Second Circuit Affirms Decision Rejecting ERISA Claims for Retiree Health Benefits The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed a district court’s decision dismissing claims under the Employee Retirement...more
A federal district court denied class certification to health plan participants who claimed the plan promised them lifetime benefits. The court found too many individualized questions about what the plan told each...more
We recognize that many of our clients sponsor ERISA welfare benefit plans and are currently undergoing their open enrollment process and issuing related participant communications. To assist our clients with that process, we...more
On June 19, 2018, the Trump administration finalized a rule that will enable small businesses and self-employed individuals to band together to offer access to large group health plans, which are typically less expensive (but...more
On October 23, 2015, the U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury issued frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the implementation of preventive care and wellness provisions of the...more
There has been an explosion of participant disclosure requirements for group health plans in recent years. While health care reform created some of these new requirements, many of them became effective years earlier. For busy...more
A federal court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim to recover civil penalties for failure to provide plan documents requested by the plaintiffs. Boyd v. Sysco Corporation, No. 4:13-cv-00599 (D. S. C. September 3, 2015), provides...more
Through new FAQs and final regulations, the U.S. Departments of Labor (“DOL”), Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the Treasury (the “Departments”) have further clarified various issues related to the preventive care...more
Most health plan and health insurance policies include strategies that require persons covered under them to share in the costs that are paid. This strategy, often referred to as cost-sharing, serves two purposes. First, it...more
Employers know that they must prepare and distribute a summary plan description (SPD) for their ERISA benefit plans, including retirement benefits, health insurance, life insurance and disability insurance. Because of the...more
It’s that time of year again, when fall weather brings with it a host of legal obligations for plan sponsors running open enrollment. Here’s what you need to know to survive the season....more