Over the years, many plan sponsors have accumulated surplus assets in their pension and welfare benefit programs for various reasons.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a landmark ruling in In re Quest Diagnostics ERISA Litigation, affirming that plan fiduciaries who follow a prudent process are protected even when investment performance falters. The decision establishes that ERISA requires sound fiduciary procedures rather than perfect outcomes, and courts should defer to reasonable exercises of discretion when evaluating whether to retain underperforming funds.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") provided employers valuable relief from the economic stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic...

CMS published the Calendar Year ("CY") 2024 Medicare Advantage ("MA") Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D Payment Policies ("Rate Announcement") on March 31 and, five days later...

Earlier this year, a Johnson & Johnson ("J&J") employee brought a class action complaint (the "Complaint") against J&J alleging fiduciary breaches under ERISA related to the prescription...

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 ("Act") imposed a 15% corporate minimum tax on the "adjusted financial statement income" ("AFSI") of taxpayers...

The MHPAEA provisions of the CAA became effective February 10, 2021 and added a requirement for group health plans and health insurance issuers to prepare an analysis demonstrating compliance with MHPAEA's NQTL requirements.

On February 24th, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Treasury, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (together, "the Agencies")...

The No Surprises Act has successfully protected patients from balance billing, but the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution process faces mounting challenges from unexpectedly high claim volumes and operational inefficiencies.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed changes to how market-return cash balance pension plans are measured on corporate balance sheets. Currently, these plans can show liability measurements that significantly deviate from actual participant account balances, potentially misrepresenting a plan sponsor's true financial obligations. The proposed update aims to align accounting treatment with economic reality by allowing these plans to use their assumed interest crediting rate as the discount r

On February 23, 2023, the IRS published final regulations (the "Final Rule") that materially expand which reporting entities must file electronically rather than on paper.

In 2025, plaintiffs continued to file ERISA breach of fiduciary duty class actions targeting large defined contribution plans at a prolific pace.

Plaintiffs continue to file lawsuits against employers challenging wellness programs that impose a health insurance premium surcharge on participants if they use tobacco and do not complete a tobacco cessation course—in total, plaintiffs have filed more than 45 such lawsuits.

Within the past week, two Texas federal district courts entered orders vacating the Department of Labor's ("DOL") 2024 regulation (the "2024 Fiduciary Rule") re-defining the circumstances under which a person ...

On April 19, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the "EEOC") published a final rule and interpretive guidance ("Final Rule") to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ("PWFA"), effective June 18, 2024.

On January 10, 2025, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued Proposed Regulations addressing one of SECURE 2.0's signature requirements: that all newly established 401(k) plans and 403(b)...

Historically, the topic of forfeitures has raised many questions for qualified plan administrators- specifically, how and when they can be used. But there has been little formal guidance...

Employers who compensate employees through nonqualified stock options or restricted stock units ("RSUs") should be aware of an upcoming Securities...

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ("PBGC") recently issued Technical Update Number 23-1 to provide for certain underfunded pension plans a limited waiver from the reporting requirements...

On February 3, 2026, Congress passed and the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 ("CAA 26")...