"The takeaway for HR is direct. Review how your plan administrators are tracking and meeting ERISA's appeals deadlines. Check whether your vendor agreements include accountability mechanisms for procedural compliance. And make sure your benefits team understands that when an administrator misses a federal deadline, the consequences land on the plan -- and that is a problem that starts with the people who chose and oversee that administrator in the first place." [Cogdell v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., No. 24-1940 (4th Cir. Mar. 3, 2026)]  MORE >>