Tag: ERISA

Back to Normal: Ending COVID-19 Tolling of COBRA Deadlines

Getting “back to normal” as the COVID-19 pandemic has eased has not been simple for anyone. In terms of plan administration, the continued tolling of employee benefit plan deadlines, including those related to continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), has kept plan administrators firmly planted in a “COVID-19 world,” even as […]

Ruling Helps Employers Ending Union Pension Funding

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Michigan employers) recently issued a long-awaited decision about the appropriateness of interest rate assumptions used by union pension funds to calculate withdrawal liability. The court affirmed a district court’s opinion holding the Ohio Operating Engineers Pension Fund’s use of the “Segal Blend” violated the Employee Retirement […]

Rare Exception to FAA Kills Arbitration Clause

The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) enforces certain arbitration agreements involving federal law, including some employment disputes and claims against employers under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). But is an arbitration agreement that prohibits an individual from seeking relief provided by federal statute still enforceable? The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals […]

ERISA

Series of ERISA Retirement Benefit Cases Head to Supreme Court Docket

Three lawsuits against corporate retirement benefit plans involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have been, and a fourth may be, granted certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court for its next term, a relatively large concentration of these cases in the High Court’s recent history of hearing ERISA matters.

ERISA

Talk to My Cousin—or My Patient Advocate: Filing ERISA Plan Claims

No one likes going to the hospital, or paying bills, but paying bills from the hospital can be confusing for even the most astute patients. Deciphering an explanation of benefits (EOB) from a health insurance company and trying to determine what you owe and to whom can cause some serious headaches. (Which hopefully don’t lead […]

Are Your Participant Education Programs Failing?

Many 401(k) plan sponsors seek to reduce their potential fiduciary liability by electing to be a Section 404(c) plan. Under Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Section 404(c), a fiduciary is not liable for losses in the plan resulting from the participant’s selection of investments in his or her own account, provided that the participant […]

wellness

4 Ways to Pay for a Financial Wellness Program

More and more companies are adding workplace financial wellness programs – and for good reason. Employees who aren’t worrying about financial problems on the job tend to be more focused, productive workers. A new survey says 83% of employers now offer financial wellness programs (up 20% from two years ago), and 14% plan on offering […]

Humana

Benefits Litigation: Humana Case May Point to Oncoming Wave

Things are happening, and they portend an explosion of benefits litigation. Yes, this once-sleepy corner of the employment law forest is buzzing with news, and it came on March 1 from our very own U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas—in an en banc decision, which means all the appeals court […]