Benefits Law Update
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Late last month the IRS released, in the form of 26 Q/As in Notice 2015-87, guidance on the application of various provisions of the Affordable Care...
This Client Advisory highlights certain developments regarding the Affordable Care Act (most significantly, the delay of the ACA reporting...
Purveyors of preapproved defined contribution plan documents are now in the process of distributing document restatement packages to employers. The...
At this time of year many employers finalize welfare plan designs for 2016 and gear up for open enrollment. And this summer, many employers are in...
Where There’s Smoke There’s Questions: Designing Compliant Wellness Programs That Target Tobacco Use
The final regulations concerning wellness programs under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended (HIPAA) continue to...
The final regulations on wellness programs under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended (HIPAA), continue to raise...
For the second time in under a week the Internal Revenue Service released a series of updates to its most recent restatement of the Employee Plans...
The IRS has clarified the correction of certain retirement plan operational failures under its Employer Plan Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) and...
On February 18, 2015 the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2015-17, which provides temporary relief from the excise tax under Code section 4980D...
Employers grapple with the employee benefits consequences of employment terminations in a variety of contexts. In the retirement plan context when a...
On October 31, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a statement delaying enforcement of the health plan identifier...
Under final rules issued September 5, 2012 by the Department of Health and Human Services under HIPAA, nearly all employer group health plans are...
Employer group health plans and other covered entities that have not already amended business associate agreements (BAAs) to incorporate changes...
While 2014 has been a relatively quiet year in terms of new rules affecting retirement plans, the January 1, 2015 effective date for the Affordable...
The 2013-2014 term of the Supreme Court of the United States produced opinions that will have substantial effects on the design and administration of...
In Part 1 of this two-part series we suggested that the key to compliance with the fiduciary requirements of ERISA can be boiled down to a simple...
Even in areas of law where the landscape of rules, regulations, and risks seems constantly to be changing, certain core concepts and basic principles...
Within the past five months, two federal District Court judges have cast doubt on the validity of IRS letter rulings (and similar DOL opinion...
IRS Notice 2014-01, issued yesterday, provides helpful guidance for the administration of cafeteria plans after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in...
As 2013 draws to a close and we look ahead to 2014, there is no shortage of benefit plan administrative challenges with which employers must contend....
We are frequently asked by clients whether a severance policy or program is an "ERISA plan" and, thus, subject to ERISA's documentary,...
Late last week the IRS released Notice 2013-71, modifying the health flexible spending account ("health FSA") use-it-or-lose-it rule to allow...
An article in the business section of the New York Times last week reported some surprising conclusions reached by a recent study of the performance...
The "place of celebration" rule adopted by the IRS in Revenue Ruling 2013-17 means that legally married same-sex couples are now recognized as...
Yesterday Treasury and the IRS released much needed guidance regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on the Defense of Marriage Act....
The widely publicized case of Sun Capital Partners III, L.P. v. New England Teamsters & Trucking Ind. Pension Fund, No. 12-2312, __ F.3d __, 2013...
Developments in the employee health plan arena have come fast and furious in the first half of 2013, and there is no lack of compliance activities to...
This evening the White House and U.S. Department of Treasury announced that the effective date of the employer shared responsibility component (also...
Today the United States Supreme Court overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") and reinstated a California judge's order that...
Summer is fast approaching and we find ourselves answering a number of questions regarding the coverage of seasonal workers in employee benefit...
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.