In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and subsequent state abortion bans, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a Final Rule (Final Rule) modifying the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule in order to support reproductive health care privacy. As with prior HIPAA rules, the Final Rule applies to covered healthcare providers, health plans, or healthcare clearing houses (each, a Covered Entity) and their business associates.Continue Reading New Reproductive Health Care Privacy Final Rule: Key Compliance Steps and Dates
Tenth Circuit Rules ERISA Preempts Oklahoma PBM-Reform Law
NOTE: This post was originally written August 29, 2023, and was updated on September 27, 2023.
Breaking news: On September 19, 2023, the Oklahoma Attorney General filed a Petition for En Banc Rehearing, challenging the Tenth Circuit panel’s decision in this case and requesting a rehearing before the full Tenth Circuit bench. The Oklahoma Attorney General argued in his Petition that the panel’s decision contradicted established Supreme Court precedent and recent circuit court decisions regarding the scope of ERISA preemption, failed to address the ERISA “savings clause,” and was overbroad in its articulation of Medicare Part D preemption. On September 25, 2023, the Tenth Circuit ordered PCMA to respond to the Petition. We will provide further updates as this matter develops.Continue Reading Tenth Circuit Rules ERISA Preempts Oklahoma PBM-Reform Law
2022 Welfare Plan Automatic Participant Disclosures
We authored an article published by BenefitsPRO on November 11 highlighting takeaways from the firm’s “2022 Welfare Plan Automatic Participant Disclosures Checklist.”
Continue Reading 2022 Welfare Plan Automatic Participant Disclosures
Changes to Section 162(m) Affecting Deferred Compensation Arrangements
Public companies maintaining deferred compensation arrangements for their executive officers should consider how recent changes to the regulations under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) may impact the timing of payments to be made to participants and their beneficiaries under such plans – if action is required, the affected plans must be amended before December 31, 2020 to avoid complications or penalties.
Continue Reading Changes to Section 162(m) Affecting Deferred Compensation Arrangements
IRS, EBSA and PBGC Provide Further COVID-19 Relief for Benefit Plans
As part of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have recently provided relief to benefit plan sponsors by moving back certain upcoming plan compliance deadlines. See further below for a detailed list of the specific relief. IRS Notice 2020-23 provides that if any deadline would occur between April 1 and July 14, that deadline is automatically moved back until July 15, 2020, and this extension applies to a list of 44 employee benefit plan-related deadlines. The IRS notice triggered the PBGC’s disaster relief policy, which automatically extends certain PBGC deadlines that occur in the same April 1 to July 14 time period to July 15, 2020.
Additional relief was announced on April 28, in the form of a joint notice ( Joint Notice) issued by EBSA, IRS and the Treasury Department, which extended a number of deadlines for benefit plans and participants in accordance with CARES Act changes to ERISA Section 518. The Joint Notice’s relief applies to the “Outbreak Period,” the length of time beginning on March 1, 2020, and ending 60 days after the announcement that the COVID-19 National Emergency is over. On the same day, EBSA issued Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01 (Disaster Relief Notice). The Disaster Relief Notice clarified EBSA’s enforcement stance on certain fiduciary duties that plan sponsors have by extending deadlines. The Disaster Relief Notice also stated that the Outbreak Period extension, described in the Joint Notice, also applies to the distribution timelines for notices, disclosures, and other documents that Title I of ERISA requires plans to distribute to participants and beneficiaries. EBSA also released an FAQ which explains some of the relief provided by the Joint Notice and Disaster Relief Notice.Continue Reading IRS, EBSA and PBGC Provide Further COVID-19 Relief for Benefit Plans
DOL Proposed Rule on Electronic Disclosures Could Help Alleviate Costs and Burdens on Employers and ERISA Plan Administrators
On October 23, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a proposed rule that, if finalized in its current form, would make it easier for retirement plan administrators to use electronic media to furnish information to participants and beneficiaries. The proposed rule would create a new, optional safe harbor that permits plan administrators to furnish required disclosures through electronic delivery to participants and beneficiaries with valid email addresses or smartphone numbers, unless the participant or beneficiary affirmatively opts out of electronic delivery.
The proposed rule was developed in response to Executive Order 13847, issued by the White House in August 2018, which instructed the DOL to review whether actions could be taken to improve the effectiveness of retirement plan disclosures required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and reduce costs to employers. Note that employers may not rely on the proposed rule until it is published in final form.Continue Reading DOL Proposed Rule on Electronic Disclosures Could Help Alleviate Costs and Burdens on Employers and ERISA Plan Administrators
Trump Seeks to Ease Rules for Multiple-Employer Retirement Plans and Required Mandatory Withdrawals
On August 31, 2018, President Trump signed an executive order authorizing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury to evaluate expanding access to 401(k) retirement plans. The order is designed to cut some of the administrative burdens and costs that prevent smaller employers from offering 401(k) plans to their employees. The Trump administration noted that in 2017, roughly 89 percent of larger employers offered retirement plans compared to only 53 percent of small employers (those with fewer than 100 employees).
The executive order directs the agencies to consider two main issues:
- Expanding the criteria for multiple-employer plans (MEPs), under which employees of different private-sector employers may participate in a single retirement plan; and
- Raising the age when individuals with traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and 401(k)s must start making required minimum distributions, which is currently age 70 ½.