Benefits Law Update
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Section 530A accounts, commonly referred to as Trump accounts, have attracted attention since the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in...
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (“PBM”) arrangements have long relied on rebates with limited transparency into true drug costs. Recent regulatory and...
On March 30, 2026, the Department of Labor issued a proposed regulation purporting to implement an executive order to expand access to “alternative...
Recordkeepers will soon begin to distribute new Adoption Agreements or Adoption Agreement Amendments to their pre-approved plan customers. These...
Federal Tax Treatment and Reporting of State PFML Benefits – IRS Extends Compliance Deadline to 2027
Over the last decade, more than a dozen states have established state-run mandatory paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs, including...
The cost of GLP-1 medications to group health plans continues to increase rapidly as FDA approval expands and the percentage of participants and...
Self-insured group health plans are HIPAA “covered entities” and—unlike most fully insured arrangements—typically must maintain and...
We often are asked how to correct automatic enrollment and automatic escalation errors in 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans. The fix typically has...
Non-governmental employers that sponsor Section 457(b) deferred compensation plans should be mindful that December 31, 2025, is the deadline for plan...
Introduction Maine’s new Act to Improve Accountability and Understanding of Data in Insurance Transactions (the “Audit Act” or “Act”)...
Many 401(k) plan sponsors are currently discussing implementation of the new Roth catch-up contribution rules, which were published on September 16,...
Participants in 401(k) plans and other defined contribution retirement plans may soon have the opportunity to invest their plan accounts in a variety...
We often are asked how an employer’s existing short-term disability (“STD”) policy will interact with new state medical leave programs. While...
Severance plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) must satisfy certain compliance...
Employers and their compensation advisors often assume that an arrangement to pay employees in the future for work done over time will be subject to...
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision Cunningham v. Cornell University, 145 S.Ct. 1020 (2025) significantly lowers the pleading standard for...
Despite efforts by plan sponsors and third-party administrators/plan recordkeepers to communicate to defined contribution retirement plan...
In the context of medical coverage, the terms “Preventive Services” and “Preventive Care” are often used interchangeably. The two terms,...
On April 3, 2025, the Department of Labor issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2025-02 (the FAB), providing initial guidance and updated models for...
On Labor Day, September 2, 1974, Gerald Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) into law. ERISA governs the...
Many employers are facing challenges in incorporating high-cost GLP-1 medications, such as Mounjaro, Ozempic, Rybelsus, Trulicity, and Wegovy, into...
It is axiomatic that a person who has fiduciary responsibility with respect to an ERISA benefit plan must monitor the performance of any plan service...
Since we last discussed environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) developments in the context of ERISA retirement plans (see our...
“Solo 401(k)” is a marketing term used for a 401(k) plan that is adopted by a sole proprietor or an incorporated business with no employees other...
Retirement plan fiduciaries have a new option for handling small benefit payments owed to missing participants and beneficiaries thanks to a...
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury, with the Office of Personnel Management (the “Departments”)...
On September 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a press release announcing that it was publishing updated cybersecurity guidance in...
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 added new Section 523 to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), requiring the Department of...
For over twenty years, the IRS has provided guidance on correcting overpayments from retirement plans through its correction program, the Employee...
The long-anticipated final rule under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was published on September 9, 2024. The MHPAEA...
About the Blog
Verrill’s Benefits Law Update blog delivers timely insights and practical guidance on the ever-evolving landscape of employee benefits and executive compensation. Our blog provides up-to-date analysis and commentary on a wide range of topics, including timely updates on developments in law affecting employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements.
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About
Verrill’s Benefits Law Update blog delivers timely insights and practical guidance on the evolving landscape of employee benefits and executive compensation. Verrill’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group has substantial experience in all aspects of employee benefits law and executive compensation, providing collaborative legal services to mid-sized and larger employers, both for-profit and not-for-profit, across diverse industries.
Our blog provides up-to-date analysis and commentary on a wide range of topics affecting retirement plans, health and welfare benefits, and executive and deferred compensation arrangements.
Recent posts have addressed:
- Regulatory and legislative developments, including SECURE 2.0 implementation, updated Department of Labor guidance on annual funding notices, and evolving Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) rules.
- Fiduciary governance and risk management for ERISA plans, including litigation risk around investment and fee practices, and practical strategies for committee oversight.
- Plan design and operational issues for 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans, such as long-term part-time employee eligibility, student loan matching programs, and correction of operational failures.
- Health plan compliance topics, including coverage mandates, prescription drug and other transparency reporting under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, and cybersecurity expectations for group health plans.
- Executive and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, including the scope of the top hat plan rules and coordination of compensation deferral elections with new Roth catch-up contribution rules and recent IRS guidance under Code Sections 409A and 457(f).
- State law developments, including Maine’s paid family and medical leave program and related employer policy updates and implementation considerations.
Samuel J. Baldwin and William D. Jewett are the blog’s editors.
Please note that the content presented in this blog is not intended to constitute legal advice and cannot be relied upon by any person as legal advice. U.S. Treasury Regulations require us to notify you that any tax-related material in this blog (including links and attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties, and may not be referred to in any marketing or promotional materials. While we welcome comments on our blog posts, submitting a comment does not create an attorney-client relationship between the Firm and the commenter. Accordingly, please do not include in any comment or question information about any matter that may involve you.