A recent Eighth Circuit decision regarding “cross-plan offsetting” serves as an important reminder of how ERISA’s fiduciary duties impact both employers and fiduciaries who handle claims. The case involved the common...more
On January 15, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an order affirming a lower court’s ruling that UnitedHealth’s interpretation of ERISA plan documents to authorize cross-plan offsetting was...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently weighed in on a practice for recovering health plan overpayments known as “cross-plan offsetting.” In addition to shining a light on the controversial (but potentially...more
In an opinion filed on January 15, 2019, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s ruling that UnitedHealth Group’s practice of recovering overpayments made to “out-of-network” providers from one plan by...more
We expect 2018 to be another year of rapid change within the health care industry. In this episode, Mary Beth Johnston highlights some of the key topics that the health care practice group will monitor in the coming year,...more
The U.S. District of Minnesota has ruled in Peterson v. Unitedhealth Grp. Inc., No. 14-CV-2101 (PJS/BRT), 2017 WL 991043 (D. Minn. Mar. 14, 2017) that ERISA does not permit United Healthcare (“United”) to claw back alleged...more
The Tenth Circuit held that a pension plan consultant, who misstated the amount of monthly pension payments that a pension plan participant would receive in retirement, was not a fiduciary under ERISA. Plaintiffs Trent...more
In its current term, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on three cases that interpret the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The three ERISA cases will inevitably have an effect on plan...more
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed a dismissal of claims by two physicians and their medical practice asserting standing under ERISA to enjoin an insurer from removing them from its coverage...more
While public attention is currently focused on the upcoming high profile Supreme Court decision in King v. Burwell (which involves subsidies for exchange-based coverage under the ACA), the Supreme Court recently decided to...more
Editor's Overview - This month's newsletter focuses on repayment of pension plan overpayments. Our issue discusses pension plan overpayments to participants, a plan administrator's duties to seek repayment, corrections...more