News Archive

"[T]he Court affirmed the D.C. Circuit's view that ERISA does not require actuarial assumptions to be selected on or before the measurement date, so long as the withdrawal liability is calculated as of that date. That approach conflicted with the Second Circuit's 2020 decision ... where the court rejected a withdrawal liability assessment based on assumptions adopted after the measurement date.... By adopting the D.C. Circuit's reading, the Supreme Court eliminated that disagreement and established a uniform national rule on the timing of assumption selection for withdrawal liability calculations." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"The Court explained.... that the statutory language in 29 U.S.C. Section 1391's directive to calculate withdrawal liability based on plan assets and liabilities 'as of' the measurement date identifies the relevant valuation point but does not prescribe when the underlying assumptions must be chosen. The Court rejected the petitioners' argument that this language imposes a cutoff, emphasizing that it fixes the point in time for measuring liability rather than regulating the timing of actuarial decision-making." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"This is to inform the public that, on October 22, 2025, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi issued an order ... vacating portions of the final rule titled 'Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities,' published May 6, 2024. Specifically, the court vacated certain provisions of the regulation to the extent they expand Title IX's definition of sex discrimination to include gender-identity discrimination. Pursuant to the court's order, the vacated provisions are legally void. The other provisions of the Section 1557 Rule remain in force." [Tennessee v. Kennedy, No. 24-0161 (S.D. Miss. Oct. 22, 2025)]  MORE >>

"Starting in 2007, the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (TRHCA) requires that the IRS release the upcoming year's new HSA and Excepted Benefit Health Reimbursement Arrangement (EBHRA) limits prior to June 1st. Thus, we now have the 2027 limits[.]"  MORE >>

"Under the decision, actuaries for multiemployer pension plans are clearly able to set or change the withdrawal liability assumptions after the end of a plan year. The issue as to whether, as the D.C. Circuit held, the assumptions had to be based (or were based) on information available as of the end of the plan year will likely be the subject of future arbitrations and future cases." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Applying deferential review, the court declined to disturb the Trustees' reasonable interpretation that the Expulsion Provision permitted termination of a single bargaining unit without expelling all of Penske's other units.... The court next held that Central States' decision to expel Local 745 was not arbitrary or capricious.... Finally, the court affirmed dismissal of Central States' counterclaim seeking a declaration that Local 745's effective withdrawal date was 2021." [Penske Truck Leasing, L.P. v. Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan, No. 25-1738 (7th Cir. May 29, 2026)]  MORE >>

"The proposed Rule would treat standalone fertility benefits in the same excepted manner as limited scope dental and/or vision coverage and would permit group health plans to provide a new benefit for the diagnosis, mitigation, or treatment of infertility or related reproductive health conditions, on either a self-insured or fully insured basis. The benefits would need to be: [1] provided under a separate policy, certificate, or contract of insurance; or [2] otherwise not an integral part of the employer's group health plan."  MORE >>

"The Massachusetts Health Connector has published 2027 dollar limits on deductibles and other cost sharing for minimum creditable coverage (MCC), as required by regulations. The Massachusetts individual mandate, in effect since 2007, requires state residents to maintain MCC or face a potential state tax penalty."  MORE >>

"A disciplined approach to uncovering hidden costs in portfolios can be critical to understanding the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), improving governance, and fulfilling fiduciary responsibilities.... TCO addresses cost drivers across the investment value chain, from management fees to trade execution, settlement, and custody costs. Plan sponsors can achieve this with a bottom-up analysis of all cost elements and operational processes that prioritize risk management, transparency, and contract compliance."  MORE >>

"Among the nearly 40,000 comments through May 29, were hundreds, if not thousands, of identical messages from individuals both supporting and decrying the proposal as either a great opportunity for retirement plan investors, or a great danger to them."  MORE >>

"While the Laughlin case provides welcome clarity on the scope of potential defendants under PFML, it is clear from the recent jury verdict that the statute still carries significant financial exposure and a plaintiff-friendly framework. Employers should take the opportunity to ensure their PFML policies and practices are optimized to protect against potential PFML claims[.]" [Laughlin v. BinStar, Inc. (Delaware), No. 2584CV01816 (Mass. Super. Ct. Feb. 26, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Most patients who have taken a GLP-1 received their prescription through a primary care doctor or a specialist ... But as the uptake of telehealth has grown substantially ... millions of Americans [have] used online companies to meet a variety of their medical needs. Many of the companies have started offering GLP-1 medications for weight loss as demand for these drugs has exploded. But certain medication errors tied to GLP-1s have exploded too ... and physicians and telemedicine researchers worry that adverse experiences tied to telehealth companies are becoming more common."  MORE >>

"CFA institute warns that the DOL pathway allowing alternatives needs stronger Guardrails especially around target date funds.... [F]iduciaries must evaluate not only the Target Date Fund itself, but each underlying investment component individually.... [I]ncreasingly, Target Date Funds are being moved into weakly regulated state-bank Collective Investment Trusts (CITs) ... The fiduciary obligation therefore requires substantially enhanced due diligence."  MORE >>

19 pages. "[T]he Proposed Regulation is a crucial step in restoring balance, limiting meritless litigation, and reducing uncertainty and improving outcomes for retirement savers.... Certainty and predictability in legal standards are absolutely essential to our retirement system, and the NPRM is an important step.... We strongly support the NPRM because it generally adopts the framework the retirement community has recommended and because it has the potential to meaningfully improve the ability of tens of millions of Americans to save for retirement."  MORE >>

"Several studies demonstrate the relationship between workplace benefits and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The objective of [this] analysis was to evaluate the relationship between access to employer based paid time off and risk of incident CVD events in a sample of working older adults in the U.S.... 81.5% of [the] sample had paid time off benefits. In adjusted models, persons with access to paid time off benefits had a 32% lower risk of a CVD event over 6-14 years (mean 7.5 years) of follow up."  MORE >>

"Currently, Pennsylvania does not provide any statewide paid parental leave. Allegheny County's Board of Health proposes amending ... Regulations to require employers to provide all employees working in Allegheny County with up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave after the birth, adoption, or legal placement of a child, regardless of the size of their employer. As proposed, parental leave can be taken anytime within 18 months of the qualifying event."  MORE >>

"For calendar year 2027, the annual limitation on deductions under section 223(b)(2)(A) for an individual with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan is $4,500. For calendar year 2027, the annual limitation on deductions under Section 223(b)(2)(B) for an individual with family coverage under a high deductible health plan is $9,000.

"For calendar year 2027, a DPCSA is not treated as a health plan with respect to an otherwise eligible individual if the aggregate monthly fees for all DPCSAs with respect to the individual do not exceed $150 or, if the individual is covered by a DPCSA that covers more than one individual, $300.

"For calendar year 2027, a 'high deductible health plan' is defined under section 223(c)(2)(A) as a health plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,750 for self-only coverage or $3,500 for family coverage, and for which the annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, co-payments, and other amounts, but not premiums) do not exceed $8,700 for self-only coverage or $17,400 for family coverage.

"For plan years beginning in 2027, the maximum amount that may be made newly available for the plan year for an excepted benefit HRA under Section 54.9831-1(c)(3)(viii) is $2,250."  MORE >>

"The [DOL's] proposed regulation on selecting designated investment alternatives ... reflects an effort by the DOL to bring greater structure and clarity to how fiduciary decisions are evaluated under ERISA. For plan committees and advisors, that shift creates a number of practical opportunities.... [1] A clearer playbook for fiduciary decisions ... [2] Stronger documentation and defensibility ... [3] More confidence to evaluate broader investments ... [4] Reduced pressure to default to lowest cost ... [5] Better alignment with participant outcomes."  MORE >>

"Qualified long-term care distributions, established by the SECURE 2.0 Act, are plan distributions made after December 29, 2025, that satisfy specified criteria ... [IRS Notice 2026-33] explains that qualified long-term care distributions are considered to [1] satisfy the Code Section 401(k)(2)(B) distribution rules (and similar rules under Code Sections 403 and 457), [2] are not subject to the additional 10% tax on early distributions under Code Section 72(t), and [3] are not eligible rollover distributions."  MORE >>

"For employers that already provide fertility benefits through their major medical plans and/or through fertility HRAs, it is unclear whether an employer would terminate their existing fertility arrangement in favor of an excepted fertility benefit program that has set dollar limits, or adopt an excepted fertility benefit to supplement their existing fertility coverage.... Excepted benefit status may assist employers who sponsor a fertility HRA to avoid the ACA-HRA integration rules[.]"  MORE >>

"Employers that have allowed insurers to market these types of voluntary programs to their employee populations, and who are currently taking the position that the DOL's voluntary plan safe harbor applies, should take a fresh and careful look at whether all of the elements of the safe harbor have been met with respect to their voluntary benefit programs."  MORE >>

"[U]nlike certain other SECURE 2.0 permitted distribution, QLTCDs are not eligible for the extended three-year repayment period and are subject to several reporting and disclosure requirements, including a long-term care premium statement that must be filed with the plan by the insurance issuer. For plan sponsors that do choose to offer QLTCDs, [Notice 2026-33] provides relief by extending the amendment deadline."  MORE >>

"Although the Proposed Rule is framed as a relatively narrow set of amendments implementing SECURE 2.0, it could require meaningful operational adjustments for plan sponsors and service providers ... The Proposed Rule also may create incentives for some employers to reconsider which safe harbor they use. In particular, the DOL requested comments on whether plans may shift from the 2020 notice-and-access framework back to the 2002 wired-at-work Safe Harbor for active employees in light of the new paper statement requirements."  MORE >>

"One change that could increase traffic in the IDR portal is a reduction in the administrative fee for IDR participants from $115 to $15 per case.... Although slashing the fee could further increase the number of IDR cases, the federal departments say other finalized provisions should counter that trend.... Payers face new claim communication requirements ... Open negotiation becomes a more structured step ... Batching rules and eligibility reviews will shape dispute volume ... IDR eligibility scrutiny is set to increase ... Payer identification should become easier"  MORE >>

"Beginning with the 2027 plan year, insurers will no longer be required to offer standardized plans ... HHS now believes that these plans are 'an ineffective strategy' to simplify the plan selection process, improve the consumer experience, and increase consumer understanding.... The final rule permanently removes the option for insurers to use fixed-dollar and gross-premium threshold flexibilities beginning with the 2027 plan year.... [T]he final rule will largely continue current risk adjustment policies, with narrow exceptions.... The final rule adopts a [risk adjustment] user fee rate of $0.18 per member per month for the 2027 benefit year, a slight decline from the $0.20 per member per month fee that applied for the 2026 benefit year."  MORE >>