"The proposed regulations do not resolve some of the key ERISA fiduciary issues associated with alternative investments: [1] The inherent lack of liquidity still presents an operational issue for 401(k) plans ... [2] The inherent valuation challenges still present an operational issue for 401(k) plans with respect to processing distributions ... [3] The inherent lack of transparency and complexity can make it challenging for plan fiduciaries to properly evaluate potential alternative investments.... [4] Plaintiffs' attorneys have already indicated they intend to hold plan fiduciaries accountable if plans offer alternative investments." MORE >>
"By doing nothing more than signing termination amendments, JJDD has created several problems. Mr. Icicle is particularly alarmed that they did not amend the cash balance plan to freeze benefits or tell participants about the termination, which means benefits have been accruing to plan participants all this time.... [W]hile the 401(k) plan does not suffer from the benefit accrual problem (and there was no obligation to provide participant notice), it has issues of its own.... And, not incidentally, no Forms 5500 had been filed for the two plans since they were 'terminated.' " MORE >>
"Eligible employees may file an application for benefits within sixty days before the anticipated start date of leave and no later than sixty days after the start date.... Employers have five business days to respond to notice of an employee's submitted claim application.... The final regulations allow for the reduction of FAMLI eligibility by an employee's federal [FMLA] use if the FMLA leave also qualified for FAMLI, the employer notified the employee of their potential FAMLI eligibility, and the employee did not apply." MORE >>
"[This case] gives self-funded ERISA plan sponsors in the Sixth Circuit helpful guidance on where to draw the line between the permitted state PBM regulations described in Rutledge and ERISA-protected plan design. The Sixth Circuit made clear that a state may not require a self-funded ERISA health plan to open its pharmacy network to any willing pharmacy if doing so takes away the employer's ability to decide which pharmacies will participate." [McKee Foods Corporation v. BFP Inc., No. 25-5416 (6th Cir. Apr. 7, 2026)] MORE >>
11 pages. "The safe harbor factors would apply to the initial decision to select an investment option but not ongoing monitoring of the investment.... Fiduciaries could demonstrate compliance with any safe harbor factor by relying on recommendations from an investment advice fiduciary or delegating investment selection responsibility to a professional investment manager.... The proposal doesn't specify when the safe harbor would take effect. Nor does DOL explain the proposal's implications for investment selection decisions made before issuance of a final regulation." MORE >>
"This webpage provides data on how the IDR process is working, including estimates of the average prices emerging from IDR, qualifying payment amounts (QPAs) calculated by health plans, and comparisons of plan and provider offers, all expressed as percentages of Medicare’s payment rates for the same services. It also includes information on the characteristics of the providers and firms using the IDR process." MORE >>
"Magistrate Judge Karen Scott ... dismissed the federal claims Anthem brought against HaloMD, a billing company, and its co-defendants.... [S]he found that the No Surprises Act allows courts to review arbitration decisions only under very narrow circumstances -- corruption, fraud, or misconduct that could not have been discovered during the arbitration itself, such as bribery, undisclosed bias, or willfully destroyed evidence. Anthem, the judge said, had not met that bar." [Anthem Blue Cross v. HaloMD LLC, No. 25-1467 (C.D. Calif. Apr. 9, 2026 )] MORE >>
"This industry-leading resource aims to educate plan sponsors, retirement plan advisors, consultants and fiduciaries about the full range of retirement income solutions available in the defined contribution marketplace. The Framework provides standardized, side-by-side data on retirement income products from a wide range of leading providers, helping retirement industry professionals make informed comparisons of product structures, fee models, guarantee features, liquidity options, and portability aspects." MORE >>
"As more employees work past traditional retirement age, pension and benefit systems are colliding with assumptions built for a workforce that no longer exists. Plans that are still built around the long-abandoned idea of mandatory retirement at age 65 -- once the standard mandatory retirement -- now face tax, legal and human-rights challenges as employees remain working into their late 60s and early 70s. The result is a growing disconnect between modern economic realities and retirement rules rooted in policy decisions made nearly a century ago." MORE >>
"One of the most notable aspects of [FAB 2026-01] is that EBSA plans to focus its enforcement efforts on cases that pose meaningful harm to the employee benefits system, especially those involving bad faith conduct.... They have an express focus on breaches of the fiduciary duty of loyalty. However, just as important, the DOL emphasized that ERISA is a 'law of process, not results.' ... [T]he agency says it generally won't second‑guess fiduciary decisions where a prudent process was followed." MORE >>
"Billions of dollars and implications for the business models of insurers and pricing vendors are on the line in litigation against MultiPlan (now known as Claritev) and Zelis, along with their insurer clients. In each case, plaintiff providers say insurers conspired with a pricing intermediary to underpay out-of-network claims by deploying repricing tools or algorithms. Both vendors are alleged to have served as a hub that coordinates prices among insurers that otherwise would compete with one another on price." MORE >>
"The next evolution of benefits strategy isn't about collecting more data or adopting AI for its own sake. It's about building a deliberate, closed-loop approach that connects insights to action and action to outcomes. In practical terms, this approach helps close the gap between the benefits offered and the benefits used." MORE >>
"ARA CEO Brian Graff said political alignment is building for sweeping retirement reform centered on universal coverage, enhanced Saver's Match, and auto-enrollment -- potentially adding millions of new plans and tens of millions of savers." MORE >>
"Workers' confidence in having enough money to live comfortably in retirement fell 6 percentage points from 2025 to 61%, while retirees' confidence fell 5 percentage points to 73%.... Fewer than 3 in 5 workers said they have enough savings to handle an emergency expense, down from 64% in 2025. Among retirees, fewer than 7 in 10 said the same, down from 74%.... About 3 in 5 workers and 3 in 10 retirees said debt negatively affects their ability to save for or live comfortably in retirement.... Nearly 6 in 10 workers said the cost of health care is hurting their ability to save for retirement, while 2 in 5 retirees said health care expenses in retirement have been higher than expected." MORE >>
"Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are an attractive target for fraudsters, and HSA providers must use automated methods to stop them before funds are lost....Best practices include: [1] Retiring micro-deposit verification through bank accounts. [2] Integrating instant bank account verification inside the member app. [3] Enabling real-time verification outcomes." MORE >>
27 pages. "OCR received 732 notifications of breaches of unsecured PHI affecting 500 or more individuals that occurred during 2023, representing an increase of 17% from the number of reports received in calendar year 2022. These reported breaches affected a total of approximately 113,173,613 individuals. The most commonly reported category of breaches was hacking, and the largest breach of this type involved approximately 11,270,000 individuals. OCR also received 68,315 reports of breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals that occurred during 2023, with unauthorized access or disclosure as the most frequent type of breach reported. These smaller breaches affected a total of 269,290 individuals." MORE >>
"For closely held business owners, the company often represents their largest asset -- and their primary retirement funding source. Yet retirement plans are frequently disconnected from exit planning conversations. For advisors, this gap represents both risk and opportunity." MORE >>
"The Society of Actuaries Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program issued a call for essays to explore the impact of family structure on retirement. The objective was to gather a variety of perspectives and experiences as to how different family structures may impact retirement planning, financial arrangements and risks that may be encountered in retirement. A primary goal of this collection is to spur thoughts for future research and set the stage for upcoming efforts." MORE >>
"More than 4 in 5 adults younger than 65 with incomes of 400% or more of the federal poverty level have ESI, compared to 57% with incomes between 200% and 399% of the poverty level and 22.5% with incomes below 200%.... Younger workers are less likely than those in older age groups to have ESI." MORE >>
"As the cost of health insurance increases, employers continue to grapple with what types of benefits their employees want, how much to spend, and how to share costs with employees. This brief discusses some of these differences, focusing on the costs, availability, and take-up of health benefits for workers with lower wages, and ways employers may respond to the pressures of high costs and limited resources for these workers." MORE >>
"With ERISA having no readability standards, the advisers seeking to take advantage of the benefits granted to them by the safe harbor (or now just to be prudent) are likely to find themselves having to translate some of these very ugly documents into a sort of plain English that is decipherable by their plan sponsor clients. It looks as if a successful 'translation' may become a part of the adviser's own fiduciary obligation." MORE >>
"Following a checklist is a great way to make sure you get the most out of your restricted stock units (RSUs), manage them effectively, and avoid common mistakes. If you work at a publicly traded company, you can utilize [this] list that includes best practices commonly discussed with clients[.]" MORE >>
"This article examines the role of co-payments in the context of high-cost, physician-administered, curative therapies and evaluates whether traditional cost-sharing rationales remain applicable. Drawing on emerging evidence from chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy utilization, we highlight persistent disparities in access by race, socioeconomic status, geography, and insurance type and discuss how patient cost sharing may exacerbate inequities in a category characterized by strict clinical eligibility, intensive oversight, and minimal risk of inappropriate use." MORE >>
"Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned from her post [April 20].... Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling will be acting secretary ... The [DOL's] inspector general had been conducting an internal investigation of Chavez-DeRemer since January ... over reported allegations of misconduct." MORE >>
"In putting forward its proposal, the EBSA cites a 2022 survey by [AARP] that showed 55% of respondents always reviewed their paper statements, compared to 36% of respondents who always reviewed their electronic-only statements. The survey reported that 57% of adults would prefer to receive paper statements at least once per year, with even higher rates amongst low-to-moderate income adults, adults age 50 and older, and adults with no access to a computer through their employment." MORE >>
