PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Trends in Recordkeeper Consolidation and Due Diligence
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Exploring the Value of Qualified Default Investment Alternatives
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cautionary Tales for Preapproved Plan Documents
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Payroll Integration for Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2020 Year-End Checklist
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 5 of 5) – Implementation
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
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 1 of 5) – Using Benefit Plans to Save Money
CARES Act – Retirement Plan Distributions and Loans: Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series
Blakes Continuity Podcast: COVID-19: The Regulatory Impact on Pensions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2019 Year-End Checklist
This month’s Friday Five discusses cases addressing the effect of continuing to receive benefits during the period of alleged disability, reliance on an employer’s records in making a disability determination, the...more
The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the “Tri-Departments”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on August 3, 2023, to propose new regulations for the...more
Within days of one another, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Second Circuits ruled—on issues of first impression for both—that ERISA expressly preempts state law breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), as amended, regulates virtually every private employee benefit program in the United States. Among other things, ERISA contains its own civil enforcement section,...more
United Behavioral Health (UBH) and the Alcatel-Lucent Medical Expense Plan, an employee health plan now owned by Nokia, have filed a petition for a writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court. They are seeking to...more
Plan administrators should review actions to be taken before the end of 2023 and focus on what to expect for 2024. This checklist addresses plan amendments, notices and other considerations for qualified retirement plans,...more
The most valuable feedback is something you can act on. A broker who takes a consultative approach doesn’t just give you options but uses their expertise to provide actionable insights. Let’s face it—not all Human Resources...more
The Biden administration intends to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations (Emergency Declarations) attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic brought multiple...more
Plan administrators should review actions to be taken before the end of 2022 and focus on what to expect for 2023. This checklist addresses plan amendments, notices and other considerations for qualified retirement plans,...more
Group health continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985 (“COBRA”) permits certain group health coverage to be continued by participants and beneficiaries (“qualified beneficiaries”) when...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021, (“ARPA”) includes generous provisions granting eligible individuals who have lost their jobs or had a reduction in hours (and their family...more
Immediate Action Required - As discussed in our prior posts, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”) requires that plan administrators distribute new COBRA notices advising individuals of their possible rights to a...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, enacted at the end of 2020 includes the No Surprises Act (“Act”), amending the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and the Public...more
Notice 2021-01 recently issued by the Employee Benefits Security Administration, provides helpful clarification on relief from certain participant deadlines issued last year. However, it also provides “suggestions” that plan...more
On the latest episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt is joined by colleague Nona Massengill to discuss important steps that plan administrators need to take before the end of 2020. They will...more
As we enter the final months of 2020, this is a time to reflect on a year of unprecedented challenges. Although Covid-19 changed our lives in many ways, it did not halt new legal developments in the life, health and...more
In Raymond M. v. Beacon Health Options, Inc., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94615 (D. Utah, May 29, 2020), a Utah district court held that an ERISA plan improperly applied acute-level criteria when denying benefits for a...more
As federal and state governments respond to COVID-19, employers and plan fiduciaries must also address the evolving issues arising under employer-sponsored health plans. The specific considerations covered in this update are...more
Owners and employees of smaller organizations often find themselves stretched in many directions. With all of the demands on one’s time associated with operating a business, it is not uncommon to see attention to the...more
In Fortier v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., 916 F.3d 74 (1st Cir. 2019) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit clarified ERISA's timing requirements with respect to appealing an adverse benefits determination...more
In Rittinger v. Healthy Alliance Life Ins. Co., 914 F.3d 952 (5th Cir. Jan. 31, 2019), and Roebuck v. USAble Life, 380 F. Supp. 3d 852 (E.D. Ark. Mar. 30, 2019), the courts found no abuse of discretion where the ERISA plan...more
In a growing wave of class action lawsuits, plaintiffs are targeting employers who have allegedly failed to provide proper notice of health care coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985...more
We conclude our blog series on best practices in administering benefit claims with the three C’s: be clear, be consistent, and communicate. The key to effective benefit claim administration ultimately boils down to drafting...more
On Thursday, December 19, the Senate passed two spending bills to fund the government through September 30, 2020, one of which (H.R. 1865, the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020” or the “Act”) contains the...more
On the latest episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, Ellie Clendenin, Nona Massengill, and Brydon DeWitt discuss some end of year benefit plan considerations as 2020 approaches. ...more