Blog Posts: Benefits Law Update
Visit the Full BlogNamed a Top 10 Blog in Compensation and Benefits, Verrill's attorneys use the Benefits Law Update blog to provide timely updates and commentary on developments in law affecting employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements.
PODCAST: 403(b) Plan Fee Litigation Update
Verrill Dana Employee Benefits attorneys Eric Altholz and Chris Lockman provide a brief update on class action lawsuits alleging various breaches of fiduciary duties under ERISA pending against a dozen major universities. All of these lawsuits are related to the administration of the 403(b) plans maintained by the universities...
Eric Altholz Named Employee Benefits Lawyer of the Year
Eric Altholz , Vice Chair of Verrill Dana's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group , has been named 2017 Portland, Maine Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers®. Eric is the latest member of the group to be recognized as Lawyer of the Year in...
Proposed Regulations Create (Some) Executive Compensation Design Opportunities for Tax-Exempt Employers
It has been a long time coming (nine years to be exact), but the Treasury Department has at last published proposed regulations that harmonize important concepts governing deferred compensation arrangements under Code Section 409A and Code Section 457. The proposed regulations contain no major surprises that would shake up...
EEOC Doubles Down: Final Wellness Program Rules Under ADA and GINA – Part II
Last week the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued final rules for wellness programs under both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (the " Final ADA Rule ") and the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) (the " Final GINA Rule "). Part I of this two-part series addressed...
EEOC Doubles Down: Final Wellness Program Rules Under ADA and GINA – Part I
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued final rules for wellness programs under both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (the " Final ADA Rule ") and the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) (the " Final GINA Rule "). The release is accompanied by Frequently Asked Questions...
Client Advisory - Winter 2016
This Client Advisory highlights certain developments regarding the Affordable Care Act (most significantly, the delay of the ACA reporting requirements and the "Cadillac" tax), discusses the EEOC's proposed rules for wellness programs and the outcome of recent EEOC wellness program litigation, reviews important cases recently decided by and pending...
Restating Your Preapproved Plan Document: Opportunities and Pitfalls
Purveyors of preapproved defined contribution plan documents are now in the process of distributing document restatement packages to employers. The restated documents reflect updates required by changes in law, including the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which previously had been reflected in a series of addenda and amendments to...
2015 Mid-Year Client Advisory
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 the process of reviewing updated pre-approved defined contribution plan documents provided by their record keeping firms. With those efforts in mind, this Client...
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 generate a number of questions and concerns for employers whose programs seek to promote employee health by curbing tobacco use. The compliance status of some programs is further complicated by...
When a “Termination” is Not a Termination
Employers grapple with the employee benefits consequences of employment terminations in a variety of contexts. In the retirement plan context when a vested participant's employment ends the most significant consequence typically will be the participant's right to receive a benefit distribution. In most cases – where there is a...
2014 Year-End Employee Benefit Plans Compliance Advisory
The 2014 end-of-year rush seems somewhat less frantic than in years past. Nevertheless, with a month left in the year many employers may find themselves scrambling to meet plan amendment and notice deadlines, and planning for 2015 may still be in process for some. This summary discusses a few...
CMS Delays HPID Application Deadline
On October 31, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a statement delaying enforcement of the health plan identifier (HPID) requirement. Specifically, Controlling Health Plans (CHPs) are no longer required to obtain HPIDs by the originally announced deadline of November 5, 2014, which has been delayed...
Are you Experienced? A Look at the HPID Application Experience
Under final rules issued September 5, 2012 by the Department of Health and Human Services under HIPAA, nearly all employer group health plans are required to obtain a unique health plan identification number (HPID) by November 5, 2014. (We summarize the final rules briefly here .) Health plans with...
2014 Mid-Year Supreme Court Case Review
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 most employee benefits plans. This summary highlights three key decisions, one significant procedural ruling, and an emerging issue likely headed for Supreme Court review, all...
2014 Mid-Year Compliance Update
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 Care Act employer shared responsibility mandate is now in sight. This summary discusses a few key developments regarding employee benefit plans – especially group...
Fiduciary Committee Best Practices – Part 2: Preparing Meeting Minutes
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 proposition: follow a prudent process and document it. We used that proposition as a basis for offering five foundational steps that a...
Fiduciary Committee Best Practices – Part I: The Basics
Even in areas of law where the landscape of rules, regulations, and risks seems constantly to be changing, certain core concepts and basic principles hold fast. In the case of fiduciary responsibility under ERISA, the core concepts and basic principles can be boiled down to three key elements: (1...
Thirty Years of Church Plan Rulings Challenged
Within the past five months, two federal District Court judges have cast doubt on the validity of IRS letter rulings (and similar DOL opinion letters) issued to church-affiliated employers dating back to 1983. These federal judges – one in California and one in New Jersey – concluded that the...
IRS Guidance Confirms Treatment of Same Sex Spouses under Cafeteria Plans
IRSNotice 2014-01 , issued yesterday, provides helpful guidance for the administration of cafeteria plans after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Windsor case. The guidance provides answers to a number of questions that employers and plan administrators have been asking, including the following: May a participant who was...
2013 Year End Benefit Plan Compliance Update and Reminders for Employers
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. While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 ("ACA") remains very much at the forefront of these challenges, retirement plan and...
Selecting Investment Consultants for Pension Plans With Imperfect Information
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 of pension plan investments. ("Doubts Raised on Value of Investment Consultants to Pensions," September 30, 2013.) The study, performed by two Oxford professors, revealed...
Mid-Year Health Plan Compliance Update
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 occupy the time of human resources and employee benefits professionals. We offer this collection of key developments for employers to consider as...
Enforcement of Employer Mandate Delayed Until 2015
This evening the White House and U.S. Department of Treasury announced that the effective date of the employer shared responsibility component (also known as the employer pay or play mandate) of the Affordable Care Act will be delayed until 2015. Accordingly, businesses will not be penalized in 2014 for...
HIPAA Compliance for Group Health Plans – Next Steps for Employers
In three previous posts devoted to the new Final Omnibus Rule under HIPAA we highlighted important changes regarding privacy breach notifications , business associates and business associate arrangements , and increased penalties and enforcement activity . We will complete our series regarding these significant new rules by suggesting steps...
Enhanced Penalties and Stiffer Enforcement for HIPAA Violations
In our two prior posts concerning the Final Omnibus Rule under HIPAA we focused on changes to the breach notification requirements and rule changes affecting business associates . We now turn to the augmented penalty and enforcement provisions incorporated in the Final Rule. Many commentators have perceived stepped up...
Are You Ready for a HIPAA and ACA Audit?
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 privacy and security standards of HIPAA. And it's not surprising that enforcement activity is in the offing under the Affordable Care Act as well...
Final Omnibus Rules Under HIPAA Will Affect Business Associate Arrangements
In a previous post about the new Final Omnibus Rule under HIPAA, we highlighted important changes regarding the process by which potential privacy breaches must be evaluated and classified for notification purposes. As we observed in that post, changes that have been characterized by the Office of Civil Rights...
HHS Makes Significant Changes to HIPAA Breach Notification Rules
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 and Human Services ("HHS") governing the HIPAA privacy breach notification requirements. We now return to that subject in light of the...
New EPCRS Guidance Expands Scope of 403(b) Plan Corrections
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 been placed on equal footing with qualified plans with respect to the correction of operational, documentary, and demographic failures under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System...
2012 Year End Benefit Plan Compliance Checklist and Reminders for Employers
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 regarding retirement plans, health plans, and deferred compensation plans. For the most part employers face the continued implementation of changes in...
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