"New Securities Act Sections CFI 118.01 clarifies that, if a PEP meets the applicable requirements of (i) ERISA and (ii) the Internal Revenue Code, and otherwise meets the conditions of Section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act'), the Staff will not object if the PEP claims the Section 3(a)(2) exemption for any interest or participation in a 'single trust fund' even though multiple, unrelated employers participate in the PEP.... New Securities Act Forms CFI 126.45 provides that an employer participant in a PEP may register offers and sales of its own securities to employees on Form S-8." MORE >>
"[The SEC Staff Statement] acknowledges that PEPs were intended to fit within the framework that allows retirement plan trusts to avoid being treated as investment companies -- and says that while they don't fit neatly in the single trust exemption, the staff won't object if an otherwise compliant ERISA-covered PEP treats itself as a single trust.... The SEC essentially signals that while the exemption doesn't quite fit, they aren't looking for PEPs to start registering. In other words, the rule didn't change -- but the SEC just made it usable for PEPs." MORE >>
"Paid interns who average at least 30 hours per week are full-time employees under the ACA. Excluding them from group health plan coverage could trigger employer shared responsibility penalties ... Full-time paid interns may be excluded from coverage without penalty exposure if they qualify as seasonal employees under a properly structured measurement period. The key word is 'properly.' " MORE >>
"Health systems, hospitals, physician practices, electronic health record (EHR) vendors, and digital health developers are now joining payers as a unified coalition aligned around a single mission: making electronic prior authorization work end-to-end, on time, for every patient. Committed working groups across these stakeholders will align on CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule deadlines, addressing workflow gaps and technical handoffs that no single sector can fix alone. Prior authorization touches every part of the health care system; now, every part has a seat at the table." MORE >>
"[The SEC] issued informal guidance that effectively makes Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) more scalable, cost-effective and competitive, strengthening their role as a major distribution and growth channel in the retirement plan market.... The guidance removes key structural barriers to PEP growth, enhances investment flexibility by providing access to Collective Investment Trusts (CITs), and expands the addressable market (especially small and self-employed employers)." MORE >>
"Although public pension systems operate under state-law fiduciary rules rather than the federal regulation this rule would amend, the structure it establishes matters: it is the most detailed federal description to date of what a prudent investment selection process looks like, and state courts evaluating public trustee conduct will inevitably use it as a reference." MORE >>
"The Tennessee General Assembly recently passed the Freedom, Access and Integrity in Registered Pharmacy Act, known as the FAIR Rx Act (SB 2040/HB 1959). The legislation targets vertical integration in the pharmacy market by prohibiting certain entities from owning or controlling a pharmacy while also owning or controlling a PBM and a health insurance issuer. This is not a minor transparency bill. It is not simply another reporting requirement. It is a structural reform bill." MORE >>
"The court next addressed the insurer's structural conflict of interest because it served as both the LTD plan's administrator and insurer. It noted that abuse of discretion review is 'tempered by skepticism' and that conflict is to be considered. However, the court gave this conflict little weight because the insurer's determination was supported by the results of a thorough, neutral and independent review process." [Wallace v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., No. 25-2716 (9th Cir. Apr. 17, 2026)] MORE >>
"Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) on May 1 signed into law legislation that authorizes the state of Tennessee to be a non-bank custodian for Trump Account funds.... The legislation began as a means to lay the groundwork for a state-run retirement plan that would have provided coverage for those whose private-sector employers do not offer a retirement plan. But that language was replaced by the current wording." MORE >>
"Pensions roared back in April on the strength of surging stock markets. Both model plans ... gained ground last month: Plan A improved 6% in April, ending the month up more than 5% for the year, while the more conservative Plan B gained 2% last month and is up more than 1% through the first four months of 2026." MORE >>
"A Wisconsin federal court denied summary judgment to the employer on both FMLA interference and retaliation claims brought by a production employee terminated after his company switched FMLA administration to a third-party administrator whose phone system was, in the employee's words, 'almost impossible to get ahold of anybody.' The court found a reasonable jury could conclude the TPA's broken system discouraged the employee from taking FMLA leave, and that the employer's stated reasons for firing him were causally connected to his FMLA use." [Severson v. S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc., No. 24-1063 (E.D. Wisc. Apr. 27, 2026)] MORE >>
"Employers often seek to address situations where the waiting period places the company at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting new employees.... In many cases, a practical solution to address this waiting period issue is for the employer to reimburse all or a portion of the employee's COBRA premium for coverage through a prior employer.... Reimbursing the COBRA premium helps offset that expense and facilitate the temporary coverage bridge before enrollment in the new employer's plan." MORE >>
"ERISA's fiduciary duty runs to participants -- to the 70-year-old who cannot recover from a 65% drawdown, to the 55-year-old who is five years from retirement and has no ability to time the market, to the 35-year-old who deserves to have their retirement savings managed with the same discipline that pension trustees apply. An asset that collapses in market stress, fails as an inflation hedge, and rests on 15 years of unreliable return data does not meet that standard." MORE >>
"In its current form, the rule's safe harbor rests on a broken fee disclosure framework for collective investment trusts holding private market assets, extends asset-neutral treatment to cryptocurrency without any participant protections, and creates robust legal protections for fiduciaries without corresponding transparency for participants. Each of these gaps undermines the rule's participant-protection potential and should be addressed in the final rule." MORE >>
"To stabilize benefits budgets and prepare for the future, employers can focus on three structural priorities to redefine and manage healthcare costs. [1] Start renewal planning early ... [2] Leverage predictive analytics to negotiate better pricing and forecast risks ... [3] Use data warehouses to help integrate and analyze claims." MORE >>
"Under the settlement, the Plan agreed to pay $245,000 to OCR and to implement a two-year corrective action plan. While OCR routinely enters into settlement agreements with regulated entities, actions directly targeting employer-sponsored group health plans remain relatively rare, making this case noteworthy for plan sponsors." MORE >>
"While the Morgan Stanley dispute is still pending in the Southern District of New York, recent developments in the Fourth Circuit have indirectly affirmed the conclusion of the [DOL Advisory Opinion 2025-03A] by establishing certain factors that the court used to determine ERISA versus non-ERISA status with respect to compensatory arrangements.... The Fourth Circuit established a non-exhaustive list of six factors to be considered when determining whether an incentive compensation program is an ERISA-exempt bonus plan." [Milligan v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., No. 25-1385 (4th Cir. Apr 14, 2025)]MORE >>
"Only about 24% of manufacturing employers report having a comprehensive wellbeing strategy that focuses on the 'whole employee'. In healthcare, that figure rises to just 29% -- a sign of growing recognition of stress and burnout, but also of ongoing capacity constraints. Among financial institutions, 39% of organizations report a comprehensive whole‑employee wellbeing strategy ... Without industry‑specific benchmarking, an employer could easily misread whether its wellbeing offer is table stakes or truly differentiating for its sector." MORE >>
"Enrollment may be over, but your communication shouldn’t stop. Here’s how to talk to your employees year-round to help them appreciate their benefits and make smart decisions." MORE >>
"Congress adopted the SECURE Act to expand the ability of small employers, including self-employed individuals, to participate in pooled employer plans and benefit from the economies of scale such plans provide. Accordingly ... it is reasonable to similarly treat pooled employer plans as single employer plans for purposes of rule 180(a)(2).... [T]he staff would not object if a CIT issues interests to a pooled employer plan that covers self-employed persons without registering the offer and sale of the CIT's interests under section 5 of the Securities Act in reliance on rule 180; provided that the plan: [1] is subject to ERISA; and [2] the issuance meets all of the requirements in rule 180(a)(1) and (a)(3)."MORE >>
"[FAB 2026-01] contains a defect that is not merely analytical, but structural: it is internally inconsistent on its face. The Bulletin expressly conditions enforcement on alignment with 'clearly established case law,' yet the governing premise it adopts -- that fiduciary prudence may be satisfied by process alone -- is unsupported by, and in tension with, the very body of law it invokes. That contradiction is fatal." MORE >>
"[T]he IFBF was established for purposes other than the provision of insurance, participation in the Consortium and the Plan is limited to employer members of the IFBF, and the Participating Employers in the Consortium and the Plan have a long-standing history of collaboration through their IFBF membership ... Therefore, the Department would view these Participating Employers as having a commonality of interest and a genuine organizational relationship unrelated to the Plan through their IFBF membership.... [It] is the Department's view that the Participating Employers would, at least in form, constitute a bona fide group or association of employers for purposes of ERISA section 3(5), and the Plan, at least in form, would constitute an employee welfare benefit plan for purposes of Title I of ERISA." MORE >>
"The cost and quality criteria specified in the order will narrow the IRAs eligible for being listed through the marketplace and may incentivize the development of new, low-cost, index-based products tailored to the new platform.... [T]he implementation timelines set forth in the Executive Order are tight. With the Saver's Match set to take effect on January 1, 2027, IRA custodians and recordkeepers will have a limited window to build the operational framework necessary to implement the federal matching contributions efficiently and accurately." MORE >>
13 pages. "To date, the Administration has reached voluntary MFN pricing agreements with 17 of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world. Moving forward, the Administration expects to reach similar agreements with most manufacturers of sole-source brand name drugs and biologics in the nation. In parallel, the Administration is working with Congress to codify those voluntary agreements into law to ensure that patients continue to benefit from price discounts. This report describes the MFN drug pricing framework and evaluates its fiscal effects." MORE >>
"While most employers cover GLP-1s for diabetes, 67% of surveyed employers currently cover GLP-1s for weight management ... with many employers relying on various strategies to ensure the appropriate use of GLP-1s for weight management.... Of those covering GLP-1s for weight management, only 72% said they were likely to continue that coverage in 2027, while 10% said they likely would not, according to the survey. Companies that do not cover GLP-1s for weight management today are unlikely to add coverage in the future." MORE >>
