Benefits - General

Below is the second article in our series covering the employee benefits-related changes contained in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by the President on December 22, 2017.

In IRS Notice 2018-06, the IRS announced a 30-day automatic extension for the furnishing of 2017 IRS Forms 1095-B (Health Coverage) and 1095-C (Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage), from January 31, 2018 to March 2, 2018.

In October, the 2018 FICA taxable wage base (the maximum amount of an employee’s wages with respect to which the Old-Age, Survivor and Disability Income portion of FICA taxes is payable) had been announced as $128,700, up from this year’s $127,200. On November 27, the Social Security Administration

On November 2, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “Bill”) as part of proposed tax reform legislation. The Bill is sweeping in scope and provides for significant changes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), including in the area of exec

This is the most recent article in our series which focuses on the impact on employers of the downward spiral and death knell of the multi-employer defined benefit plan.

We already know the state of health care in the United States continues to whipsaw, as an October 25th ruling demonstrates: a federal district court confirmed that the Trump Administration need not fund the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) subsidies that offset insurance copays and deductibles for some A

The Internal Revenue Service recently announced its cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for retirement plans and Social Security generally effective for Tax Year 2018 (see IRS Notice 2017-64). Most notably, the limitation on annual salary deferrals into a 401(k) plan will inc

On October 19, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for the 2018 tax year. The list below details some of the key limit increases and those limits which remain unchanged effec

As we approach the end of the year, 2017 is turning out to be significant in the ever-evolving world of litigation over 401(k) plan fees. Since 2006, plaintiffs’ firms have brought hundreds of lawsuits across the country on behalf of employees alleging excessive plan fees and breaches of fiduciary d

The rise in insurance premiums for group health plans has prompted many employers to reexamine the decision whether to fund participant health benefits with insurance or self-fund benefits and limit their claims risk by purchasing stop-loss insurance. The increasing number of self-funded health plan

Proving Loss Causation in Breach of Fiduciary Claims – The Split Widens. Analysis of recent litigation trends involving loss causation, an important burden-of-proof issue in ERISA fiduciary claims.

Some of our employer client sponsors of pre-approved 401(k) plans have contacted us regarding plan amendment notices received recently from their prototype or volume submitter plan document sponsors relating to the expanded use of forfeitures in their plans.

The U.S. Department of Labor has released its annual memorandum with the rate increase for Service Contract Act (SCA) Health and Welfare (H&W) Fringe Benefits. The new rate of $4.41 per hour (up from the 2015-2016 rate of $4.27 per hour) is required in all government contract bids or other service c

On July 10, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals announced that the full Court would re-hear a recent case concerning the applicable standard of review in an ERISA denial of benefits case – which is often outcome-determinative in favor of insurers and benefit plans.

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), a lawmaker known for closely monitoring the changing nature of work, has introduced in the Senate legislation to promote innovative ways to offer portable benefits to workers in the on-demand economy. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) introduced a companion bill in the House of R

In late April 2017, the IRS issued a Memorandum for Employee Plans (EP) Examinations Employees providing two alternatives for computing the maximum participant loan amount when the participant has prior loans. Prior to this Memorandum, the law was not clear concerning how to compute the maximum loan

Data Security Safeguards. When ERISA was enacted in 1974, it was not known the extent to which technology would allow us to maintain and transmit employee benefit plan data electronically. Learn how today’s technology and the changing data privacy rules affect employee benefit plans and data securit

We are aware that employers are being marketed various types of benefit arrangements designed to reduce the employer’s tax obligations by using a combination of wellness programs, voluntary benefits, and cafeteria plans. Not surprisingly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has taken interest in thes

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) publicized last year its stepped up enforcement efforts inquiring about procedures used by larger defined benefit plans for locating, and then beginning payment of benefits to, terminated vested participants who have reached the age when the plan mandates benefits

In Halo v. Yale Health Plan, decided in April of 2016, the Second Circuit expressly rejected the “substantial compliance” doctrine with respect to alleged violations of the ERISA Claims Procedure regulation.