For employers that sponsor and administer employee benefit plans, various pieces of federal legislation create a multilayered regime of detailed regulatory requirements. Primarily, employer-sponsored benefit plans are...more
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
Recently, the IRS released Notice 2023-43, providing interim guidance on Section 305 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which expanded the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), the system through which plan...more
On March 29, 2023, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the departments) issued new guidance in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs), Part 58, regarding the...more
On Feb. 4, 2022, in response to a number of questions from various stakeholders about FAQs Part 51, regarding the requirement for individual and group health plans to cover over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests, the U.S....more
In December 2021, amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, President Biden announced that the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (collectively, the departments) would issue guidance to clarify...more
The new Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law March 27, 2020, offers relief for employers and employees enduring the financial pressures of the coronavirus pandemic.
Specific...more
On March 18, 2020, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law. Among the new law’s many provisions is the requirement, effective as of the date of enactment, for group health plans to provide free novel...more
The SECURE Act, signed into law on Dec. 20, 2019, contains various provisions that may impact large employer-sponsored retirement plans. In effect, the act will usher in the need for plan sponsors to reevaluate plan features,...more
On June 20, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) released a final rule expanding the availability of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) employers can use to pay for or...more
Earlier this month, the IRS proposed changes to existing rules governing distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans on account of certain financial hardships. The proposed regulations reflect several statutory changes enacted...more
After much delay and uncertainty, the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule on disability benefit claims procedures is set to become effective April 1. The rule, which applies to ERISA employee benefit plans (including...more
On Dec. 22, President Trump signed into law the 2017 Tax Act, the most comprehensive set of changes to the Internal Revenue Code since 1986. Some of the changes affect executive compensation and employee benefits. Because...more
1/2/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Individual Mandate ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Section 162(m) ,
Section 409A ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Reform
In another blockbuster 5-4 ruling authored by Justice Kennedy, in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___. ____ (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution requires a state to license...more
6/29/2015
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Equal Protection ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Marriage ,
Marriage Equality ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS
The Supreme Court has unanimously vacated a Sixth Circuit ruling that a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) vested retirees with lifetime medical benefits. M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, No. 13-1010, 2015 U.S. LEXIS 759...more