Last week, in its Cybersecurity Summer Newsletter, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) published best practices for creating an IT asset inventory list to assist healthcare providers and business associates in understanding where electronic protected health information (ePHI) is located within their organization, and improve HIPAA Security Rule compliance. OCR
Articles about the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and other issues relating to employee benefit topics
Post-Bostock Ruling Does Little to Resolve Health Plan Uncertainty
A federal court ruling staying key parts of new Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations in light of the landmark Supreme Court of the United States ruling on sexual orientation and gender identity will provide little certainty to employers about how federal discrimination law applies to their health plans.
Retirement Plan Sponsors Must Soon Provide Annual Lifetime Income Illustrations
Last year, Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, often called the “SECURE Act”.
Court Decision Restores Affordable Care Act’s Discrimination Protections for Transgender Patients
A New York court has restored anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Walker et al. v. Azar et al., No. 20-cv-2834 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 17, 2020).
Section 1557 of the ACA extends Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972’s prohibition against “sex discrimination” to covered
DOL Finally Releases Their Much Anticipated Electronic Disclosure Safe Harbor Final Rules for Retirement Plans
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued the long-awaited electronic disclosure final regulations providing employers with two new safe harbor methods for electronic delivery of retirement plan disclosures. The final rules are effective July 27, 2020; however, plan administrators may rely on them prior to that date. This Client Alert provides a summary of these new rules.
Don’t Miss Out: Deadlines are Upon Us
Deadlines are a large part of employee benefit plan administration. The past 12 – 18 months have contributed to potential confusion about standard deadlines and added new deadlines plan administrators will not want to overlook. During this period, the IRS created a one-time window deadline, published extensions for some plans’
OCR Warns HIPAA Covered Entities: When You Learn About HIPAA Violations, Fix Them
Roger Severino, Director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provides advice for HIPAA covered health care providers:
When informed of potential HIPAA violations, providers owe it to their patients to quickly address problem areas to safeguard individuals’ health information
Department of Labor Releases Guidance for 401(k) Plan Investments in Private Equity
Last month the US Department of Labor (Department) issued an Information Letter stating that it is possible for individual account plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to offer limited private equity investments in a manner that complies with ERISA, provided certain suitability issues are considered by plan fiduciaries. The Information Letter confirms that a plan fiduciary would not violate ERISA fiduciary duties “solely because the fiduciary offers a professionally managed asset allocation fund with a private equity component.” Similarly, the Information Letter confirms that fiduciaries may offer private equity as a small component of an ERISA plan’s diversified investment option, like a target date fund, a target risk fund, or a balanced fund.
DOL Guidance on ESG Investing by Retirement Plans: Investment Committees Should Handle with Care
The United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) recently issued a proposed rule on the fiduciary requirements under the federal pension law, ERISA, that apply to the selection and monitoring of environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investments in retirement plans. Under the proposed rule, which would be effective 60
COVID-19 Emergence Strategies for Companies’ Executive Compensation Plans
Employers that have experienced significant disruptions to their executive compensation programs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic should consider our top 10 cost saving/incentivization strategies as they begin to reopen.
Is Personal Information of Retirement Plan Participants an ERISA Plan Asset?
A little more than one year ago, we reported on a settlement (Cassell et al. v. Vanderbilt University, et al.) involving the alleged wrongful use of personal information belonging to retirement plan participants, claimed to be “plan assets.” This year, similar claims have been made against Shell Oil Company in connection
IRS Temporarily Relaxes Cafeteria Plan Midyear Election Change and FSA Rules and Provides Other Employee Benefit Relief
As part of an ongoing effort by the IRS to provide employers and employees with flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS recently issued notices 2020-29 and 2020-33, providing relief with respect to “cafeteria plans,” health flexible spending accounts (Health FSAs), dependent care assistance programs (DCAPs), and high deductible health plans (HDHPs).
ERISA Pension Plan Liability? 10th Circuit Rules in Favor of Foreign Parent of U.S. Subsidiary
On paper, the rule is straightforward: if a company sponsors a defined benefit pension plan or participates in a union/multiemployer pension plan in the United States, all members of that company’s controlled group of corporations (e.g., parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates connected through a common equity ownership of 80 percent or
IRS Issues Proposed Regulations for Tax-Exempt Organizations Paying Excess Executive Compensation
The IRS issued proposed regulations under Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), which was added as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The proposed regulations published in the Federal Register on June 11, 2020, largely follow the IRS interim guidance under
OCR’s Relaxed Enforcement of HIPAA During COVID-19 Paves The Way For Increase in Telehealth Services
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the country, doctors, dentists, therapists and other healthcare providers have turned to telehealth use with their patients by way of videoconferencing applications such as Zoom, Skype and WebEx. The Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Health and Human Services (“OCR”)
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