STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES: Health law takes center stage at U.S. Supreme Court An Affordable Care Act (ACA) case and a federal preemption case involving Medicare and ERISA are before the High Court, with possibly more health law cases to come. By Cathleen Calhoun, J.D. In the 2020-21 term, the U.S. Supreme Court justices will decide at least two important health law cases. The first is an Affordable Care Act Read More
What A Biden Win Could Mean For Employer Health Insurance
By Eric Schillinger and Anne Tyler Hall Over 155 million Americans — nearly half of the country's entire population — are covered by employer-sponsored health insurance. During his campaign, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has proposed numerous significant changes to the U.S. health care system. Although many of those proposals relate to Medicare, Medicaid and the individual insurance market Read More
Family ‘SECURity’: Early Withdrawal Tax Exception for Qualified Births and Adoptions
By Anne Tyler Hall and Katharine Finley, Hall Benefits Law The Setting Up Every Community for Retirement Enhancement Act (the “SECURE Act”), subsumed in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 and signed into law by President Trump in December 2019, effectuated a myriad of changes to qualified retirement plans. One of the more significant provisions in the SECURE Act includes the expansion of the Read More
IRS Provides SECURity Through 401(k) Plan Expansion to Long-Term, Part-Time Workers
By Anne Tyler Hall and Katharine Finley On December 19, 2019, the House and Senate approved the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. This legislative package of spending bills included the Setting Up Every Community for Retirement Enhancement Act (the “SECURE Act”) and was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019. One of the more significant changes set forth in Section 112 of the SECURE Read More
IRS Provides Updated Model 402(f) Notices – For SECURE Act Changes That Do Not Necessitate a 402(f) Notice (!)
By Anne Tyler Hall and Keely Collins, Hall Benefits Law On August 6, 2020, the IRS released Notice 2020-62 (the “IRS Notice”) providing updated safe harbor explanations for rollover distributions ( “402(f) Notices”) to accommodate changes made under the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”). Specifically, the new 402(f) Notices – one for distributions from a non- Read More
Hall Benefits Law Welcomes Attorney Keely Collins to Compliance Counsel Role, Graduates First Summer Intern
ATLANTA, Aug. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- July of 2020 was a busy month for national boutique ERISA law firm Hall Benefits Law. Expanding its efforts to recruit and build top talent to best serve its clients, Hall Benefits Law added Compliance Counsel Keely Collins to its growing team of attorneys and bid adieu to J.D. Candidate Allison Richter after her completion of the Firm's inaugural HBL Summer Intern Read More
Hall Benefits Law Sharpens Focus on Excellence, Selects Chief Operating Officer, Lead ERISA Counsel Ahead of Seventh Anniversary
ATLANTA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Having increased its national reach to 30 states in less than seven years, in the second quarter of 2020 boutique ERISA law firm Hall Benefits Law added leadership in the form of Lead ERISA Counsel and Chief Operating Officer. Robert Forman and Kenneth Beaver were selected for these roles through a nationwide search with an emphasis on years of experience and demonstrated Read More
DOL Introduces New Safe Harbor for Retirement Plan Disclosures; Health and Welfare Plans Remain Subject to Existing Safe Harbor E-Disclosure Rules
By Anne Tyler Hall and Eric Schillinger, Hall Benefits Law On May 27, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a final rule on electronic disclosures of ERISA-required documents (the “Final Rule”) that relaxes previous disclosure guidelines and allows retirement plan administrators to deliver documents to participants using modern electronic methods (the “2020 Safe Harbor”). Importantly, the Final Rule Read More
Law 360 – How Cos. Can Boost Benefits For Rank-And-File Employees
By Lawrence Eisenberg (May 13, 2020) In light of COVID-19, many people anticipate a new normal. In that spirit, employers may want to consider new ways of demonstrating appreciation of their extraordinary and valued rank-and-file employees (i.e., non-highly compensated employees, or NHCEs),[1] who have given and been through so much. One way to do this is to adopt an NHCE reward and compensation plan. What Is an Read More
