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
The April Monthly Minute examines upcoming Form 5500 changes (which particularly impact small plans) and a recent case highlighting the importance of compliance with plan termination procedures....more
The March Monthly Minute highlights new proposed deadlines for use of retirement plan forfeitures, unsuccessful efforts to overturn the final ESG rule, and ACA penalty increases for 2024.
Sorry Not Sorry: Biden Vetoes...more
3/27/2023
/ 401k ,
Deadlines ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forfeiture ,
IRS ,
Joe Biden ,
Penalties ,
Presidential Veto ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Reporting Requirements
The February Monthly Minute addresses new IRS electronic filing requirements, the extension of pre-deductible telehealth coverage, and the end of the public health and national emergencies’ impact on benefit plan coverage and...more
2/28/2023
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Electronic Filing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
IRS ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Telehealth ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
The Senate ushered in the New Year with a bang by passing SECURE 2.0 on December 22, 2022. SECURE 2.0 includes many updates to the sweeping changes brought about under 2019’s original SECURE Act legislation...more
1/31/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EPCRS ,
ESOP ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Open Enrollment ,
Part-Time Employees ,
PEP ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act ,
Student Loans
The Senate ushered in the New Year with a bang by passing SECURE 2.0 on December 22, 2022. SECURE 2.0 includes many updates to the sweeping changes brought about under 2019’s original SECURE Act legislation. The following are...more
1/27/2023
/ 401k ,
Automatic Enrollment ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
ESOP ,
Health Insurance ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Life Insurance ,
New Legislation ,
Pensions ,
PEP ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Deferral
On December 23, 2022, FAQs were released outlining late-breaking RxDC Reporting Relief. Of note -
1. For the 2020 and 2021 data submissions that are due by December 27, 2022, the Departments will not take enforcement...more
The December Monthly Minute highlights the IRS’ decision to make permanent the ACA individual-reporting extension and EBSA’s restoration of $1.4B as a result of its FY22 enforcement actions....more
12/21/2022
/ Beneficiaries ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Final Rules ,
Form 1095 ,
IRS ,
Large Employer ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Self-Insured Health Plans