Health and Welfare Plans

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Under 29 U.S.C. § 1301(b)(1), all “trades or businesses” under common control with an employer that has withdrawn from a multiemployer pension plan are jointly and severally liable for the employer’s withdrawal liability.  The statute does not define what it means to be a “trade or business,” and though the statute references regulations promulgated by the…

When an employer withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan, the plan’s trustees must notify the employer of the amount of its withdrawal liability and demand payment.  Employers assessed with withdrawal liability often argue that the assessment is untimely because the trustees did not send it to the employer “as soon as practicable,” as is required…

Last week, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury issued a Joint Notice requiring the extension of certain benefit plan deadlines for individuals affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and Tropical Storm Helene.[1] The deadline extensions echo relief issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, but apply to a more limited group of individuals. The…

Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released a final rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), which prohibits discrimination in health programs and activities.  The 2024 final rule includes new administrative requirements for covered entities (which may include group health plans to the extent the plan receives…

Last week, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services finalized regulations implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).  Although the final regulations step back from certain burdensome aspects of the proposed rules (which we blogged about here), compliance with the final rules will require action from…

Both companies and their C-suite executives should be mindful of the interactions between COBRA and Medicare and their implications when negotiating a severance or retirement arrangement. This is because Medicare enrollment can terminate COBRA coverage, depending on the timing of when an executive elects COBRA and when they enroll in Medicare, and because an executive…

Family building benefits continue to be top of mind as employers and plan sponsors implement new benefit programs to support family building journeys for their employees.  At the same time, there have been a few recent lawsuits challenging health plan eligibility criteria for infertility treatment coverage.  This post summarizes the recent litigation and challenges for…

Plan sponsors of Code Section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity plans (“403(b) plans”) that have not already done so may want to consider applying for an IRS determination letter or planning and budgeting for the process next year if they are not yet eligible.

In June, the IRS determination letter program became available to a second group…

As discussed in our prior blog post, on April 26, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued final regulations (“Reproductive Health Care Rule”) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) limiting the uses and disclosures of protected health information (“PHI”) in…