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146 Matching News Items |
| 1. |
Cross-Plan Offsetting in Group Health Plans: The DOL Makes Its Position Clear
Verrill Dana LLP 
Feb. 29, 2024
"In October of 2023, the DOL entered into a settlement agreement with EmblemHealth Inc. ... resolving claims that Emblem breached its fiduciary duties under ERISA by engaging in the practice of cross-plan offsetting.... Based on the potential ERISA violations and the practical problems that may result, employers that maintain health plans (particularly self-insured health plans) should determine whether their TPAs are engaging in cross-plan offsetting."
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| 2. |
ACA Compliance When Employees Move from Full-Time to Part-Time Mid-Year
Verrill Dana LLP
Feb. 13, 2024
"A common fact pattern that frequently results in ACA reporting errors is the employee who moves from a full-time position to a part-time position mid-year. Must plan sponsors continue to offer this part-time employee health coverage? Doesn't the ACA only require employers to offer health coverage to their full-time employees? The answers to these questions depend on which measurement methodology the employer uses to calculate full-time employee/full-time equivalent (FTE) status."
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| 3. |
SECURE 2.0 Provisions with 2024 Implementation Dates
Verrill Dana LLP
Dec. 25, 2023
"While no amendments are required for plans heading into 2024, plan operations may see some updates ... [1] Long-term, part-time employee eligibility and vesting ... [2] Catch-up contributions as Roth contributions ... [3] Required minimum distribution changes ... [4] Matching contributions for student loan payments ... [5] Emergency savings accounts linked to individual account plans ... [6] Penalty-free withdrawals ... [7] Mandatory cash-out limit increase."
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| 4. |
Proposed Regs for Long-Term, Part-Time Employee Participation in 401(k) Plans
Verrill Dana LLP
Dec. 10, 2023
"Many plans provide for the application of the actual hours method for hourly employees and an equivalency method for salaried employees. One would expect the typical LTPT employee to be paid on an hourly basis, but the plan sponsor should apply the service crediting method it would normally use based on the classification of the potential LTPT employee."
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| 5. |
Use of Retirement Plan Forfeitures: The IRS Proposed Regs, Recent Litigation, and the DOL's Position
Verrill Dana LLP
Dec. 7, 2023
"This post first briefly describes what a forfeiture is, what the 2023 Proposed Regulations provide, and what the pending lawsuits allege, then explores why the DOL's position on the use of forfeitures might differ from the IRS's. With the applicability date for the 2023 Proposed Regulations approaching, this post is also a reminder for plan sponsors to confirm that their retirement plans, in operation, comply with the regulations and that the plan documents reflect how the plans are operated."
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| 6. |
HIPAA Privacy Rule Changes May Yet Be Finalized Before Year End
Verrill Dana LLP
Nov. 29, 2023
"In 2021, [HHS] proposed changes to the [HIPAA] Privacy Rule ... that would significantly alter the current regulations. The Proposed Rules are supposed to be finalized in 2023.... The proposed changes to the Privacy Rule that should most concern group health plan sponsors fall into two general categories: [1] changes that increase the right of individuals to access their PHI, and [2] changes that allow covered entities and business associates to share PHI more easily while safeguarding against a breach."
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| 7. |
Maine's Mandatory Retirement Savings Program: What Employers Need to Know
Verrill Dana LLP
Nov. 5, 2023
"The final rule establishes procedures and requirements for 'Covered Employers' to register with [the Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT)], onboard 'Covered Employees' with MERIT, and remit payroll deduction contributions to the program administrator. The final rule also addresses the right of Covered Employees to opt out of MERIT and includes rules regarding contribution rates and IRA investment options."
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| 8. |
DOL Proposes Its New Fiduciary Rule
Verrill Dana LLP
Nov. 2, 2023
"Negative commentary on the Proposed Rule is already in circulation. Nevertheless, from a litigation perspective, the Proposed Rule seems to be carefully crafted to advance the Department's longstanding objective of enhancing protections for retirement investors while steering clear of relationships that are not meant to be fiduciary in nature. It seems unlikely to prompt a scramble to rework standard investment-related documents for fear of having ordinary communications treated as fiduciary advice."
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| 9. |
Retiree Medical Coverage: Just Get the COBRA Waiver
Verrill Dana LLP
Oct. 2, 2023
"Many employers incorrectly assume they do not have to offer COBRA at retirement if they offer a retiree medical plan or a retiree health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), but the calculus is not that simple. Whether there is a requirement to offer COBRA and if so, to whom and when, depends on a number of factors[.]"
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| 10. |
Recommended Practices for ERISA Retirement Plan Administrative Fiduciaries
Verrill Dana LLP, via JDSupra
Oct. 2, 2023
"[1] Establish a plan administrative committee.... [2] Provide appropriate training.... [3] Keep plan documents up to date.... [4] Maintain a compliance calendar.... [5] Adopt written compliance practices and procedures."
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| 11. |
DOL Continues Enforcement of Non-Quantitative Treatment Limitation Requirements
Verrill Dana LLP
Aug. 24, 2023
"The most recent Report to Congress, which is over 100 pages, is instructive and provides several important lessons: [1] MH/SUD parity remains an enforcement priority.... [2] Non-compliant plans reported to Congress.... [3] Opportunity to think carefully and deeply.... [4] Comparative analysis requirement is no longer new.... [5] Top areas of DOL focus ... [6] More exclusions than expected, but also some successes."
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| 12. |
Update on the Debate Over Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Investing
Verrill Dana LLP
July 19, 2023
"The debate over investment of retirement plan funds based on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors continues to make waves. This post provides a high-level overview of the current state of play for plans that are subject to ERISA."
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| 13. |
Establishing Practices and Procedures to Support Self-Correction of Operational Failures
Verrill Dana LLP
June 27, 2023
"This post considers whether the codification of the practices and procedures requirement newly elevates its importance and suggests a renewed need for plan sponsors to take affirmative steps to satisfy the requirement as a precondition for the confident self-correction of failures that may occur in the future."
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| 14. |
Reasonable Compensation Under ERISA: Two Recent Cases
Verrill Dana LLP
June 6, 2023
"Two recent court decisions bring into focus two seldom-asked questions about the reasonable compensation requirement under ERISA. When must an ERISA plan's service provider compensation be reasonable? And why shouldn't a plan fiduciary be able to receive reasonable compensation from the plan even if the fiduciary had a hand in determining the amount of that compensation? The reasoning and holdings in these cases, if followed by other courts, could fundamentally alter the familiar rules on reasonable compensation." [Markham v. The Variable Annuity Life Ins. Co. (VALIC), No. 22-0974 (S.D. Tex. Oct. 5, 2022); Rozo v. Principal Life Ins. Co., No. 21-2026 (8th Cir. Sep. 2, 2022)]]
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| 15. |
SECURE 2.0 Provides New Options for Retirement Plan Distributions
Verrill Dana LLP
May 23, 2023
"This post summarizes the new distribution options, including penalty-free withdrawals, applicable to defined contribution plans ... and provides a timeline of their effective dates. The new options further evidence Congress's growing appetite for approving legislation that allows greater pre-retirement access to funds intended for retirement."
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| 16. |
The End of the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations Raises Questions, But FAQs Provide Answers
Verrill Dana LLP
May 8, 2023
"[It] is the DOL's position that FAQs Part 58 announced the end of the National Emergency as July 10, 2023.... [G]roup health plans and issuers (i.e., insurers) are either required or 'encouraged' to provide notice of COVID-19-related benefits coverage changes to plan participants, and in some cases beneficiaries and other enrollees ... [T]he Outbreak Period deadline extensions ... will cease to apply effective 60 days after the end of the National Emergency.... [T]he Departments note that nothing prevents a plan or issuer from permitting longer timeframes to provide notices and elections under these provisions and plans are encouraged to do so."
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| 17. |
Alternatives for Sponsors of Defined Benefit Pension Plans
Verrill Dana LLP
Apr. 26, 2023
"This post summarizes options that may be available to employers that sponsor DB Plans to reduce administrative costs and risk factors ... [1] Stay the course for funded plans ... [2] Plan mergers ... [3] Freezing plan participation and benefit accruals ... [4] Lump sum windows and annuity purchases ... [5] Plan termination."
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| 18. |
Proposed Regs on Plan Forfeiture Accounts: Helpful Guidance and a Great Reminder to Plan Sponsors
Verrill Dana LLP
Mar. 7, 2023
"For defined contribution plans, the regulations provide welcome clarity on what forfeitures can be used for and the date by which forfeitures must be used.... [T]hey provide a helpful transition rule and ... serve as a reminder that forfeiture accounts must be used promptly to avoid an operational failure that will place the plan's tax-qualified status at risk."
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| 19. |
SECURE 2.0 Gives 'Long-Term Part-Time Employees' Faster Access to 401(k) Plans and 403(b) Plans
Verrill Dana LLP
Feb. 22, 2023
"Although these changes are effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2024, plan sponsors must start tracking the service of long-term part-time workers much sooner than that to support compliance with the new rules. In addition, sponsors of 401(k) plans should keep in mind that the requirements of SECURE 1.0 are already in effect for service recognition purposes."
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| 20. |
SECURE 2.0 Provides New and Expanded Retirement Plan Correction Rules
Verrill Dana LLP
Feb. 12, 2023
"[T]his new rule would permit self-correction of most plan issues without any IRS filing.... SECURE 2.0 provides that retirement plan fiduciaries are not required to attempt to recover inadvertent benefit overpayments made to participants or beneficiaries and includes additional requirements if the responsible plan fiduciary does attempt to recover overpayments[.]"
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