A New Jersey federal district court has dismissed the plaintiff’s breach of fiduciary claims in Lewandowski v. Johnson & Johnson, et al. No 3:24-cv-00671 (D.N.J. January 24, 2025) without prejudice and with leave to amend the complaint, based on standing. In her lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and its Pension & Benefits Committee, Ann Lewandowski alleged that the defendants collectively breached their Read More

The Seventh Circuit has reinstated a lawsuit by an auto parts corporation seeking a clawback of the proceeds a former plant manager received from selling his stock shares. The Court reversed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the former manager, stating that it should not have considered the reasonableness of the noncompete clause in the stock agreement. The case is LKQ Corporation v. Robert Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued FAQs About Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 Implementation Part 69. The FAQs provide guidance on the calculation of the qualifying payment amount (QPA) used in the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process under the No Surprises Act. The FAQs also extended enforcement Read More

Employers are facing multiple challenges this year in providing competitive and quality health care benefits for employees. Skyrocketing costs, increased fiduciary risk, and a constantly evolving legal and political landscape all are impacting the ability of employers to effectively provide healthcare benefits. Nonetheless, employers appear dedicated to continuing to provide these benefits, with an estimated 43% Read More

The U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has proposed regulations concerning SECURE Act 2.0 changes to retirement plan catch-up contributions. The changes include increased catch-up contributions for plan participants between ages 60 and 63 and mandatory Roth tax treatment for catch-up contributions made by certain 401(k) plan participants. Increased Catch-Up Contributions for Certain Read More

The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approved updated preventive services guidelines for women on December 20, 2024. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), group health plans and insurers, with the exception of non-grandfathered plans[1], must cover certain preventive health services without cost-sharing. The updated HRSA guidelines apply to Read More

In December 2024, the unlikely pairing of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. introduced a bipartisan bill entitled the Patients Before Monopolies Act. Reps. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn, and Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., introduced the same bill in the House. However, the bill died at the close of the final session for Congress on January 3, 2025. With the change in administration, it is unclear Read More

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued a second interim report concerning the mark-ups on high-cost generic specialty drugs sold at pharmacies owned by the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). This report follows a July 2024 report in which the FTC found that the biggest PBMs paid higher drug prices to their pharmacies than other pharmacies. The PBMs at issue include Cigna’s Express Scripts Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the petition for certiorari filed by Tenneco, an auto parts manufacturer, and its subsidiary, Driv Automotive, Inc., seeking to enforce an arbitration provision in its ERISA-governed retirement plan. Tenneco sought a resolution of the ongoing split in the circuit courts of appeal about the enforceability of arbitration provisions in ERISA-covered plans. The continuing split has Read More

Excessive fee class action litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) has dramatically increased by 35% in 2024, along with other ERISA class action cases. This surge has been particularly heavy in the last half of the year, likely relying on record-high settlements favoring plaintiffs in the past three consecutive years. While major legacy cases have reached settlement, plaintiff law firms Read More