Humana Inc. and Mark Cuban recently announced at the Forbes healthcare conference that they are working on a potential pharmacy partnership, which could increase pressure on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Cuban owns Cost Plus Drugs, a company that sells medications to consumers via mail-order and prides itself on transparent pricing. Humana primarily sells Medicare health plans, but its CenterWell Division is Read More

The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) and other organizations filed an amicus brief in Matula, Jr. v. Wells Fargo & Company (Matula), a 401(k) forfeiture case pending on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Matula is representative of a recent trend of class action lawsuits challenging retirement plan administrators and employers that use “forfeited” funds to offset plan expenses or Read More

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor is opting to abandon its appeal of the legal challenges to the so-called fiduciary rule. After insurance industry groups filed immediate legal challenges to the 2024 fiduciary rule proposed by the DOL under the Biden administration, two federal district courts issued stays preventing the rule from taking effect. The cases were Read More

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering the Unfunded Mandates Accountability and Transparency Act of 2025 (“the Act”). This bill would require impact analyses for new rules from the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and other federal agencies with an anticipated economic impact of $100 million or more. According to the Congressional Read More

Lehigh Valley Health Network Inc., a Pennsylvania health system, has agreed to settle a 401(k) forfeiture suit for $1.15 million. The company operates 32 hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey after a 2024 merger with Jefferson Health and employs about 65,000 workers. The case is Kiskeravage et al. v. Lehigh Valley Health Network Inc. et al., case number 5:24-cv-05567, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Read More

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued an advisory opinion clarifying that employers can offer lifetime income insurance products as default investments in 401(k) plans. The guidance follows an executive order from President Donald Trump directing increased access to so-called “nontraditional” retirement plan assets.  DOL Secretary of Labor Lori Read More

CVS Caremark, the pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) for CVS, has filed a notice of appeal of a $290 million judgment in a lawsuit alleging that it overbilled for Medicare Part D-sponsored drugs. The judgment was increased from $95 million to $290 million in August 2025 in an order from a Pennsylvania federal district court that included treble damages for Caremark’s “serious” misconduct under the False Claims Act. The Read More

A former equity partner at Husch Blackwell LLP has filed a proposed class action alleging that the law firm unlawfully withheld and misused employee 401(k) contributions. The suit, which is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, accuses the firm of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by holding funds deferred from employees’ salaries and using them to cover Read More

A federal district court judge in Tennessee has denied LifePoint Health’s motion to dismiss a proposed class action accusing the company of mismanaging its 401(k) plan. As a result of the ruling, current and former LifePoint employees can proceed with their claims that the company and its fiduciaries violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by charging excessive fees and improperly using forfeited Read More

A Texas federal district court judge entered final judgment in favor of American Airlines in a class action lawsuit filed by workers over alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The workers claimed that the company’s investment emphasis on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in its retirement plan breached the duty of loyalty under ERISA.  The case is Spence v. Read More