Benefits Law Update
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In three previous posts devoted to the new Final Omnibus Rule under HIPAA we highlighted important changes regarding privacy breach notifications,...
In our two prior posts concerning the Final Omnibus Rule under HIPAA we focused on changes to the breach notification requirements and rule changes...
It's no secret that the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services has been expanding its enforcement activity under the...
In a previous post about the new Final Omnibus Rule under HIPAA, we highlighted important changes regarding the process by which potential privacy...
Three years ago, almost to the day, we posted the first of a two part analysis of the Interim Final Rules published by the U.S. Department of Health...
Nearly 20 years after the IRS first established a limited program for the correction of 403(b) plan administrative errors, 403(b) plans have finally...
Maine has now officially joined nine other states in allowing same-sex marriage. The new Maine law ("An Act to Allow Marriage Licenses for Same-sex...
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act modified the rules relating to cafeteria plans to impose a new $2,500 annual limit on the amount that...
By comparison to past years, the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013 seem not to bring all that much in the way of new legal compliance burdens...
Echoing the guidance provided back in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the IRS has published Notice 2012-69 to support leave-based...
It's open enrollment season and many employers are implementing high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) with a Health Savings Account (HSA) feature. Our...
Revised November 14, 2022 From time to time employers ask us how long they need to retain records relating to their ERISA plans. Though the...
As employers prepare for their fall 2012 open enrollment efforts, we wanted to offer a reminder that a Summary of Benefits and Coverage (or "SBC")...
Many employers have now received rebates from insurance companies whose use of premium dollars to pay non-health benefit expenses exceed the limits...
The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 ("ACA") is constitutional in almost all...
As all sponsors and fiduciaries of tax-qualified retirement plans should know by now, written fee and expense disclosures are due to be provided to...
Code Section 409A(a)(2)(A) prescribes six times or events when deferred compensation may be paid: separation from service, the disability of the...
On May 31, 2012 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, declared...
As we have noted, high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) with a Health Savings Account (HSA) feature are growing in popularity. Our last post on...
Special thanks to Peter J. Dill, a Senior Consultant at Towers Watson (Boston), for his consultation and input on this post. Treasury Regulations...
After our recent post on the fiduciary-level fee disclosure rules under ERISA Section 408(b)(2), we wanted to complete the picture for plan...
The Final Regulations under Code Section 409A took effect nearly five years ago. By now those of us who regularly deal with deferred compensation...
Last week the U.S. Department of Labor published Final Regulations dealing with service provider disclosures under Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA. This...
Happy New Year! The deadline for Cycle A filers (employers with EINs ending in 1 or 6) to submit determination letter applications to the IRS for...
High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) with a Health Savings Account (HSA) feature are growing in popularity. While implementing an HDHP/HSA...
Prior to January 2010, the DOL manually processed Form 5500 paper returns and schedules. Beginning in January 2010, the DOL began using a new system...
IRS Revenue Procedure 2011-44 imposes a new notice requirement upon any employer requesting a ruling from the IRS to confirm the status of an...
It is fairly common for employers to provide employees with cell phones or to reimburse employees for the business use of their personal cell phones....
From time to time we are asked whether a plan administrator must report and remit unclaimed plan benefit payments as abandoned or unclaimed property...
The Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) is the IRS' comprehensive correction system for tax-qualified retirement plans, currently set...
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.