President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) into law on July 4, 2025. The OBBB is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that introduces significant reforms across multiple areas of federal policy, including...more
The US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the Departments) announced their non-enforcement policy on May 15, 2025, indicating they will not enforce any new requirements imposed by the...more
5/16/2025
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
Mental Health ,
MHPAEA ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
U.S. Treasury
The US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (together, the Departments) filed a motion to suspend the litigation proceedings in The ERISA Industry Committee vs. HHS et al. on May 9, 2025 while the...more
A growing number of class action lawsuits have been filed against employer-sponsored self-insured group health plans alleging that tobacco cessation wellness programs violate key provisions of the Employee Retirement Income...more
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the administration of group health plans is nothing new: AI has been used for a number of years to analyze data, improve risk assessment, identify fraud, and streamline claims...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a press release on September 6, 2024 reminding ERISA plan fiduciaries that it considers cybersecurity to be an area of “great concern” and emphasizing that it continues to investigate...more
Fiduciary committees have long been established in connection with retirement plans to manage the investment, legal compliance, and operational risks that can arise under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,...more
Based on new ERISA disclosure rules, now is a good time to review the compensation paid to your health plan’s consultant and broker. ERISA Section 408(b)(2)(B) requires brokers and consultants expecting $1,000 or more in...more
With the COVID-19 public health emergency and the presidential declaration of national emergency intended to end on May 11 and the US government recently issuing guidance on unwinding these emergency declarations, this...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the US Department of Labor (DOL) has continued to be active in civil and criminal enforcement investigations of ERISA’s fiduciary duties. This blog post details two...more
The Biden administration intends to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations (Emergency Declarations) attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic brought multiple...more
The Mental Health Matters Act, passed in the US House of Representatives on September 29, significantly expands the US Department of Labor’s authority to enforce or file civil litigation with respect to mental health parity...more
The US Supreme Court released its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health on June 24. The decision overturns prior Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which held that the US Constitution...more
The Department of Labor (Department) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-03 (FAB) on December 30, 2021, announcing a temporary enforcement policy for group health plan service provider disclosures under ERISA Section...more
US President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have consistently framed their policies with what they call the four major “crises” facing the nation: COVID-19, the economy, climate, and inequity. ...more
4/30/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Reform ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Relief Measures ,
Renewable Energy ,
Tax Reform
At the 11th hour, the US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), with coordination and review by the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services (collectively, the...more
As we described in our LawFlash from last spring, the US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (collectively, the Agencies) issued EBSA Notice 2020-01...more
The US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance last week providing deadline and other relief affecting welfare plans and their sponsors and...more
5/8/2020
/ COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan
With broad bipartisan support, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or Act), signed into law by the president on March 27, provides a $2 trillion economic stimulus and contains numerous and...more
4/7/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Health Insurance ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Relief Measures ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Relief
As we look forward to 2020, we bring you a few key takeaways on the hot topics and trends that individuals operating in the employee benefits space are watching in health and welfare, plan sponsor considerations, executive...more
Judge John Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia recently struck down two parts of the US Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) final regulations on Association Health Plans (AHPs). On March 28, Judge Bates...more