As we bid farewell to 2024 and look ahead to the new year, we reflect on the many evolving compliance obligations that health and welfare plan sponsors tackle each year. Although this list is by no means exhaustive, it...more
12/31/2024
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Gag Clauses ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Mental Health ,
MHPAEA ,
OCR ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Substance Abuse ,
Third-Party Service Provider
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) regulates most private employee benefit retirement and welfare plans. This statute’s purview is vast; it governs employer-sponsored defined benefit and defined...more
A recent rash of class action lawsuits in California claim that using forfeitures to reduce future employer contributions to tax-qualified retirement plans runs afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)....more
6/14/2024
/ Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Contributions ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forfeiture ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Qualified Plans
We recently summarized the regulatory back and forth of the past few years relating to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors and their impact on ERISA retirement plans and the fiduciaries that...more
For those with an eye on ERISA and its fiduciary rules, the past few years have caused whiplash when it comes to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investments in retirement plans....more
On May 2, 2022, a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health was leaked to the press, and as a result the Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey,...more
6/15/2022
/ Abortion ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Planned Parenthood ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS
It started sometime last year and, in hindsight, was inevitable. Clients with 401(k) plans and a crypto-savvy employee population began asking whether they could offer cryptocurrency as a plan investment option. In the...more
In this issue:
Has DOL Put Final Nail In Coffin of ‘Substantial Compliance’ Doctrine for Disability Claims? Analysis of the most recent revisions to the ERISA Claims Procedure regulations, asking whether the amendments...more
We’ve previously written about the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule, which expands the definition of who is considered a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, as amended (“ERISA”) and the...more