New cybersecurity developments and observations, including those relating to U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) review of cybersecurity issues, warrant prompt consideration by plan sponsors and other fiduciaries of employee...more
2/2/2022
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Liability Insurance ,
Plan Participants ,
Privacy Policy ,
Retirement Plan
On April 14, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released three-part guidance on cybersecurity issues for employee benefit plans, marking its first significant commentary on the issue since its comprehensive but...more
4/22/2021
/ Audits ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Risk Assessment ,
Third-Party Service Provider
While the country has been focused on the many social, economic, and political impacts of the coronavirus pandemic over the last year, one of the less-discussed crises was the impending collapse of many critical-and-declining...more
President Donald Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Omnibus Bill) on December 27, 2020. The Omnibus Bill has received a great deal of media coverage due to its massive size (nearly 6,000...more
12/31/2020
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Student Loans ,
Trump Administration
Employee benefits professionals have faced many challenges in 2020. We have seen remarkable changes to state and local requirements, an onslaught of new benefits legislation and governmental policies, shifting reporting and...more
12/10/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Final Rules ,
Investment Funds ,
IRS ,
Power of Attorney ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule establishing a new “safe harbor” method for satisfying ERISA and DOL’s requirements for electronic distribution of certain ERISA-governed retirement plan documents....more
Many employers have sought to leverage or make changes to their employer-sponsored benefits to address economic and health-related burdens faced by their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Until now, however, employers...more
5/22/2020
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
Carryover Basis ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
FSA ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Popular
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued revised model general and election notices on Friday, May 1, 2020. The notices can be used by plan administrators to address the notification requirements imposed by the Consolidated...more
Many employee benefit plan sponsors, administrators, and fiduciaries have been asking about regulatory relief in response to administrative challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, the U.S. Departments of...more
5/5/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Extensions ,
U.S. Treasury
As federal and state governments respond to COVID-19, employers and plan fiduciaries must also address the evolving issues arising under employer-sponsored health plans. The specific considerations covered in this update are...more
3/23/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Essential Health Benefits ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
HDHP ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
New Guidance ,
PHI ,
Plan Administrators ,
Self-Insured Health Plans
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed regulations on October 23, 2019, providing for a new electronic-delivery safe harbor applicable to certain required disclosures for ERISA-governed retirement plans. Though...more
11/14/2019
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronic Filing ,
Electronic Reporting ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Notice Requirements ,
Pensions ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Safe Harbors ,
Summary Plan Description
Thirty-five years after deciding that arbitration clauses in employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) were unenforceable, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...more
10/23/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Binding Arbitration ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Plan Administrators ,
Retirement Plan
As a result of a declining union workforce, bankruptcies of employers contributing to multiemployer pension plans (MEPPs), and tax rules that prevented MEPPs from developing sufficient reserves, many MEPPs have become...more
As federal and state governments struggle to address future healthcare regulation, demand for healthcare that is cheaper, better and faster continues to surge. Every day, new healthcare apps are being developed to respond...more
5/19/2017
/ App Developers ,
Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Protection ,
Digital Health ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medical Records ,
Mobile Health Apps ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Popular
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced yet another HIPAA privacy and security settlement involving Protected Health Information (PHI) on a stolen laptop. Although this might be seen as just...more
5/6/2017
/ Business Associates ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Encryption ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Laptop Computers ,
Mobile Devices ,
PHI ,
Settlement ,
Theft
Are you an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) that has received rejected Forms 1095-C from the IRS? If so, you are not alone. ...more
As deliberations over a replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continue in the U.S. House of Representatives, the fate of the ACA’s Cost-Sharing Reduction subsidies (CSRs) may be at stake. Under the ACA, Marketplace...more
With the filing of a class action complaint in late 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. became the latest large company accused of failing to provide adequate notices as...more
1/19/2017
/ Class Action ,
COBRA ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fines ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
IRS ,
Notice Requirements ,
Retailers ,
Wal-Mart