Featured Jobs
Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Senior Administrator
First American Bank (Elk Grove Village IL / Hybrid)
Free Newsletters
“BenefitsLink continues to be the most valuable resource we have at the firm.”
-- An attorney subscriber
132 Matching News Items
1.
Should Plan Sponsors Provide Data for the DOL’s Missing Participant Database?
Holland & Hart LLP
Apr. 28, 2024
Holland & Hart LLP
Apr. 28, 2024
"While this database could be helpful to both participants and plan sponsors, the DOL's request would likely be a significant new burden on plans.... [H]aving information on file or in the plan records somewhere does not necessarily mean this will be easy, especially regarding benefits that were already paid. Gathering and organizing the information will be especially difficult in situations where there have been plan sponsor changes, plan mergers, and recordkeeper changes."
2.
Heightened Fiduciary Standards Are Coming to Group Health Plans
Holland & Hart LLP
Apr. 1, 2024
Holland & Hart LLP
Apr. 1, 2024
"The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) in 2021 extended the ERISA 408(b)(2) fee disclosure requirements to group health plans.... These new rules give employers and plan fiduciaries unprecedented leverage with their service providers ... With this greater knowledge and understanding comes more risk of criticism that an employer or plan fiduciary could have looked closer -- and should have looked closer -- at fees and plan design in carrying out their fiduciary responsibilities."
3.
Deferred Compensation Arrangements for Non-Profits
Holland & Hart LLP
Feb. 5, 2024
Holland & Hart LLP
Feb. 5, 2024
"While there are a number of differences between a Section 457(f) plan and a for-profit deferred compensation plan, the biggest is the timing of the taxation of the deferred compensation. A for-profit deferred compensation plan can be designed so that once the right to deferred compensation vests, it can be taxed (for income tax purposes) on the date that it is paid, which can be many years in the future. With a Section 457(f) plan, once the deferred compensation vests, it becomes immediately taxable, even if the plan provides for payment of the deferred compensation in a future year."
4.
Negotiating Provider Contracts for Benefit Plans
Holland & Hart LLP
Jan. 28, 2024
Holland & Hart LLP
Jan. 28, 2024
"The provider industry, particularly among retirement plan recordkeepers and self-funded health plan TPAs, has become very consolidated resulting in fewer alternative providers for sponsors to choose.... [T]his consolidation has enhanced the leverage of providers and caused 'market terms' to be dictated by the few. In addition, providers have become very adept at maximizing contract leverage via process."
5.
A Change Would Do You Good, But Do the Section 125 Cafeteria Plan Rules Permit It?
Holland & Hart LLP
Jan. 14, 2024
Holland & Hart LLP
Jan. 14, 2024
"[If] an employee accidentally checked the wrong box on the form ... or there was a computer error, you might decide to put them in the position they thought they had elected. But if it looks like the employee simply regrets their choice and wishes they had done something different, be very careful in allowing changes! You'll be violating the Section 125 rules, possibly committing a fiduciary breach under the medical plan, and might be getting in hot water with your stop-loss carrier."
6.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Have You Completed Your Plan's 'No Gag Clauses' Attestation?
Holland & Hart LLP
Dec. 4, 2023
Holland & Hart LLP
Dec. 4, 2023
"All group health plans, whether fully insured or self-insured, are required to submit an attestation to [CMS] confirming that the plan has been compliant with the prohibition on gag clauses since December 27, 2020. This must be completed by December 31, 2023, and annually thereafter. Plans are permitted to contract with their TPA or carrier to complete the gag clause reporting on behalf of the plan."
7.
Employers Can Help Their Employees with Student Loan Debt
Holland & Hart LLP
Oct. 11, 2023
Holland & Hart LLP
Oct. 11, 2023
"[SECURE 2.0] permits employers to make matching contributions to the 401(k) plan on account of dollars that the employee pays outside the plan on their student loans. This provision is effective in 2024. Even though there are some fairly significant unanswered questions (starting with how employees will verify that they have in fact made student loan repayments), employers should be hearing from their 401(k) providers about how to adopt and implement this provision, if desired."
8.
The Time Has Come: Consider Adding a Welfare Plan Committee
Holland & Hart LLP
Sept. 28, 2023
Holland & Hart LLP
Sept. 28, 2023
"The stakes are getting higher for welfare plan administration and oversight: new legislation, increasing DOL scrutiny and audits, and participant breach of fiduciary duty litigation have drastically changed the welfare plan fiduciary landscape.... The higher stakes for welfare plan administration may mean a committee should oversee the welfare plan administration to make sure nothing falls through the cracks -- and to mitigate fiduciary risk and protect the company's Board or other management from fiduciary liability."
9.
Simply Irresistible to Not Seek Recoupment of Overpayments
Holland & Hart LLP
Aug. 22, 2023
Holland & Hart LLP
Aug. 22, 2023
"SECURE 2.0 provides that for certain overpayment errors a responsible plan fiduciary can now decide not to seek repayment.,,, [M]any plan sponsors will welcome this guidance since it allows them to forego seeking recoupment of overpayment errors.... However, if the participant is 'culpable' for the overpayment, it would be more prudent for the plan fiduciary to recoup such overpayment."
10.
Employer Considerations as the DOL Doubles Down on Mental Health Parity Compliance in New Proposed Regs
Holland & Hart LLP
Aug. 10, 2023
Holland & Hart LLP
Aug. 10, 2023
"[S]ponsors of self-insured plans may want to: [1] Confirm that their TPA will make the necessary changes to their plan's NQTLs based on the potential heightened requirements ... [2] Confirm that their TPA will retain and evaluate the necessary data regarding NQTLs and network adequacy ... [3] Confirm that their TPA is preparing the required comparative analyses in a manner consistent with the proposed regulations. [4] Independently review any NQTL comparative analyses that have been or are prepared. [5] Negotiate contractual protection in the event the TPA's NQTL comparative analyses are determined to be deficient or the TPA's application of NQTLs is determined to be impermissible."
Your Search Options
- If you have selected the Any Word
radio button, above:
Enter a single word, or as many words as you'd like (perhaps some synonyms). An item will match if it contains any one of the words.
If you enter several words, the search engine will determine which words are the most important. So you can enter a question . Or you can paste an excerpt of several paragraphs from an article on another website to find similar news items on BenefitsLink.
- If you have selected the All Words
radio button, above:
Enter several words. An item will match only if it contains every one of the words.
- If you have selected the Advanced
radio button, above:
Certain words and punctuation take on special meanings —
- Quotation marks can be used to require an exact phrase, such as
"standard of review" - The words AND, OR and NOT become logic operators, which are
especially powerful when used with parentheses, such as
(vested OR vesting OR lifetime) AND (retiree OR retirement) AND (health OR healthcare) AND (benefits OR coverage)
- Quotation marks can be used to require an exact phrase, such as
© 2024 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.