The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a proposed rule entitled “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities.” The proposed rule, designed to advance health equity and protect people from discrimination, revises the implementing regulation for Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The rule also proposes revisions to nondiscrimination provisions in Centers for Medicare & Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final regulations broaden the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to include more investment advisors. However, the eight hundred pages of final regulations, which consist of a final rule and three sets of amendments to ERISA prohibited transaction exemptions, contain crucial differences from the proposed regulations. Therefore, Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued the Retirement Security Rule. This final rule expands the definition of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to include a much broader range of situations involving investment advice. ERISA fiduciaries must legally act in the best interests of the retirement plan participants they advise. The final rule now requires a larger group of Read More

Overbilling in the healthcare industry continues to increase dramatically across the United States, to the tune of billions of dollars annually. The existing system has caused skyrocketing annual premium renewals for employers and sharply climbing out-of-pocket costs for plan members. These high costs have led to frustration, dissatisfaction, and the first reported ERISA breach of fiduciary duty litigation over Read More

As noted in a recent prior blog, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has permitted a class action lawsuit under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and ERISA to proceed. Ruling on procedural grounds, the court found that it was sufficient for plaintiff Ryan S. to allege that United Health Group was applying an algorithm to mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) claims that Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a trial court’s dismissal of a class action lawsuit in which group health plan participants alleged that the insurer violated the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The case is Ryan S. v. UnitedHealth Grp., Inc., 2024 WL 1561668 (9th Cir. 2024). The plan Read More

At least nine pending proposed class action lawsuits challenging how companies use 401(k) forfeitures are facing rulings on motions to dismiss in the coming weeks. 401(k) forfeitures occur when a worker leaves their employment before the employer’s matching contributions are fully vested. The 401(k) plan participants in these suits claim that their employers misused forfeited funds by reducing their expenses on Read More

The Biden administration unveiled its FFY 2025 budget, which calls for $7.3 trillion in spending. In the proposed budget, Biden maintains his pledge to focus on expanding and transforming the nation’s mental health system. He cited the need for ensuring access to mental health care amidst a nationwide unprecedented mental health crisis affecting people of all ages. Biden also mentioned his intention to invest in the Read More

Aerospace and defense technology company L3Harris has agreed to settle an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class action lawsuit for $650,000. Plan participants in the company’s $5.2 million 401(k) plan claimed that the defense contractor violated ERISA by charging excessive fees and retaining expensive investment options. The case is Stengl et al. v. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. et al., case number Read More

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently heard arguments in the federal government’s appeal of a lower court’s decision to vacate various Affordable Care Act (ACA) preventive care requirements. U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Conner also issued a nationwide injunction preventing the Biden administration from enforcing the ACA preventive care requirements. The court based its Read More