The U.S. Court of Appeals recently revived a lawsuit against AT&T Services Inc. and its retirement plan fiduciaries after a district court had granted summary judgment in favor of the telecommunications giant. The published decision, binding in the Ninth Circuit, focused on indirect fees received by service plan providers. This issue potentially subjects retirement plan fiduciaries to legal attacks they have not Read More

Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 457 details tax consequences for deferred compensation retirement plans for tax-exempt organizations (EOs) and state and local government entities (S&L plans). Plans that meet certain eligibility requirements under Section 457(b) have deferred tax benefits, and those that fail to meet these requirements are subject to tax consequences under Section 457(f). Here are some common Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued IR-2023-144 (“IRS Notice”) on August 29, 2023, which concerns Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). These plans allow employees to accrue ownership of company stock over time. The IRS Notice warns employers who sponsor ESOPs to be wary of the many compliance rules that these plans involve. In particular, the IRS expresses concern in its Notice that some ESOP transactions Read More

A recent Tenth Circuit decision invalidating portions of an Oklahoma law regulating pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) based on preemption could negatively affect similar laws in other states. The appellate court found that the Employee Retirement Income Security Administration (ERISA) and Medicare Part D preempted the challenged provisions of the PBM law. In its decision, the Tenth Circuit also explicitly acknowledged Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently overturned portions of Oklahoma’s Patient’s Right to Pharmacy Choice Act, a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), who serve as intermediaries between pharmacies, insurance companies, and drug companies. A three-judge panel reversed a federal district court judge’s April 2022 ruling in finding that the Act’s restrictions on network access and Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is seeking public comment on various provisions of SECURE Act 2.0. The Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) published the 60-day request for public comment in the Federal Register on August 11, 2023. Comments are due by October 10, 2023, and can be submitted via the federal rulemaking portal at www.regulations.gov or by mail to the DOL. President Joe Biden signed Read More

A federal district court has temporarily halted additional provisions of the No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution (IDR) process, which the legislation mandates some out-of-network providers, group health plans, and insurers use to resolve billing disputes. The case is Texas Med. Ass’n v. HHS, 2023 WL 4977746 (E.D. Tex. 2023). On two previous occasions, the court has set aside portions of U.S. Department Read More

A self-insured health plan participant sued the plan and plan administrator after receiving denials of his claims for his child’s residential mental health treatment. The participant claimed that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield violated the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) for imposing a treatment limitation on mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits that it did not impose on Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently ruled that $1.1 million in penalties that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assessed against a wireless phone company for failing to provide health insurance coverage for its employees in violation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a tax. Therefore, the company could not challenge the penalty due to the Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits lawsuits Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Department of Treasury have issued their second MHPAEA Comparative Analysis Report to Congress. This report is a requirement of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA, 2021) and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Under the CAA, 2021, health plans and insurers imposing Read More