Colgate-Palmolive and its retirees are asking a federal court to approve a $332 million settlement in a class action lawsuit concerning the payout amounts of the former workers’ pensions. The settlement in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case will bring the almost decade-long suit to a close. The case is McCutcheon et al. v. Colgate-Palmolive Co. et al., Case Number 1:16-cv-04170, U.S. District Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) recently used its regulatory update to announce several new rules, including a new fee disclosure rule concerning pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Characterized as a “high-priority” action for EBSA, the PBM fee disclosure rule would focus on direct and indirect compensation to further an executive order promoting drug price Read More

A federal judge has approved a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement between Blue Cross and Blue Shield carriers (“the Blues”) and healthcare providers. The settlement resolves the plaintiff healthcare providers’ claims that the Blues conspired to decrease provider payments. The final settlement, which the parties reached in October 2024, allows for about $657 million in attorneys’ fees and $102 million in litigation Read More

According to data from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), which has 31,000 member employers, a 10% increase in healthcare costs is forecasted for next year. These figures have risen from the 8% increase that surveyed employers anticipated in 2025. Catastrophic claims, costly specialty and prescription drugs, including GLP-1 injectable weight-loss medications and cancer drugs, and Read More

Attorneys for a former Genentech worker recently argued a district court’s dismissal of a proposed class action before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The former worker alleged that the biotechnology company retained imprudent investment options in its 401(k) plan for several years in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). They also claimed that the Read More

Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company recently agreed to settle a proposed class action lawsuit following mediation. Plan participants claimed in the suit that Cigna violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when it advertised to plan participants certain providers as in-network who were in fact out-of-network. The case is Hecht et al. v. The Cigna Group, Case Number 1:24-cv-05926, U.S. District Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to hear a case during its next term that focuses on how multiemployer pension plans determine withdrawal liability when employers leave the plans. The Court’s decision in M & K Employee Solutions LLC v. Trustees of IAM National Pension Fund could have significant effects for small, unionized employers. Although a relatively small percentage of employers contribute to multiemployer Read More