Navigating the Nuances of the COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act
AGG Talks: Solving Employers’ Problems - The American Rescue Plan Act’s COBRA Subsidy: What Is It and How Does It Work?
COBRA Deadlines and Proofs of Mailing in Carter v. Southwest Airlines Co. Board of Trustees
Podcast: Employers and the American Rescue Plan - Employment Law This Week® - #WorkforceWednesday
How the American Rescue Plan Act Affects COBRA
#WorkforceWednesday: The American Rescue Plan, OSHA’s New COVID-19 Directive, and NY Mandates COVID-19 Vaccine PTO - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - DOL’s Guidance on Continued COVID-19 Timeframe Relief
Three Timely Benefits Items Everyone Should Know
COBRA: Avoid Getting Snakebit! (Notice Update, Deadline Update, Litigation Update)
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Deadline Extensions Impacting HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA
Employers: Benefits Considerations Post-Pandemic [More with McGlinchey Ep. 3]
COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
Has the Affordable Care Act influenced COBRA? What if my employer fails to offer COBRA?
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications - Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
Since 2016, plaintiffs’ counsel have filed over 70 putative class actions, mostly against large plan sponsors, alleging deficiencies in election notice requirements as mandated under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget...more
Recent years have seen a barrage of class action lawsuits alleging that group health plan continuation coverage election notices, required under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), are deficient in one...more
The October Monthly Minute highlights a class action that hinges on deficient COBRA notices, the new 2023 benefit plan limits, and a case that held the benefit plan provisions in effect at the time of a claim denial control....more
Numerous Fortune 500 companies around the country have recently seen a barrage of cases alleging that notices required under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) fail to provide all information required...more
ERISA litigation has exploded in the past few years, particularly cases alleging excessive fees. Last year was the high-water mark for ERISA class actions with over 200 cases filed, an 80% increase from 2019. 2021 is on track...more
On May 4, 2021, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss in a class action lawsuit regarding the adequate notice of the right to continued...more
Getting ready to reopen in California and need a refresher on what makes California law “special”? Have plans to open an office/location somewhere in California and want to understand what laws apply and how they differ...more
Join us virtually to ensure that you are equipped with the latest updates and strategies to prevent, manage and defend against rising, costly ERISA disputes. There has never been a more critical time to “compare notes”...more
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“COBRA”) became law on April 7, 1986. For most of its nearly 35-year history, litigation involving COBRA has been relatively quiet. Most COBRA claims are tag-alongs, added...more
As summarized below, recent updates to Model COBRA Notices, extensions of deadlines as a result of COVID-19, and an uptick in class action lawsuits stemming from allegedly deficient COBRA Notices, will require a review of...more
In Bryant v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., three former Walmart employees moved to certify a class against the retailer, alleging that they were injured by Walmart's allegedly defective notices under the Employee Retirement Income...more
If you have ever played in or watched a game in which the players called their own fouls, penalties or rules violations, you probably heard one of them respond to an alleged infraction by claiming, albeit with more colorful...more
Employers continue to grapple with an ongoing, unprecedented public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its after-effects, which have profoundly disrupted the nation’s economy and U.S. workplaces. In this issue,...more
Synopsis: After falling out of favor post-Affordable Care Act, when Health Insurance Marketplace coverage became a far more attractive post-termination health coverage alternative, everyone is once again talking about COBRA...more
Even before the current pandemic crisis, we have noticed a growing trend in the filing of class action lawsuits challenging, under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), notices required to be issued by...more
In a growing wave of class action lawsuits, plaintiffs are targeting employers who have allegedly failed to provide proper notice of health care coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985...more
As employers have noticed, there is a growing wave of COBRA notice class action lawsuits filed against large employers with at least six cases being filed in 2019 alone. In each of the cases, the plaintiffs allege that the...more
As previously reported in the Fast Laner, a number of large employers were hit by a wave of class action lawsuits in 2016 involving claims related to deficient COBRA notices. In the case involving Wal-Mart, a federal judge in...more
While notices pursuant to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“COBRA”) are viewed as fairly standard, some plaintiffs’ counsel have recently zoomed in on the type of information included in these notices....more
Use of Forfeitures for Safe Harbor Contributions, QNECS and QMACS - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued final regulations allowing forfeitures in 401(k) plans to be used to fund safe harbor contributions,...more
Just when you thought it was “safe to go back in the water,” a new flurry of class action claims based on asserted deficient COBRA notices is drawing the interest of class action plaintiff law firms....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
In a series of recent class action lawsuits involving Wal-Mart Stores Inc., BB&T Co., Shipcom Wireless Inc., and other employers, current and former employees who were eligible for COBRA continuation health coverage have...more
Sun Trust Bank was sued in a class action challenging its COBRA notice. The plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit claimed that the COBRA notice was materially deficient in that it failed to provide the name and address of the...more