A bipartisan group of attorneys general from 31 states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief in support of a petition for certiorari by Oklahoma’s insurance commissioner to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. In its ruling, the Tenth Circuit held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and Medicare Part D partially preempted an Oklahoma law regulating Read More

A New York federal district court judge has ruled that an amended ERISA complaint based on a breach of fiduciary duty against the Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America (TIAA) may proceed after it was originally dismissed in 2022. The judge agreed that the complaint contained sufficient evidence of TIAA, a wealth management and investment firm, systematically cross-selling its adviser-managed account Read More

A federal district court judge denied Qualcomm Inc.’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former employee and current company 401(k) retirement plan participant. Antonio Perez-Cruet alleges in his Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) suit that Qualcomm violated its duty of prudence when it used forfeited retirement funds to reduce its plan contributions rather than decrease administrative expenses borne Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have updated the Submission Instructions and User Manual for the Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation (GCPCA). Background of the GCPCA Group health plans and insurance companies cannot enter contracts with providers, provider networks, or entities offering provider network Read More

A group of mostly Republican senators has issued a resolution of disapproval to repeal the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new rule that expands who qualifies as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Two Republican representatives introduced a similar measure in the U.S. House of Representatives. These members of Congress criticize the new rule as damaging Americans’ ability to save Read More

A split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the ruling of a federal district court in a federal anti-discrimination law case involving transgender healthcare rights. The Court found that a Georgia county's health insurance plan violated Title VII when it denied a plan participant coverage for gender-reassignment surgery. The case is Anna Lange v. Houston County, Georgia, et al., Read More

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a final rule that modifies the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“the Privacy Rule”) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The purpose of this rule is to support reproductive healthcare privacy in the post-Dobbs era for both patients and healthcare providers. Although the changes Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued a final rule revoking its Association Health Plan (AHP) regulations. The agency expects to replace these regulations with a stricter version that provides more employee protections. The group health plan market consists of small and large group markets based on the employer's size. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Read More

The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury, recently issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 Implementation (Part 67). These FAQs address certain issues in implementing Title I provisions (the No Surprises Act) because of a Texas federal court decision (TMA III). A major purpose of the FAQs is to inform plans, insurers, and Read More

A Michigan federal district court judge declined to dismiss most of a suit alleging that the trustee of a steel company’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) permitted it to buy $60 million in stock at an inflated price. According to the court’s ruling, the plaintiff adequately supported his claim that the plan trustee Capital Trustees LLC and SAC Ventures Inc. violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act Read More