Various provisions in President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill threaten to undermine the strides that states have made in recent years to increase health insurance coverage for residents under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Shorter enrollment periods, more documentation requirements, no automatic reenrollment, and higher premiums are likely to affect consumers. Analysts expect that these changes will Read More

Passage of the budget reconciliation bill may prompt members of Congress to take on reform of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), health savings accounts (HSAs), and individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRAs). More specifically, the National Association of Business and Insurance Professionals (NABIP), along with some members of Congress, has prioritized setting federal rules for PBMs, creating a Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is retreating from a proposed rule that would have ended a program allowing employers to pay workers with disabilities an hourly wage less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The DOL is allegedly pulling the proposed rule, titled “Employment of Workers With Disabilities Under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act,” due to concern about the lack of employment Read More

If the Senate confirms President Donald Trump’s choice of Daniel Aronowitz as assistant secretary of labor for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), benefits attorneys could see some major policy changes later this year.  Enforcement of ERISA by EBSA Priorities in the enforcement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) are likely to change, given DOL staff cuts and Aronowitz’s statements during Read More

The congressional budget reconciliation bill, which President Donald Trump signed on July 4, 2025, includes various provisions of interest to employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys.  No Impact on Tax Provisions Related to Employer-Sponsored Health and Retirement Benefit Plans The GOP mega budget reconciliation package made no changes to individual and business tax provisions that concern Read More

The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), the Chamber of Commerce of America, and the American Benefits Council have filed an amicus brief in Hutchins v. HP, Inc. This case, which is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, is a class action lawsuit in which retirement plan participants are challenging the use of “forfeited” money from 401(k) and 403(b) plans to pay administrative plan Read More

Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has modified its policies on various issues related to employee benefits. These policy changes include a pause on mental health parity enforcement, rescission of guidance on cryptocurrency for 401(k) plan fiduciaries, and replacement of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rule when retirement plans are choosing Read More

Anthem will settle a proposed class action lawsuit alleging violations of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and mental health parity laws at a cost of about $12.9 million. The case is Marissa Collins et al. v. Anthem Inc. et al., case number 2:20-cv-01969, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The participants in employer-provided health plans administered by Anthem Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a 6–3 decision upholding the constitutionality of an advisory panel that chooses the benefits to be included in the Affordable Care Act’s preventive benefits package. In the majority opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court held that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has sufficient authority over the U.S. Read More