Benefits Law Update
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On February 23, 2011, the IRS indicated that its 401(k) Compliance Check Questionnaire Project is entering its next phase. As discussed in a prior...
Earlier this week HHS revealed that it expects to distribute about $3.6 billion in reimbursements under the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP)...
Today EBSA (part of the DOL) announced its intention to delay the applicability date of the new feedisclosure rules under Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA,...
A recent Tax Court case, Hollen v. Commissioner (2011, T.C. Memo 2011-2), offers a stark reminder that the IRS can and will seek to disqualify a...
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold a hearing to consider issues regarding the adoption of a new regulation defining when...
Today the IRS issued new guidance allowing the continued use of health FSA and HRA debit cards for the purchase of prescribed over-the-counter (OTC)...
Recognizing that further guidance is needed to help health plan sponsors comply with certain health care reform rules, today the IRS released Notice...
Treasury, Labor, and HHS have finally released an amendment to the grandfathered health interim final regulations. The amended regulation revises...
HHS has published a revised ERRP application, instructions, and "Dos and Don'ts" for completing and submitting an ERRP application. All plan...
In October the IRS released regulations, in final and proposed form, intended to provide clarity in the utterly complicated area of hybrid pension...
Proposed regulations published last week by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), part of the DOL, would modify the definition of...
Many tax-qualified Section 401(k) plans provide that a participant who takes a hardship distribution pursuant to Treasury Regulation Section...
Although we have devoted a great many inches in this blog to Health Care Reform, one thing we have not yet discussed is the legislation's new...
Relief for nonqualified deferred compensation plan operational failures made pursuant to Internal Revenue Service guidance under Section 409A...
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, group health plans must extend coverage to employees' dependents up to age 26. Grandfathered...
We are sometimes asked: when is it okay to use retirement plan assets to pay for plan administrative expenses? The question often comes up in the...
As we discussed in a previous post, Health Care Reform makes a few important changes to health FSAs, HRAs, HSAs, and Archer MSAs, two of which become...
HHS has launched a new ERRP website. This new website appears to be central source of information about ERRP, but perhaps more importantly it will be...
One of the most well known, yet commonly flouted, requirements in the world of 403(b) plans is the "universal availability" requirement. Section...
HHS has just published the official ERRP application and instructions, along with application Dos and Don'ts, Frequently Asked Questions, a slide...
In our last post we suggested that the grandfather regulations provide one particularly bright spot for employers, and indeed they do: the...
Treasury, DOL, and HHS have issued joint interim final regulations addressing grandfathered health plan status under Health Care Reform. These rules...
An unofficial draft version of the highly-anticipated, much-needed regulations on grandfather status under Health Care Reform has been circulating...
Yesterday HHS posted a draft version of the ERRP application and instructions. We discussed the ERRP a previous post. In sum, the ERRP will reimburse...
The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) is a limited-time program through which employers sponsoring employment-based early retiree medical...
This month the IRS is launching a new compliance initiative aimed at the retirement plan community, the 401(k) Compliance Check Questionnaire...
On March 30, 2010, President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R. 4872), which modified the Patient Protection...
Capital markets worldwide have recovered from their 2009 lows, but remain in a protracted period of extreme volatility and we continue to experience...
In a previous post we provided a brief overview of the new privacy breach notification requirements under HIPAA (as amended by the HITECH Act), as...
The privacy provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH Act) are designed to close a gap in...
About the Blog
Verrill’s Benefits Law Update blog delivers timely insights and practical guidance on the ever-evolving landscape of employee benefits and executive compensation. Our blog provides up-to-date analysis and commentary on a wide range of topics, including timely updates on developments in law affecting employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements.
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About
Verrill’s Benefits Law Update blog delivers timely insights and practical guidance on the evolving landscape of employee benefits and executive compensation. Verrill’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group has substantial experience in all aspects of employee benefits law and executive compensation, providing collaborative legal services to mid-sized and larger employers, both for-profit and not-for-profit, across diverse industries.
Our blog provides up-to-date analysis and commentary on a wide range of topics affecting retirement plans, health and welfare benefits, and executive and deferred compensation arrangements.
Recent posts have addressed:
- Regulatory and legislative developments, including SECURE 2.0 implementation, updated Department of Labor guidance on annual funding notices, and evolving Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) rules.
- Fiduciary governance and risk management for ERISA plans, including litigation risk around investment and fee practices, and practical strategies for committee oversight.
- Plan design and operational issues for 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans, such as long-term part-time employee eligibility, student loan matching programs, and correction of operational failures.
- Health plan compliance topics, including coverage mandates, prescription drug and other transparency reporting under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, and cybersecurity expectations for group health plans.
- Executive and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, including the scope of the top hat plan rules and coordination of compensation deferral elections with new Roth catch-up contribution rules and recent IRS guidance under Code Sections 409A and 457(f).
- State law developments, including Maine’s paid family and medical leave program and related employer policy updates and implementation considerations.
Samuel J. Baldwin and William D. Jewett are the blog’s editors.
Please note that the content presented in this blog is not intended to constitute legal advice and cannot be relied upon by any person as legal advice. U.S. Treasury Regulations require us to notify you that any tax-related material in this blog (including links and attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties, and may not be referred to in any marketing or promotional materials. While we welcome comments on our blog posts, submitting a comment does not create an attorney-client relationship between the Firm and the commenter. Accordingly, please do not include in any comment or question information about any matter that may involve you.