#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)
October 25, 2024 Of Counsel The IRS has recently released its inflation-adjusted contribution limits for certain tax-advantaged welfare accounts. Understanding these new limits will help employers communicate during open...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
The Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services have published final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act that prohibit group health plans and health insurers from imposing...more
Open enrollment season can put a spotlight on the many complex rules applicable to employer-sponsored health and welfare plans. As you announce your benefit offerings for the upcoming plan year and tirelessly work to inform...more
For contractors and subcontractors providing certain services to the federal government, compliance with the Service Contract Act (or Service Contract Labor Standards) is required. Unique bidding and performance requirements...more
A new and unprecedented wave of class action complaints is targeting a common feature of many employer-sponsored benefit plans: tobacco-user surcharges. These surcharges are often part of a wellness program that charges...more
On September 23, 2024, the U.S. Departments of Labor, the Treasury, and Health and Human Services (collectively, the “Departments”) released final rules (the “Final Rules”) that implement requirements under the Mental Health...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its 2021 cybersecurity guidance to clarify that it applies to all employee benefit plans. The DOL guidance confirms that plan fiduciaries, including health and welfare plan...more
On September 16, the Internal Revenue Service issued a Notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of public hearing regarding potential amendments to policies that govern which benefits provided by Indian Tribal government...more
This week, we’re interpreting the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) recently updated cybersecurity guidance for all employee benefit plans covered under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA): The DOL recently...more
On September 9, 2024, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The...more
A health plan’s fiduciaries are responsible for administering the health plan. Because most employers are not in the business of administering health benefits, they outsource the day-to-day health plan administration to a...more
The September Monthly Minute highlights the DOL’s extension of existing cybersecurity guidance to health and welfare plans and also addresses the new HIPAA reproductive health privacy rule....more
The US Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) recently issued much-anticipated final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The newly issued...more
On September 9, 2024, the US Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) finalized a rule titled Requirements Related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction...more
In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued 3 documents outlining guidance on cybersecurity practices for benefits plans, which we discussed in a blog post at the time. The DOL recently issued revised versions of the...more
by Becky Achten New guidance from the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) affirms that both sides—retirement plans and welfare plans—must take steps to secure participant data from cybercrime. In 2021 the...more
On Friday, September 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor confirmed that its cybersecurity guidance applies to all employee benefit plans, including health and welfare plans. In 2021, the DOL issued guidance providing best...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
There are new regulations requiring employers who offer hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance benefits for plan years starting on or after January 1, 2025, to provide specific notice of the benefit to all...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
If our trade and industry sources have it right, we could see final regulations implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), as most recently amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021...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