#WorkforceWednesday®: New DOL Guidance - ERISA Plan Cybersecurity Update - Employment Law This Week®
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
Compliance and Your Business: Managing SCA Costs and Liability
Nuts and Bolts of SCA
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 4 of 5) – Retirement Plan Costs
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 3 of 5) – Medical Benefit Costs
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 2 of 5) – Identifying Potential Targets
COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
On July 4, 2025, H.R.1, or what is being called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”), was signed into law, introducing major reforms in tax and employee benefits that affect businesses and their employees. OBBBA is an...more
In Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Sheets Enterprise, No. 24 cv 2277 (N.D. Ill.), a district court held that an employer could not avoid being held liable for withdrawal liability simply because it...more
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) generally requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as copays and deductibles), quantitative treatment...more
On September 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a press release announcing that it was publishing updated cybersecurity guidance in the form of Compliance Assistance Release No. 2024-01 for all plans governed...more
For calendar-year plans, the 2025 plan year is right around the corner. And even for non-calendar-year plans, January 1, 2025, is a key implementation date for certain plan features. This is the ideal time for plan sponsors...more
Although President-elect Trump provided few, if any, specific details surrounding his proposed changes to policies affecting employee benefits during his 2024 presidential campaign, employers and employees should expect a...more
Tobacco surcharges have become the focus of class action litigation in recent months. Although corporate wellness programs are commonplace, employers that impose a tobacco surcharge (or other premium discount) in connection...more
In recent months, various federal district and circuit courts have considered the enforceability of language in employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans requiring that participants arbitrate their claims for breach of...more
With 2024 drawing to a close, employers should review any actions needed before year-end with respect to their benefit plans, as well as some upcoming deadlines that may require advance planning. As the adage attributed to...more
This issue of McDermott’s Healthcare Regulatory Check-Up highlights regulatory activity for September 2024. We discuss several enforcement actions pertaining to healthcare fraud, including alleged violations under the False...more
The long-anticipated final rule under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was published on September 9, 2024. The MHPAEA prohibits group health plans that provide mental health and substance use...more
We recognize that many companies sponsor ERISA welfare benefit plans and will soon be undergoing their open enrollment process and issuing related participant communications. To assist with that process, we have prepared an...more
Summer is ending and fall is rapidly approaching. For employee benefit professionals with calendar-year health and welfare benefit plans that means preparing for annual enrollment and year-end compliance requirements. This...more
Recent lawsuits filed against the group health plans of two large US employers underscore the importance of implementing formal welfare benefit plan governance structures that include fiduciary committees comparable to the...more
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has again issued new Service Contract Act (SCA) health and welfare (H&W) rates. In July 2024, WHD increased the prevailing H&W fringe benefits from a rate of $4.98...more
Employers that sponsor a self-insured health plans must submit their Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fees to the Internal Revenue Service by July 31, 2024. Plan sponsors need to calculate their PCORI fee...more
Maine’s comprehensive paid family and medical leave (PFML) law, enacted in October 2023, establishes a state benefits program funded by employer and employee contributions (the “Program”). The PFML law provides for...more
In a recent article in Managed Healthcare Executive, Peter Wehrwein examines the trend of self-funding of group health benefits by smaller employers who used to depend mainly or entirely on fully insured programs....more
A recently decided US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit case, Ryan S. v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc., offers some useful insights on the enforcement by private litigants of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act...more
Under Section 404 of ERISA, plan fiduciaries must act for the exclusive benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries and use plan assets only to provide benefits and defray reasonable expenses of administering the plan. In...more
Welcome to our quarterly pensions litigation briefing, designed to help pensions managers identify key risks in scheme administration and trustees update their knowledge and understanding. This briefing highlights recent...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
Last week, the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services (“the Departments”) issued an FAQ about the final Transparency in Coverage rules (“TiC Rules”). This FAQ addresses compliance with cost‑sharing...more
Open enrollment is rapidly approaching for employers with calendar-year employee benefit plans. Following are ten important issues for employers to consider for the 2024 open enrollment season...more
On August 3, 2023, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled on the implementation of the No Surprises Act in Texas Medical Association, et al. v. US Department of Health and Human Services, et al. (TMA...more