As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, administrators of defined benefit pension plans continue to field questions about the notary requirement related to certain participant and spousal elections. For qualified retirement plans subject to the qualified joint and survivor annuity rules (such as defined benefit pension plans), an alternative form of…

The IRS recently issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30, which updates the correction program under the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).  EPCRS permits plan sponsors to correct failures in the form and operation of retirement plans intended to satisfy the requirements of Sections 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408(k) or 408(p) of the…

As discussed in our prior post, under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, certain individuals who are eligible for COBRA coverage as a result of an involuntary ‎termination of employment or reduction in hours may be eligible to receive a 100% subsidy for ‎COBRA coverage for a six-month…

On April 2, 2021, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) related to the implementation of the mental health and substance use disorder parity provisions under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”) and the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity…

As discussed in our prior blog post, on April 28, 2020, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Treasury Department (the “Agencies”) published joint guidance extending certain important deadlines that are otherwise applicable to employee benefit plans.  Specifically, the Agencies ordered that all…

Anti-assignment clauses in ERISA health plans are useful to plan sponsors in fending off lawsuits by out-of-network providers.  Federal courts have consistently upheld anti-assignment provisions contained in the plan document and/or the summary plan description (SPD); however, a recent ERISA case serves as a warning about the unintentional waiver of…

Retirement plans of all sizes often find themselves faced with participants or beneficiaries who are either missing or do not respond to communication. The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has long been concerned with how plans try to locate and contact these ‘missing’ participants and, more importantly, how they try…

Anti-assignment clauses in ERISA health plans are useful to plan sponsors in fending off lawsuits by out-of-network providers.  Federal courts have consistently upheld anti-assignment provisions contained in the plan document and/or the summary plan description (SPD).

In a recent unpublished ERISA case, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th…