The March Monthly Minute brings you three recent case updates addressing 401(k) forfeiture utilization, TPA responsibility for recovering self-insured plan’s fraudulently paid claims, and continued PBM litigation in the wake...more
The February Monthly Minute highlights a new online ACA reporting alternative, the DOL’s temporary policy regarding escheatment of small retirement benefits owed to missing participants, and new guidance clarifying the gag...more
2/25/2025
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Beneficiaries ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Gag Clauses ,
IRS ,
Missing Plan Participants ,
New Guidance ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Required Forms ,
Retirement Plan ,
Unclaimed Property
The January Monthly Minute highlights a recent Texas court decision holding ESG investing violated ERISA and a new development in the J&J prescription drug case that found plaintiff lacked standing to sue, and also digs into...more
1/29/2025
/ Beneficiaries ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Lost Earnings ,
Retirement Plan ,
Risk Management ,
Self-Correction Programs
In the December Monthly Minute, we are wrapping up key benefits developments (including a SECURE 2.0 refresh, a look at HIPAA reproductive health care privacy, and the revised NQTL requirements) and offer action items for...more
12/19/2024
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Regulations ,
New Rules ,
NQTLs ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Privacy Laws ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
SECURE Act
The November Monthly Minute kicks off the season of giving with SECURE 2.0 requirements for 2025 and the latest IRS retirement plan cost-of-living adjustments....more
11/20/2024
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Compliance ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
IRS ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
Threshold Requirements
The October Monthly Minute highlights two recent retirement plan cases, one in which the court sides with the plan and emphasizes plan administrative review over specific investment results and another where plaintiffs are...more
10/23/2024
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Disclosure ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan ,
Statutory Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation
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
9/19/2024
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Internet ,
New Regulations ,
New Rules ,
Online Platforms ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Laws ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues
The August Monthly Minute highlights new IRS guidance addressing student loan matching programs, HHS’s increases to civil monetary penalties and Form 5330 paper filing updates....more
8/28/2024
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
E-Filing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Contributions ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Filing Requirements ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
HIPAA Security Rule ,
IRS ,
Medicare ,
Privacy Laws ,
Required Forms ,
SBC ,
SECURE Act ,
Student Loans
The July Monthly Minute considers the impact of the Supreme Court’s Loper decision in overturning the longstanding Chevron deference standard, along with a district court case awarding penalties for failing to produce plan...more
7/29/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
Healthcare ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
The June Monthly Minute highlights recent DOL guidance on annuity provider selection for defined benefit plans and IRS Q&As that provide details on SECURE 2.0’s optional emergency and domestic abuse victim distributions for...more
The May Monthly Minute highlights litigation wins for plan fiduciaries in a 401(k) fee case and a wilderness therapy exclusion case, and also sets out the 2025 HSA, HDHP, and excepted benefit HRA COLA adjustments....more
5/31/2024
/ 401k ,
Benchmarking ,
Contract Terms ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary ,
HDHP ,
HSA ,
Humana ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Recordkeeping Requirements
The April Monthly Minute looks at a recent court decision highlighting ERISA’s preemptive power in response to a 401(k) garnishment claim and explores the DOL’s latest steps towards creating an online search tool intended to...more
The March Monthly Minute digs into an Ohio district court ruling that rejected application of a medical plan exclusion, missing participant guidance and related audit concerns, and responses to the Change Healthcare...more
4/1/2024
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Missing Plan Participants ,
Occupational Injury ,
Policy Exclusions
The February Monthly Minute discusses a class action suit alleging a breach of fiduciary duties in connection with ERISA benefit plan prescription drug pricing and the latest IRS guidance on defined contribution plan...more
2/28/2024
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Drug Pricing ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
ERISA Litigation ,
IRS ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Savings Plans ,
SECURE Act
The January Monthly Minute digs deeper into the IRS’ SECURE 2.0 implementation guidance. As promised, in the January Monthly Minute, we are providing additional details of the IRS’ SECURE 2.0 implementation guidance. Noted...more
The IRS just couldn’t wait for Christmas to gift everyone Miscellaneous Changes Under the Secure 2.0 Act of 2022! Notice 2024-2 is meant to provide guidance on discreet issues to assist with SECURE 2.0 implementation...more
Happy Holidays! The December Monthly Minute includes a fiduciary checkup reminder and a look at HHS’ recent settlement stemming from a phishing attack that impacted ePHI of nearly 35,000 individuals....more
12/21/2023
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
Phishing Scams ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Privacy Laws ,
Request for Proposals ,
Settlement
The November Monthly Minute digs into the new proposed LTPT regulations, 2024 benefit limits, and the NBA health plan fraud verdict.
Indigestion from Turkey and Stuffing or the IRS’ Proposed LTPT Regulations?...more
11/29/2023
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
IRS ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
In the October Monthly Minute, we highlight a 6th Circuit decision that puts a spotlight on the adequacy of claim procedures and related judicial standards of review, and review the Supreme Court’s unwillingness to enter the...more
The September Monthly Minute highlights yet another tobacco surcharge case brought by the DOL, reminds plan administrators to prepare and submit the first annual gag clause attestation, and addresses the newly lowered ACA...more
The August Monthly Minute presents Part II of our mental health parity update and provides highlights of the latest report to Congress on NQTL comparative analyses. While service providers lead the way through mental health...more
8/30/2023
/ Compliance ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Drug Testing ,
EAP ,
EBSA ,
Enforcement ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Prior Authorization ,
Reimbursements
In Notice 2023-62, the IRS walked back the SECURE 2.0 rule that required catch-up contributions to be designated as Roth contributions except in the case of employees with compensation of $145,000 or less (indexed), by...more
The July Monthly Minute introduces Part I of our mental health parity update and provides highlights of the newly released proposed rules under the MHPAEA.
Part I: New Proposed Rules Addressing Mental Health Parity...more
The June Monthly Minute highlights EPCRS expansion under SECURE 2.0 as well as various SECURE 2.0 technical corrections, and the termination of COVID-19 relief previously applicable to HDHPs....more
The May Monthly Minute examines a recent Seventh Circuit decision upholding unambiguous plan language against class action attack, the status of the federal IDR process under the No Surprises Act, and the DOL’s recent...more
5/22/2023
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Class Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Eligibility ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Evidence of Insurability (EIF) ,
No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Provider Payments ,
Severance Agreements