On Monday, September 9, 2024, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued their final rule regarding the nonquantitative treatment limitation (NQTL) comparative analysis...more
9/11/2024
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Mental Health ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Proposed Rules ,
U.S. Treasury
The agencies have finalized a portion of their proposed rules impacting so-called “junk insurance” regarding short-term limited-duration insurance, but deferred finalizing the more significant changes that would have impacted...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Fresh on the heels of the IRS Chief Counsel Memorandum on wellness and indemnity products, discussed in our prior post here, the agencies have weighed in with more formal and more expansive guidance...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”) contains a requirement that that group health plans may not have agreements with service providers that would restrict certain information that the plan may...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: At the end of November, the DOL issued final regulations on ERISA’s fiduciary duties when investing plan assets. According to the DOL, these final regulations retain the longstanding core principles that...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In keeping with their recent more vocal stance on fiduciary duties, the Department of Labor has weighed in on the wisdom of 401(k) plans including an ESG fund or a crypto investment option in its line-up....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Reminiscent of the DOL’s about-face on ESG investing by ERISA fiduciaries [discussed here], this week the DOL has issued a “supplemental statement” on its view of the use of private equity investments in...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: For those of you following the saga of ERISA’s fiduciary duties and ESG investing, we are nearing a possible finish line. The latest turn in the saga came when the DOL issued a new set of proposed...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The DOL has waded into a long-simmering debate about whether audio recordings of phone calls between a plan participant and the plan’s administrator or insurer should be provided to the participant when...more
At the 11th hour, on February 26, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued EBSA Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 (the “Notice”) to provide guidance on the duration of the COVID-related relief previously provided by the DOL in...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In mid-December 2020, after a truncated comment period and without public hearings, the US Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its proposed regulations on a fiduciary’s responsibilities when exercising...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: DOL final regulation on fiduciary implications of investing in ESG under review by the Biden administration....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On the heels of the Department of Labor’s June proposed regulation throwing cold water on plan fiduciaries’ selecting investments in the environment, social and governance (ESG) space, the agency has now...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 23, 2020, the DOL issued additional FAQs relating to the COVID-19 testing mandate under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act...more
After a long process, which stretched on for over a decade, on May 27, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published final regulations regarding the electronic delivery of required disclosures under the Employee Retirement...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 11, the IRS, DOL and HHS issued a series of FAQs clarifying the scope of the FFCRA/CARES Act mandates relating to COVID-19 testing for group health plans and health insurance issuers. This post...more
4/18/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Tax Credits
For several years now we’ve been keeping you updated on the long and winding road of the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Fiduciary Rule....more
6/26/2018
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
Vacated
On May 7, 2018, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a temporary non-enforcement policy regarding its investment advice fiduciary regulation (the “Fiduciary Rule”) in Field Assistance Bulletin 2018-02. This guidance was...more
5/9/2018
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Field Assistance Bulletins ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Retirement Plan
The Department of Labor’s new regulations governing disability claims and appeals published on December 19, 2016 will go into effect on April 1, 2018, as announced by the DOL on January 5, 2018.
...more
1/10/2018
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Claim Procedures ,
Denial of Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Final Rules ,
Plan Administrators ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retirement Plan
On April 4, 2017, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule extending by 60 days the applicability date of the final “fiduciary” regulation published a year ago (known colloquially as the “Fiduciary Rule”)....more
Certain employee benefit plans, including qualified retirement plans, must file an annual return/report on Form 5500 with the Department of Labor, which is shared with the IRS. Each year discreet changes are typically made...more
The Department of Labor published proposed changes to its regulations governing disability claims and appeals in the Federal Register on November 18, 2015, and invited comments. The stated purpose of the proposed changes is...more
This is the ninety-first issue in our series of alerts for employers on selected topics in health care reform. This series of Health Care Reform Management Alerts is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of certain aspects...more