Headlines about "Church-sponsored plans"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
New Lawsuits Challenge Church Plan Exemption from ERISA Claimed by Catholic Hospitals
"Over the last 5 weeks ... individual lawsuits [have been filed] against four mega non-profit hospital conglomerates alleging that they are not entitled to the Church Plan exemption under ERISA. Each defendant is alleged to have violated the minimum funding, notice, plan document, trust, and fiduciary rules of ERISA in sponsoring their defined benefit pension plans.... In total, the plaintiffs allege at least $2.1+ billion in underfunding, plus unspecified other damages[.]" (Plan Tools, LLC)

Litigation Attacks on Church Plans: What Sponsoring Employers Need to Know Now
"[T]wo class action firms with ERISA class action experience filed lawsuits against three tax-exempt health care systems in Michigan, Pennsylvania and California. Each of those health care systems is affiliated with the Catholic Church. The lawsuits claim that these systems' pension plans -- which are operated as ERISA-exempt church plans -- are in fact subject to ERISA.... The suits also claim that the operation of the plans in question as church plans violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. These cases could have a profound effect on all church plan sponsors, regardless of whether they have previously obtained favorable church plan rulings from the IRS." (Drinker Biddle)

IRS Reversal on 'Church' Pension Plan Rescues a Fund
"[A]fter negotiations and an eight-year internal review, the IRS reversed a critical decision it made in 2003 ... to recognize the hospital's pension fund as a 'church plan' under law. That decision took away the former employees' government safety net because the Constitution's church-state separation was said to bar the federal pension insurance program from covering church pensions. Voiding the 2003 decision restored that safety net, something pension experts said they had never seen happen before." (The New York Times)

[Opinion] Government Agencies Restore Protections to Hospital Retirees' Pensions
"After a 10-year struggle, hundreds of former workers and retirees from the Hospital Center at Orange (HCO) once again have federal protections for their pensions. In an unprecedented move, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has reversed its 2003 decision to grant HCO's pension plan recognition as a 'church plan.' The IRS' action paves the way for the [PBGC] to restore insurance protections to the HCO plan." (Pension Rights Center)

Hedge Fund Firms Accepting Screens to Get Faith-Based Business
"Hedge fund managers hungry for institutional assets are increasingly willing to incorporate exclusionary screens into their investment approaches to keep portfolios in line with the socially responsible investment values of church-affiliated investors." (Pensions & Investments)

[Guidance Overview] Compliance Checklist 2012 for Non-ERISA Plans: Qualified Governmental and Nonelecting Church Plans, Non-ERISA 403(b) Plans, 457 Plans and Nonqualified Executive Benefit Plans (PDF)
Very nice 16-page chart. (Prudential)

[Guidance Overview] Drinker Biddle's ERISA Litigation Newsletter, April 2012 (PDF)
Articles include: Court Limits Hospital's Rights to Recover Through Assignment; Confidentiality Has Its Limits: The Fiduciary Exception to the Attorney-Client Privilege; and, The ERISA Church Plan Exception. (Drinker Biddle)

[Guidance Overview] Another Question is Answered in the Who's the Employer Q&A Column
I am a pastor of a church. Am I considered an employee of the church, or instead am I a self-employed independent contractor? (BenefitsLink.com)

ERISA Litigation Newsletter, March 26, 2012 (PDF)
In this issue: Court Limits Hospital"s Rights to Recover Through Assignment; Confidentiality Has Its Limits: The Fiduciary Exception to the Attorney-Client Privilege; and, The ERISA Church Plan Exception - The Courts Throw a Curve. (Drinker Biddle)

Erie's Saint Vincent Health Center Considers Pension-Plan Change
"Saint Vincent Health System, scrambling to reverse more than $23 million in losses since 2009, wants to save money by changing its employee pension plan. Hospital officials have asked the Internal Revenue Service to recognize Saint Vincent's pension plan as a 'church plan.' If the change were to be granted, Saint Vincent would not have to pay insurance on the plan or fund it to a specific level." (GoErie.com)

Recent DOL Initiatives: Questions Answered
"Last month, advisory board member Sherwin Kaplan and his colleague at Nixon Peabody, Eric Paley, conducted a webinar titled 'Managing and Protecting Your Employee Benefit Plans: New [DOL] Initiatives.' As part of that webinar, [they] took questions from the audience, but they were unable to get to every question in the time allocated[.] Sherwin ... agreed to answer outstanding questions[.] The following are questions submitted during the webinar, with Sherwin's answers.]" (Bloomberg BNA)

Setting the Record Straight on Saint Peter's University Hospital's Pension Plan
"Church plan status would wipe out all federal protections for the participants' pensions, including the all-important pension insurance protection provided by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Because the SPUH pension plan is only 63 percent funded, lack of insurance protection means that participants could lose their hard-earned benefits if the plan terminates without PBGC insurance." (Pension Rights Center)

Saint Peter's University Hospital Retirement Plan: Responses to Statements Made in February 24, 2012, Letter and Accompanying Q&A
"Statement: In [the February 24 letter it is stated] that Saint Peter's University Hospital 'will seek a refund of insurance premiums Saint Peter's has paid to the PBGC. Although not required to do so, Saint Peter's will invest any refunds received into your pension trust.'" (Pension Rights Center)

Saint Peter's University Hospital Retirement Plan: The Law and the Facts
"From 1974 until 2006, Saint Peter's University Hospital fully complied with ERISA, the federal private pension law. The plan was funded in accordance with the law, and the plan paid pension insurance premiums to the PBGC. In addition, the plan's own documents stated that the plan is an ERISA plan." (Pension Rights Center)

Avoid the Common Mistakes Affecting Plan Loans Webcast
Earn CE credit while ERISA expert, Charles Lockwood, JD, LLM, explains the administrative issues that affect plan loans. Have questions? Charles will address them either during or after the webcast. March 22nd at 2pm EST. (ASC)

[Official Guidance] Final Rules On Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers Relating to Coverage of Preventive Services Under the Ppaca (PDF)
Published in the Federal Register, February 15, 2012. 'These regulations finalize, without change, interim final regulations authorizing the exemption of group health plans and group health insurance coverage sponsored by certain religious employers from having to cover certain preventive health services under provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service / U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration / U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

Loophole Puts Pension Plans at Risk: Jewish Groups Use Exemptions for Churches to Skirt Rules
"Jewish organizations, including federations and hospitals, have filed for the special 'church status' that strips workers and retirees of legal protections and allows groups to drop insurance that would cover shortfalls in their pension plans." (The Jewish Daily Forward)

Americans Weigh in on Contraception Rule
The target page provides links to [1] The Public Religion Research Institute's survey of public opinion on whether certain categories of religiously affiliated employers, such as Catholic hospitals or universities, should be required to include birth control in their health insurance coverage; and [2] Gallup's polls asking Americans their views on how President Barack Obama is handling health care policy. (Kaiser Health Reform)

Bishops Reject White House's New Plan on Contraception Coverage
"The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops -- which has led the opposition to the [Obama administration's contraception coverage mandate] -- said in a statement late Friday that the solution offered by the White House to quell a political furor was 'unacceptable and must be corrected' because it still infringed on the religious liberty and conscience of Catholics." (The New York Times; free registration required)

Many Catholic Institutions In New York State Already Covering Birth Control
"Many Catholic institutions in New York [State] -- and in more than two dozen other states -- already are complying with . . . state mandates [similar to the federal contracteptive mandate]. New York began requiring prescription contraception coverage in 2002 [for insurance-funded health plans], over the objections of Catholic groups, which sued and lost in the state's highest court." (BuffaloNews.com)

White House Compromise Still Guarantees Contraceptive Coverage for Women
"The compromise goes beyond similar accommodations in Hawaii and several other states, because in those states, insurers can charge an extra premium for the contraceptive coverage. Administration officials did not explain why the compromise was not incorporated earlier, despite the fact that it had been widely discussed as early as last fall." (The Washington Post; free registration required)

Obama Compromises Amid Catholic Contraception Coverage Anger
"Under the new plan put forward by the White House health insurance companies, rather than the employer, will be required to offer contraception directly to employees of religious-linked institutions if requested. The institutions -- such as universities or hospitals -- would not be required to subsidize the cost of offering birth control to their employees, nor would they be asked to refer them to organizations that provide it." (BBC News)

Obama Tweaks Birth Control Rule
"Obama announced that the rule would be tweaked, so in cases where non-profit religious organizations have objections, their insurance companies will be required to reach out to employees and offer the coverage directly." (USA TODAY)

Administration and Catholics Tangle Over Mandatory Contraception Coverage
The administration will not reconsider the decision, White House spokesman Jay Carney said yesterday, according to the Associated Press. (AP via Washington Post)

Domestic Policy Council Director's Statements on White House Blog About Contraceptive Mandate
"Over half of Americans already live in the 28 States that require insurance companies cover contraception: Several of these States like North Carolina, New York, and California have identical religious employer exemptions. Some States like Colorado, Georgia and Wisconsin have no exemption at all." (The White House Blog, written by Cecilia Mu?oz, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council)

[Opinion] Protestants and Jews Declare to White House: We Stand With Catholics
"[M]ore than 40 non-Catholic religious organizations including Protestant-affiliated colleges, National Association of Evangelicals, Focus on the Family, Assemblies of God, Northwest Nazarene University, and Eastern Mennonite University, sent a letter to the White House demanding religious protection against the newly issued HHS contraceptive mandate." (Becket Fund)

Anger Brewing on the Left About Mandatory Contraceptive Coverage for Employees of Religious Employers
"Megan McArdle, senior editor of the Atlantic, wrote yesterday that it might be in Americans' interest to be more flexible with faith-based organizations because they provide such a depth of social services (publicly funded in many cases, of course) . . . ." (Washington Post)

[Opinion] Obamacare's Contraception Mandate Tramples on Religious Liberty
"Exemption of religious institutions from the Obamacare contraception mandate does not involve a clash of the constitutional rights of a religious employer with the constitutional rights of its employees regarding contraception (as enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965) or abortion (Roe v. Wade, 1973). Such an exemption in no way limits the freedom of employees of those religious institutions to obtain contraceptive services, to obtain insurance covering contraceptive services from a source other than their employer, or to seek employment with other than a religious employer." (The Heritage Foundation)

[Guidance Overview] Supreme Court Recognizes 'Ministerial Exception' to Federal, State Employment Laws
"A 'ministerial exception' shields religious organizations -- including hospitals, schools and corporations with religious affiliations -- from potential liability under state and federal employment laws, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled [in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, decided January 11, 2012]." (Mercer Select)

[Opinion] Disregarding Religious Beliefs: Obama's Radical Power Grab on Health Care
"There would have been no controversy at all if President Obama had simply exempted religious institutions and ministries. But the administration insisted that the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary's Hospital be forced to pay for the privilege of violating their convictions. Obama chose to substantially burden a religious belief, by the most intrusive means, for a less-than-compelling state purpose -- a marginal increase in access to contraceptives that are easily available elsewhere." (Michael Gerson in the Washington Post; free registration required)

Catholic Clergy Come Out Swinging Against HHS Regulation Mandating Cost-Free Contraceptives
"Catholics around the country got an earful on Sunday from the pulpit over a new health insurance policy by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that forces employers to cover contraception and abortion as part of preventative care regardless of religious beliefs. The use of abortion and contraceptives violates Catholic teachings." (CNN Belief Blog)

Workers Fight Switch to 'Church Plan' Status of Pension Plans
"[A] growing number of plan sponsors with less-direct ties to religious organizations have been declaring themselves church plans and asking the Internal Revenue Service to issue private-letter rulings confirming the exemptions, which free the plans from federal funding requirements. They can stop paying PBGC insurance premiums and can even receive a refund of up to six years of insurance premiums . . . ." (Reuters)

Workers Fight Switch to Church Pension Plans
"[ERISA] has always exempted plans operated directly by churches for their clergy and employees to make it easier for the churches to operate their plans. A 1980 amendment to ERISA clarified that the exemption also applied to church pension boards, which administer group pension plans for church employees. But since then, a growing number of plan sponsors with less-direct ties to religious organizations have been declaring themselves church plans and asking the [IRS] to issue private-letter rulings confirming the exemptions, which free the plans from federal funding requirements." (Thomson Reuters)

[Opinion] Obamacare 'Contraceptive' Mandate Made in Bad Faith
"Since the FDA approves, as 'contraceptives,' drugs such as Plan B and Ella that may cause early-stage abortions, the federal government could force nearly every employer in America to pay for abortions and sterilizations. Colleges and universities providing insurance to their students will face the same requirement." (BostonHerald.com)

[Guidance Overview] HHS Extension of Compliance Date for Contraceptives Coverage for Certain Nonprofit Employers
"The delayed implementation rule does not expand the scope of religious employers who are exempt from the requirement to cover contraceptives under earlier guidance." (Practical Law Company)

Administration Rules Insurers Must Cover Contraceptives
"The rule includes an exemption for certain 'religious employers,' including houses of worship. But church groups said the exemption was so narrow that it was almost meaningless. A religious employer cannot qualify for the exemption if it employs or serves large numbers of people of a different faith, as many Catholic hospitals, universities and social service agencies do." (New York Times; free registration required)

Has Obama Waged a War on Religion?
"If you're looking for evidence that the Obama administration is hostile to faith, conservatives say, the new health care law is Exhibit A. The law requires employers to offer health care plans that cover contraceptives. Churches don't have to, but religiously affiliated charities, hospitals and colleges do." (NPR)

ERISA Pension Protections Avoided Through Church Affiliation
"Legal exemptions that allow church-affiliated organizations to sidestep Employee Retirement Income Security Act protections for their defined benefit pension plans increasingly are being used for less-than-holy purposes, according to pension activists who see a disturbing trend among plan sponsors." (Business Insurance)

Is Your Pension Plan Having a Religious Conversion? Here's What You Can Do
"As a result of a new IRS procedure, any pension plan that wishes to 'convert' its federally-protected pension plan to a 'church plan' is now required to notify the people covered by the plan that the plan intends to seek IRS approval to convert. What does such a conversion mean for you? . . . Here's what you can do:" (Pension Rights Center)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Rev. Proc. 2011-44 Prescribes New Procedures for Church Plan Rulings
"[T]he main impact of the ruling will be on underfunded defined benefit plans, where participants have an especially direct interest in whether the plan is subject to ERISA, and covered by PBGC insurance, than in a typical church defined contribution plan." (Groom Law Group via Bureau of National Affairs)

Religious Groups Want Relief from Birth Control Mandate
"Right now, the religious exemption included in the rules 'is so narrow that it excludes virtually all Catholic hospitals, elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, and charitable organizations,' Jane Belford, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Washington, told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health." (National Public Radio)

[Guidance Overview] New Notice Requirements for Retirement Plans Seeking IRS Approval of Church Plan Status
"The guidance provides rules regarding the timing and method for providing the notice as well as a Model Notice that applicants can modify as required." (McDermott Will & Emery)

[Guidance Overview] Defined Benefit Plans Must Make Required Payments (PDF)
"This information applies to sponsors of qualified defined benefit plans, including governmental plans and non-electing church plans." (Prudential Retirement)

[Guidance Overview] New IRS Church Plan Guidance Should Influence Participant Disclosures
"The notice, for which the IRS has provided a model, is intended to let employees know that their employer is seeking a church plan ruling for its identified plans and explain the consequences to them (as plan participants) of such a ruling." (Verrill Dana, LLP)

Poor Economy and Pension Issues Challenge Clergy of All Denominations
"Like their secular counterparts, many clergy who devoted their attention to less temporal matters than financial planning now find themselves amid shrinking church budgets and a poor economy being forced to work beyond traditional retirement ages. It is an especially critical issue in smaller churches that still do not set aside money for clergy retirement." (The Association of Religion Data Archives)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Revenue Procedure Requiring Notices of Requests for Church Plan Status (PDF)
"Effective Sept. 26, IRS will not issue rulings that a qualified tax code Section 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) plan is a church plan unless the new notice requirement has been satisfied, according to IRS Revenue Procedure2011-44." (The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. via Pension Rights Center)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Establishes Church Plan Procedures
"The IRS believes participants in a church plan seeking confirmation of nonelecting status should get advance notice, because of the fact that a nonelecting church plan is not subject to ERISA or ERISA plan tax code requirements." (National Underwriter Life & Health)

[Official Guidance] Text of IRS Rev. Proc. 2011-44: Revised Procedure for Church Plans Filing a Request for a Determination Letter (PDF)
"The purpose of this revenue procedure is to supplement the procedures for requesting a letter ruling under ? 414(e) of the [IRC] relating to church plans. This revenue procedure modifies Rev. Proc. 2011-4, 2011-1 I.R.B. 123, to require that plan participants and other interested persons receive a notice in connection with a letter ruling request under ? 414(e) for a qualified plan, to require that a copy of the notice be submitted to the [IRS] as part of the ruling request, and to provide procedures for the IRS to receive and consider comments relating to the ruling request from interested persons." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

[Guidance Overview] Church Plan Administrators Are Subject to State Law Claims
"[T]he recent case of Johnson v. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America provides a reminder that church plan administrators can be subject to breach of fiduciary duty claims and breach of contract claims under state law. Because many church retirement plans are underfunded, administrators of those plans will want to pay close attention to the Johnson case as it moves forward." (Verrill Dana, LLP)

House OKs Collective Trust Investments by 403(b) Church Plans
"Churches maintaining 'retirement income accounts' under Code Section 403(b)(9) would be allowed to invest in collective trusts offered by banks and trust companies under a bill passed by the House July 19. The 'Church Plan Investment Clarification Act' (HR 33) would broaden and clarify a necessary exemption from the Securities Act of 1933." (Mercer LLC)

The Legislative History of Church Pension Plans
"The 1974 private pension reform law, ERISA, provided a permanent exemption from the law for pension, health and other benefit plans sponsored and maintained by a church for its employees. This permanent exemption did not apply to plans for employees of church schools, hospitals and other church-related entities." (Pension Rights Center)

Coming IRS Church Plan Rules May Enhance Participant Protections
"IRS guidance may require applicants for rulings confirming church-plan status to notify participants about the effect on benefits, according to an IRS official. In a letter responding to key senators' concerns about protections for church plan participants, the official also noted that the IRS won't issue favorable rulings to plan sponsors purporting to convert ERISA-covered plans to church plans (after a church acquires the sponsoring employer, for example)." (Mercer LLC)

[Guidance Overview] Illinois Civil Union Law Affect on 'Church' Plans
"[An alert on the Association for Corporate Counsel Web site says] that because civil union partners will have the same rights as spouses under state law, many religious organizations' benefit plans could be affected. Determining whether coverage of civil union partners is required hinges upon the type of benefit plan, whether the benefit is insured, and whether the plan is subject to [ERISA]." (PLANSPONSOR.COM)

Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Is Faulted on Handling of Pensions
"[A Former archdiocesan chancellor] disclosed yesterday that he has asked Attorney General Martha Coakley and Secretary of State William F. Galvin to appoint an independent trustee to oversee the funds in order to protect lay workers from being financially harmed by the archdiocese's handling of the transition from a traditional pension plan to retirement accounts funded largely by employee contributions." (The Boston Globe)

[Opinion] Senate Committee Chairmen Express Concern to IRS Over Upcoming Rules Defining 'Church Plan' (PDF)
February 14, 2011. 'We write to encourage the Service to ensure that [upcoming guidance for defining a 'church plan,' which will affect the availability of PBGC-guaranteed benefits] protects workers and retirees who may be adversely affected if a plan is re-designated as a church plan and, as such, is stripped of the protections afforded by ERISA." (Sen. Tom Hark, Sen. Herb Kohl, Sen. Max Baucus, Sen. Jeff Bingaman)

[Guidance Overview] Federal Court Rules in Precedent-Setting ERISA Class Action Complaint
"The issue before the Court was the proper scope of the 'church plan' exception to [ERISA]." (Faegre & Benson LLP)

[Guidance Overview] 2010 Year-End Compliance Reminders for Defined Contribution Plans Not Subject to ERISA (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "This information applies to defined contribution plans, such as qualified governmental plans (including 'grandfathered'401(k) plans), qualified church plans that do not elect to be covered by ERISA ('non-electing church plans'), 403(b) programs, and section 457 plans that are not subject to Title I of ERISA." (Prudential Retirement)

IRS Working to Bring 'Church' Pension Plans under ERISA
Excerpt: "When ERISA was enacted in 1974, religiously affiliated employers were exempted from the regulation, according to the Wall Street Journal. Recently, employers with only a tenuous association to religion have begun to convert their pension plans to 'church plans,' which generally cover the clergy and lay employees of churches and synagogues." (Online Legal Media)

IRS Suspends Rulings on Church Plan Status for Pension Plans; PBGC Coverage at Issue
Excerpt: "The Internal Revenue Service is drafting guidance that could require employers with religious affiliations to warn workers when their pensions have lost their federal safety net." (The Wall Street Journal)

Church Workers' Pensions Lack Safeguards
Excerpt: "Thousands of . . . church-affiliated workers and retirees are at risk of losing funds they're counting on to see them through retirement because of a little-known loophole in federal pension protections. . . . That's because as a church pension plan, it isn't covered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the government insurance plan for pensions." (All Things Considered via National Public Radio)

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