In April 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requested information from the public on how the DOL could structure a new safe harbor for electronic disclosures under ERISA. The DOL received hundreds of comments from...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
Today, the IRS released the annual adjustments for health FSAs, transportation plans and employer adoption assistance benefits. The following chart indicates these new limits, along with other health plan limits applicable...more
Yesterday, the IRS increased almost every major retirement plan limit as part of its annual cost of living adjustments. The increased limitations are set forth in the following chart....more
Although employees face additional taxes and decreased benefits resulting from employer failures involving nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plans, they may sue employers to recover their losses. For ERISA-covered...more
On June 13, 2019, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”), along with the Departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services, released final regulations expanding the use of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Since...more
On May 13, 2019, the Department of Labor released additional guidance addressing questions about the enforcement relief announced earlier by the Department pending its appeal of the district court’s ruling that invalidated...more
On April 26, 2019, the Department of Labor filed a notice of appeal in the case that invalidated key provisions of its Association Health Plan (AHP) regulations.
Released last summer, the AHP regulations loosened the...more
On April 19, 2019, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2019-19 (Rev. Proc. 2019-19), which modifies the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) by expanding the use of the Self-Correction Program (SCP) to include...more
On March 28, 2019, in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor, a federal district court in the District of Columbia set aside key portions of the Department of Labor’s final rule (the “Final Rule”) which paves...more
On February 27, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Information Letter in response to an inquiry from The Justus Group, L3C (Justus) regarding its ability to act as an authorized representative for ERISA...more
Earlier this week the United States Supreme Court, in a per curium opinion, struck down a West Virginia income tax scheme that exempts from tax the retirement benefits of certain state officials while taxing the retirement...more
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax-favored accounts that are designed to help eligible individuals participating in a high-deductible health plan save for medical expenses. Both the employer and the employee can...more
A recent United States District Court opinion highlights the importance of providing summary plan descriptions and certificates of coverage for insured benefits.
Discussion -
In this case, the employee enrolled her lawful...more
There has been a flurry of recent legal newsletters and blog entries about the changes to wellness programs effective on January 1, 2019. The consistent theme of these articles is that wellness programs will be significantly...more
On December 3, 2018, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in Dawson v. Steager, a case addressing West Virginia’s personal income tax regime, which exempts state employee retirement benefits without offering...more
Health and Fringe Benefit Plan Limits -
The IRS has updated various health and fringe benefit plan limits for 2019. A comparison of the 2019 and 2018 limits is listed below....more
Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) are employer funded, account-based health plans which, by design, reimburse up to a fixed dollar amount of medical expenses. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has severely limited their use...more
As most plan sponsors know, demand letters and lawsuits from out-of-network providers have been on the rise the past few years. This rise in out-of-network provider demands and lawsuits is a product of the sharp rise in...more
In June, the Department of Labor issued a final rule that allowed the expansion of Association Health Plans (AHPs). The final rule revised the definition of who can qualify as an “employer” under ERISA and loosened the...more
The Northern District of California recently considered a case brought by a hospital against a self-funded health plan claiming the underpayment of out-of-network claims (Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System vs. Rocket...more
The Department of Labor has issued a final rule that adopts a new regulation at 29 CFR 2510.3-5 that will allow an expansion of Association Health Plans (AHPs) by revising the definition of who can qualify as an “employer”...more
This is Part II of our blog post on employer wellness planning for 2019. Part I of our blog post explained the ongoing saga between AARP and the EEOC with respect to the ADA and GINA final regulations. We discussed that the...more
Employers who sponsor wellness programs that offer incentives once again face legal uncertainty. On December 20, 2017, in AARP v. United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States District Court for...more
A few weeks ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an informational bulletin (Bulletin) on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). The Bulletin provides a basic overview of what an HSA is, the tax-advantaged...more