Benefit plan sponsors sometimes send out Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) having given too little thought to the legal consequences. Two recent cases illustrate how an organization can end up in serious and costly litigation...more
Benefit plan descriptions may expose Pennsylvania employers to additional contractual obligations and liabilities. According to a three-judge Pennsylvania Superior Court panel, providing benefit plan descriptions to employees...more
While considering year-end tasks and planning for the upcoming year, qualified plan sponsors should think about whether they need to revise and/or reissue their summary plan descriptions (SPDs) in 2022....more
Owners and employees of smaller organizations often find themselves stretched in many directions. With all of the demands on one’s time associated with operating a business, it is not uncommon to see attention to the...more
We conclude our blog series on best practices in administering benefit claims with the three C’s: be clear, be consistent, and communicate. The key to effective benefit claim administration ultimately boils down to drafting...more
As they once said in This is Spinal Tap, there is a fine line between stupid and clever. I can assure you that Michael McKeon who played David St. Hubbins in the movie and co-wrote it, was not in plan administration. Based on...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
Our ERISA Practice Center blog posts often discuss many complex, and sometimes esoteric, substantive and procedural ERISA issues, as well as related agency guidance and case law. In this new ten-part blog series, however, we...more
Synopsis: A recent decision of the federal district court for the Southern District of New York warns ERISA fiduciaries that even innocent mistakes that do not misuse plan assets or unjustly enrich the fiduciaries can cause...more
Employers may soon find themselves reviewing and revising health plan master documents and summary plan descriptions (SPDs) and administrative service agreements with respect to an obscure claims administration practice known...more
• Administrators of all employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) should ensure their plans' compliance with ERISA's Summary Plan Description (SPD) requirement. •...more
The year 1974 was a watershed for employee benefits. For the first time, the federal government undertook the complicated task of providing a statutory and regulatory framework for employee benefit plans and employee pension...more
ERISA, as amended by the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), requires employers to notify their employees of potential opportunities for group health plan premium assistance through...more
Mull v. Motion Picture Ind. Health Plan educates employers on the basics of the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) governing plan documents and summary plan descriptions. The lessons are...more