"[The judge] rejected Yagy's assertion that she should be allowed to seek monetary relief for the entire plan, saying that nothing in ERISA establishes a plan participant's guaranteed right to bring a collective action. According to the court, Section 502(a)(2) allows a participant to sue a fiduciary for 'appropriate relief,' which doesn't necessarily include the ability to seek restitution for the whole plan." [ Yagy v. Tetra Tech, Inc. , No. 24-1394 (C.D. Calif. May 17, 2024)]

" The amendments  ... update the requirements under Regulation S-P for broker-dealers (including funding portals), investment companies, registered investment advisers, and transfer agents to address the expanded use of technology and corresponding risks that have emerged since the Commission originally adopted the regulation in 2000."

"PCORI fees are reported on IRS Form 720 Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return, which includes a section specific to the PCORI fee. The version of Form 720 should indicate a revision date of June of the year in which the fee is being reported.... The Form 720 and PCORI fees are due annually by July 31 of the calendar year following the end- date of the policy or plan year to which the fee applies."

"[T]he court found no violation of MHPAEA on the face of the plans themselves because the plans' language broadly excluded any 'experimental, investigational, or unproven' treatment, whether for mental health/substance use disorders or medical/surgical benefits. Similarly, the court determined that plaintiffs' allegation that Cigna tailored its coverage guidelines to exclude mental health/substance use disorder treatment was purely speculative." [ S.F. v. CIGNA Health & Life Ins. Co. , No. 23-0213 (D. Utah May 1, 2024)]

"The retirement industry has seen the power of automated workplace retirement saving and auto-escalation of deferral rates. But how else might automation be used as a reasonable tool to help workers save more?"

"[PTE 84-24] can be used by independent insurance agents who recommend annuities and life insurance policies that only require an insurance license ('independent producers').... [U]nder PTE 84-24 the independent producer is a fiduciary, but the insurance company is not. However, insurance companies will have significant oversight responsibilities, including the review of each application for compliance with the new requirements."

"[This] guidance encourages departments and agencies to make maximum use of existing leave and work schedule flexibilities to the extent permitted by law to allow Federal employees time off for purposes related to seeking safety and recovering from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or related forms of abuse or harassment. It also recognizes employees' important caregiving relationships with family members, including individuals with equivalent relationships regardless of biological or legal relationship as outlined in the broad family member definition used for sick leave."

"[OPM] introduced a new form of paid leave designed for federal workers to use in connection with instances of domestic violence or other sexual or relationship-based trauma.... [T]he new safe leave will fall into a series of pre-existing leave categories, depending on what the federal employee intends to do while on leave. Feds may use annual leave to secure housing, seek help from a domestic violence-focused nonprofit, go to court, engage in safety planning or otherwise deal with the consequences of abusive behavior."

"From a practical perspective, the new transaction-based approach will create a facts-and-circumstances test where investment professionals will need to be noticeably clear as to the nature of the customer interactions to avoid claims for breach of fiduciary duty or claims that the professional engaged in a prohibited transaction."

"If it becomes effective, ... the final rule may cause employers to move towards ... [1] Longer time-based vesting periods. [2] More cliff-based vesting or otherwise requiring workers to be employed at payment to earn a benefit and forfeiture of benefit upon terminations prior to such time. [3] More 'buy outs' as replacement compensation for forfeited equity and incentive compensation for new hires as a result of the above. [4] 'Garden leave' replacing severance."

"Regulated Entities must adopt an attestation form and implement a process for administering the attestation form according to the Final Rule's requirements. Regulated Entities should also consider whether it will be more administratively straightforward to require attestations for all PHI requests that fall within 'non-healthcare' categories ... Because reproductive health care is such a broad concept, an across-the-board approach could limit the possibility that a Regulated Entity will fail to identify whether PHI is related to this type of care."

"[T]he 2024 Final Rule will likely have the same challenging road as its predecessors. Litigation involving prior Section 1557 legislation remains pending in more than one federal district court. And, on May 6, 2024, mere days after the 2024 Final Rule was passed, the state of Florida filed a lawsuit on behalf of a religious medical group seeking an injunction against the 2024 Final Rule."

"[R]esearch found that DC managed account users have a stronger appreciation for the 'time, energy, and stress' saved by delegating management of their 401(k) and retirement planning to a professional, the human advice component, and the fact that the solution is vetted by their employer. In contrast, many non-users are seemingly unaware of the human advice component."

"After two straight months of positive market performance, April's investment losses caused the Milliman 100 PPFI funded ratio to drop from 79.7% as of March 31 to 77.6% as of April 30. In aggregate, the PPFI plans saw estimated investment returns of -2.1% in April ... These losses caused the plans to shed approximately $110 billion in market value for the month ... The deficit between estimated plan assets and liabilities widened from $1.271 trillion on March 31 to $1.404 trillion as of April 30."

"While most employer health plans will not be considered covered entities under the Final Rule (and, as such, will be exempt from many of the rule's process requirements), employers will likely determine they cannot impose such exclusions or limitations regardless, either by operation of the rule's impact on their third-party administrator, or due to other Federal laws."

"[IRS] has provided these dollar limits well in advance of the 2025 open enrollment process. Plan sponsors should ensure the increased dollar limits are appropriately communicated to employees and participants. Payroll procedures should also be updated for 2025 to reflect these revised limits."

"A lot has been written about the so-called 'retirement income' crisis, including whether such a crisis exists at all.... Whether the so-called retirement income crisis does or does not exist is totally irrelevant from a plan sponsor's fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA and fiduciary law. Annuities and other retirement income products and strategies are essentially a liability trap for plan sponsors."

"A significant barrier to appreciating the value of pensions is the widespread lack of financial literacy among Americans.... Instead of exploiting this knowledge gap to advance their agendas, lawmakers and pension critics should prioritize enhancing financial education. The goal should be to empower workers with the necessary skills to secure their financial futures[.]"

"[L]arge PBMs, in particular, may make opaque models more appealing, even if its business practices aren't ideal. The complexity associated with PBM implementation may deter payers from making a change. And/or a PBM may be willing to offer pricing improvements to compensate for its lack of transparency. So, even if a payer wants more transparency, it can be incentivized to maintain the status quo."

"ICHRA adoption grew 29% year over year between 2023 and 2024. ICHRAs grew 84% among employers with 50 or more employees. Among employers surveyed, 83% were not able to offer health benefits until they offered an ICHRA or Qualifying Small Employer HRA. 17% of employers switched from traditional group coverage."

"This legislative season, many states are seeing the recruitment and retention of police, teachers, and other public workers at the forefront of policy agendas. Some lawmakers propose leaning into antiquated defined-benefit pension plans to appeal to an increasingly mobile pool of workers. While attracting and maintaining a high-quality workforce is important, academic research does not support using these old-fashioned pension plans as a solution."

"The sparse statutory and common-law plan-management performance requirements that Ohio offers its STRS participants substantially pale when compared to those that ERISA ... provides. And these performance requirements under ERISA are given teeth by ERISA's enforcement provisions, which are markedly missing from Ohio's statutory schema."

"An increasing number of employers are offering their employees access to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, as part of their mental health coverage to treat depression, anxiety and PTSD -- and to lower costs."

"Health plans need to balance widespread participation and personalization for incentive programs to be successful; technology and meaningful communications are key."

"[I]ndividuals and businesses in Iowa that were affected by severe storms and tornadoes that occurred on April 26, 2024 ... now have until Oct. 15, 2024, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.... [I]ndividuals and households that reside or have a business in Clarke, Harrison, Mills, Polk, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, and Union counties qualify for tax relief."