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Year-End Considerations for Employer-Provided Retirement Plans (PDF)

"As 2024 comes to a close, it is a good time to review how some of the recent changes under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 and the original SECURE Act impact qualified retirement plans.... [S]ome of the noteworthy changes that recently took effect or will soon become effective: [1] Participation of long-term part-time employees in 401 (k) plans ... [2] Required minimum distributions for Roth 401 (k) contributions ... [3] Surviving spouse can be treated as employee for RMD purposes ... [4] Increased cashout limit ... [5] Higher catch-up contribution limit ... [6] Catch-up contributions required to be Roth contributions ... [7] Notices to unenrolled participants."

Fiduciary Liability in Providing Pharmaceutical Benefits

"How far does ERISA's fiduciary duty of prudence extend? What level of oversight of and negotiation for medical service costs and prescription drug pricing is considered prudent for a plan administrator? With drug costs and prescriptions both growing each year, plan fiduciaries may soon need to reconsider how they monitor their health and welfare plans' service providers and associated fees." [Lewandowski v. Johnson & Johnson, No. 24-0671 (D.N.J. complaint filed Feb. 5, 2024)]

March 1 Is Deadline for Calendar Year Health Plans to Submit Prescription Drug Coverage Disclosure to CMS

"Disclosure to CMS involves certifying that your plan's prescription drug coverage is at least as good, actuarially speaking, as the standard coverage offered by Medicare. While this may seem difficult to quantify (and it is!), CMS provides a general basis against which you can measure your plan's coverage to determine whether it is creditable."

Upcoming 'Gag Clause Attestation' Deadline Leaves a Sour Taste in Plan Administrators' Mouths

"[T]he phrasing of the gag clause prohibition places the responsibility to avoid gag clauses on the plan, rather than the service provide ... [S]ome service providers have already refused to submit the GCPCA on a plan's behalf, and [a legislative fix passed by the House] must still go through both the Senate and the President, meaning it is exceptionally unlikely that [an alternative] will be available to plan administrators prior to the December 31, 2023 GCPCA due date."

SECURE 2.0: Implications for Multiemployer Defined Contribution Plans (PDF)

11 pages. "[The automatic enrollment requirement] will add further complexities ... as assistance from the Fund's contributing employers will be absolutely critical to ensure compliance ... Multiemployer defined contribution plans will need to update their systems to account for four distinct 'tracks' [for RMDs] ... [There are] a number of potential headaches with establishing an [emergency savings account (ESA)] for Funds which already have a 401(k) arrangement."

Multiemployer Plans: DOL Releases Final Rule on ESG Factors and Proxy Voting (PDF)

"[U]nder the 2020 rules it could be argued that a Taft-Hartley fund, selecting between two similar investments, was forbidden from considering whether a particular investment would utilize union labor, as that would likely have been a 'non-pecuniary factor.' The new Final Rule forecloses such an issue, and provides fiduciaries with more clarity and freedom when making decisions to invest plan assets."

Major Changes in Connecticut's FMLA Law Become Effective January 1, 2022 (PDF)

"Virtually all Connecticut employers will need to change their policies and procedures to comply with the Act. Employers with fewer than 50 employees (who previously were not subject to Federal or Connecticut FMLA requirements) will need to adopt new policies and notice procedures. Employers who are already subject to Connecticut and Federal FMLA requirements will need to revise their policies to ensure compliance[.]"

Proposed Changes to Form 5500 Include Expanded Group Health Plan Reporting

"While at first glance it may appear that this is the government's way of performing an 'end run' around the Supreme Court's recent decision in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. (striking down a Vermont all-payer claims database law as applied to an ERISA-governed health plan), ... the information being sought through proposed Schedule J is more 'global' in nature and not claim-specific."

Supreme Court Shuts Down Ninth Circuit Stock-Drop Decision -- Again

"The Supreme Court's ruling does not foreclose the ability of the participants to bring their claims, but rather leaves it up to the district court to determine whether or not the participants may amend their complaint to meet the standards set forth in Fifth Third. It is unclear whether the district court will allow revision. But after the second Amgen ruling, it is clear that the Court will not stray from its holdings in Fifth Third." [Amgen Inc. v. Harris, No. 15-278 (U.S. Jan. 25, 2016; per curiam)]

Plan Correction Methods of the EPCRS Modified as Recent IRS Procedures Have Gone Into Effect: Part 2

"Rev. Proc. 2015-28 updates the safe harbor correction methods and examples in Appendices A and B to Rev. Proc. 2013-12 to provide alternative correction methods associated with missed elective deferral for eligible employees subject to an automatic contribution arrangement.... Notably, this safe harbor 'sunsets' on December 31, 2020, and will not be available for failures occurring after that date unless the IRS decides to extend it."