News & Analysis as of

New Guidance Department of Labor (DOL) Benefit Plan Sponsors

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

DOL Issues Late-Breaking Guidance on Defined Benefit Pension Plan Annual Funding Notices

The SECURE Act 2.0, enacted in December 2022, made several updates to what must be included in annual funding notices (“AFN”) issued by defined benefit pension plans. For large plans (as defined below) with a plan year ending...more

Kaufman & Canoles

ESOPs Benefits & Compensation - Q1 2025 Client Alert

Kaufman & Canoles on

Happy Spring from the Kaufman & Canoles ESOPs, Benefits & Compensation team! We hope you’re shaking off the winter blues and ready for another round of benefits updates. ...more

Smith Anderson

New DOL Guidance for Pension Plan Sponsors - What Employers Need to Know

Smith Anderson on

On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued important new guidance for employers that sponsor defined benefit (pension) plans. This guidance provides new model notices and addresses several outstanding...more

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

EBSA Guidance on Annual Funding Notices … Better Later than Never

On April 3rd, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released FAB 2025-02 and related model notices to provide some guidance for the 2024 plan year annual funding notices (AFNs). The EBSA is requiring that plan...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

The Department of Labor’s Expanded Cybersecurity Guidance: What ERISA Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries Need to Know

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

On September 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2024-01, titled “Cybersecurity Guidance Update.” The updated guidance clarifies that the DOL cybersecurity guidance applies to...more

Verrill

Gag Clauses – New Guidance and Litigation Will Inform Compliance

Verrill on

Certain provisions of the Transparency in Coverage Final Regulations and the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 (“CAA”) require group health plans and/or their vendors to report information to federal agencies. On December...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Navigating the Wild West of the New ACA Preventative Care Ruling

On March 30, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a decision in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra (“Braidwood”), invalidating the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA’s”) mandate...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Departments Issue Guidance on Preventive Services under the ACA Following the Braidwood Decision

In light of the March 30 Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra decision, the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Treasury (the “departments”) have issued FAQ guidance on how the...more

Laner Muchin, Ltd.

Employers Face Another Annual Disclosure for their Group Health Plan Related to the No Surprises Act: “Gag Clauses”

Laner Muchin, Ltd. on

The No Surprises Act (the NSA) bans “gag clauses” that prevent disclosure of price or quality information in agreements between health plans and certain service providers. In addition, the NSA requires plan sponsors to attest...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Should I Pay Or Should I No(t) Now: Which Expenses Can be Paid with Plan Assets?

One question that often comes up is whether an expense related to an ERISA plan can be paid with plan assets. The decision of whether to use ERISA plan assets to pay an expense is an ERISA fiduciary decision. With the recent...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Hole in the Bottle … Protecting Against 401(k) Cybersecurity Leakage

Both the Department of Labor (DOL) and plaintiffs’ lawyers have taken an interest in retirement plans’ cybersecurity in recent years. Last year, the DOL issued guidance on the cybersecurity considerations plan fiduciaries...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

HHS, DOL, and Treasury Give Employer-Sponsored Health Plans Another Warning on Providing Contraceptive Coverage

​​​​​​​Employers can’t say they weren’t warned. For the second time in six months, frequently asked question (FAQ) guidance from federal regulators is calling attention to the requirement that employer-sponsored health...more

Laner Muchin, Ltd.

DOL Warns Against Plan Investments in Cryptocurrency

Laner Muchin, Ltd. on

Given the current market volatility, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) concerns related to the addition of cryptocurrencies in qualified retirement plans seems prescient. In Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01, the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

DOL Warns Employers About Including Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plan Investment Options

Late last month, Fidelity Investments created a minor firestorm when it announced that it would allow retirement plan sponsors to offer bitcoin as an investment option for participants. In reaction to this move, the...more

Williams Mullen

New Lifetime Income Illustrations Required This Year

Williams Mullen on

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Act (the “SECURE Act”), passed at the end of 2019, adds a participant disclosure requirement that addresses a long-held concern of lawmakers that many participants are not...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

New COVID-19 Guidance: Government Requires Health Plans to Cover At-Home COVID-19 Tests

On January 10, 2022, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury issued guidance addressing a group health plan’s obligation to cover the cost of over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests starting January...more

Williams Mullen

At-Home COVID Tests Must be Reimbursed by Insurance Companies

Williams Mullen on

Group health plans and health insurance issuers are now required to cover the cost of over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 diagnostic tests. Last week, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury issued...more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

Plans and Issuers Must Cover the Cost of OTC COVID-19 Tests (If You Can Find Them) by Saturday, January 15, 2022

On December 2, 2021, President Biden announced that the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury (the “Departments”) would issue guidance by January 15, 2022 to clarify that individuals who...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Plans and insurers must cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests under new tri-agency guidance

Health plans and insurers must generally cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests under Frequency Asked Questions (FAQs) issued on January 10 by the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services (tri-agencies)....more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

COVID-19 Testing Coverage Requirements for Group Health Plans and Insurers to Take Effect on January 15, 2022

Employer health plans and health insurers will be required to cover over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests, even without a health care provider’s order or an individualized clinical assessment, and generally without cost...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal Agencies Issue FAQ on Health Plan Premium Discounts for COVID-19 Vaccinations

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions about the interaction of HIPAA, the Affordable Care Act, and various group health plan issues relating to the COVID-19...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Federal Agencies Issue HIV Preventive Services Guidance for Health Benefit Plans

The U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of the Treasury recently issued regulatory guidance on the requirement that health plans cover pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)...more

ArentFox Schiff

Don’t Be Insecure: DOL Guidance Addresses Cybersecurity for ERISA Plans

ArentFox Schiff on

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued new guidance on best practices for maintaining cybersecurity in connection with ERISA plans (the Guidance). The Guidance, which is intended for sponsors, fiduciaries, record...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Plan Cybersecurity Guidance: DOL Enforcement Warrants Plan Sponsor Action

Poyner Spruill LLP on

Benefit plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries should take note and act quickly—the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new cybersecurity guidance package with far-reaching effects and has already begun including this in its...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Initial No Surprises Act Regulations Provide Some Clarity for Employer Plans

Plan participants can be hit with surprise medical bills when they receive care from out-of-network providers. Sometimes, this happens when participants do not know that the care they are receiving is from an out-of-network...more

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