The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is collecting voluntary data from retirement plan administrators to populate its new Retirement Savings Lost and Found database. Section 303 of the SECURE 2.0 Act directs DOL to consult with the Department of Treasury to establish this database by December 29, 2024. The database will consist of an online Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2024-80, which makes adjustments to the annual contribution limits for qualified defined contribution plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for the 2025 tax year. Qualified Defined Contribution Plans The annual contribution limit for workers participating in qualified defined contribution plans, which include 401(k), 403(b), and most 457 plans, Read More

Health plans charging so-called “tobacco surcharges” to increase health insurance premiums for smokers have increasingly come under fire through a series of class action lawsuits alleging violations of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The lawsuits, which are currently pending in federal district courts in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and other states, claim that ERISA Read More

The impending transition from the Biden administration to the Trump administration will undoubtedly affect all facets of American life. However, the shift, along with Republican control of the Senate and potentially the House, is likely to result in major changes for employer-sponsored health and welfare plans. The Affordable Care Act First, the Biden administration worked to maintain and strengthen the Read More

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has announced settlement agreements with Heritage Pharmaceuticals and Apotex Corp. that total $49.1 million in pending multistate litigation over unlawfully inflated drug prices. Tong is the lead attorney for most of the plaintiffs, who come from all 50 states and U.S. territories. The lawsuits target 30 corporate defendants and 25 executives for their alleged participation Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a Texas federal district court’s vacatur of certain provisions of the No Surprises Act, finding that the provisions were neither arbitrary nor capricious. However, the Court affirmed the district court’s vacatur of a provision of the Act related to insurers’ deadlines. The case is Texas Medical Association et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Read More

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the imposition of a $240,000 civil penalty against Providence Medical Institute in southern California for violating the HIPAA security rule. OCR investigated the covered entity after it reported a series of ransomware attacks that compromised the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 85,000 Read More

LinkedIn, the world's largest professional networking social media site, faces three class action lawsuits brought under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). Individuals who made appointments through the websites of three healthcare companies brought suits, alleging that LinkedIn was violating the CIPA by accessing their private personal and healthcare information. They claim that LinkedIn installed its Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has reversed a Michigan federal district court’s April 2023 dismissal of a 401(k) plan mismanagement class action against Kellogg, finding that an arbitration provision in the plan didn’t preclude the claims. The case is Bradley Fleming v. Kellogg Co. et al., case number 23-1966, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Former Kellogg employee Bradley H. Read More

Employees of Campbell Soup. Co. have filed a class action lawsuit in a New Jersey federal district court, claiming that the company unlawfully charges smokers higher premiums for health insurance in violation of ERISA. According to the employees, tobacco surcharges are permissible under ERISA only if they are part of a wellness program meeting strict criteria. More specifically, the wellness program must promote Read More