The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the "CAA") that was signed into law on December 27, 2020, amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA")...

In the early morning hours of February 27, the House of Representatives narrowly passed H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act (the "Rescue Plan"), by a vote of 219-212.

Over the past several years, there has been a growing interest in enhancing employee benefit programs to help employees save for emergencies.

On October 14, 2022 the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ("PBGC") published a proposed regulation regarding the interest rates that multiemployer pension plan actuaries...

There is a new series of putative class action lawsuits in which the plaintiffs allege that employers that sponsor self-funded health plans with health plan premium surcharges...

As the markets continue to create challenges for plan fiduciaries and asset managers, financial regulators are actively working on a number of projects that impact the investment...

On February 5, 2025, in Xerox Corp. v. Loc. 14A, Rochester Reg'l Joint Bd., Xerographic Div. Workers United, No. 23-634, 2025 WL 395729 (2d Cir. Feb. 5, 2025)...

Two documents (brief, detailed) leaked to the press last week provide insight into House Republicans' priorities as they begin to craft a budget resolution and to plan for drafting one or more budget reconciliation bills.

Since 2016, plaintiffs' counsel have filed over 70 putative class actions, mostly against large plan sponsors, alleging deficiencies in election notice requirements as mandated under the Consolidated Omnibus...

Regular readers of this Benefits Brief will recall that there is a case challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) percolating through the courts.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in the NCAA v. Alston case and the U.S. District Court's approval of the settlement in the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit...

Uncashed checks are a common source of headaches for retirement plan administrators. On July 16, the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2025-15, which builds on prior IRS guidance...

In December, the IRS/Treasury ("IRS") published final rules addressing how employers that fund health and welfare benefits through a VEBA...

On March 11, President Biden released his Administration's $7.3 trillion budget for Fiscal Year 2025 after previewing many of these items in his State of the Union address on March 7.

The IRS recently published final regulations regarding new mortality tables to be used for most qualified defined benefit plans. 88 Fed. Reg. 72,357 (Oct. 20, 2023).

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 ("SECURE Act") made several changes to the rules for certain safe harbor 401(k) plans.

The Treasury Department and IRS have released Notice 2026-28, providing the first guidance on calculating the Code section 45S employer tax credit for paid family and medical leave since...

The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration has issued new enforcement guidance that fundamentally reshapes how the agency will conduct investigations and pursue violations.

A federal district court ruled that CMS exceeded its statutory authority in calculating Medicare Advantage Star Ratings measures, potentially affecting how quality bonus payments are determined across the industry. Following the decision, CMS voluntarily recalculated ratings for all Medicare Advantage Organizations using only authorized data sources, marking a significant shift in how plan performance is evaluated and compensated.

The Treasury Department and IRS have issued proposed regulations updating minimum funding rules for single-employer defined benefit pension plans under Internal Revenue Code section 430. These regulations implement statutory changes from WRERA, the SECURE Act, and SECURE 2.0 while addressing technical issues that have emerged since the existing regulations were established.