Understanding Employee Benefits and key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. MORE

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As signed into law, Section 603 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) required that effective as of January 1, 2024, participants in 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, or governmental 457(b) plans, who were age 50 or older and whose Social Security wages for the previous year exceed $145,000 (indexed), only be permitted

On August 3, 2022, the IRS published Notice 2022-33, which extends the deadlines for amending retirement plans and IRAs to reflect certain changes to the law made by the SECURE Act; the Bipartisan American Miners Act; and section 2203 (allowing waiver of 2020 required minimum distributions) of the CARES Act.  Before the IRS released Notice

On May 18, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released much-anticipated guidance on premium subsidies for continuation coverage under Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).  For more information about the ARPA and COBRA subsidies, see Stinson’s previous blog: American Rescue Plan Act Contains

In a new information letter, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) concludes offering professionally managed asset allocation funds, which include a private equity component as an investment option in an individual account plan (e.g., a 401(k) plan), is not a per se violation of ERISA. Plan fiduciaries commonly invest defined benefit pension plan assets

On May 4, 2020, the IRS provided guidance on coronavirus-related distributions (“CRDs”) and coronavirus-related loans and loan payment delays (“CR Loan Provisions”) in the form of FAQs.  In those FAQs, the IRS answered a few of the questions that many practitioners, administrators, and employers have been asking:

  • Does a spouse’s loss of income trigger eligibility

The stories of an employer and a long-term disability insurer and claims fiduciary for an ERISA plan, defendants in two recent cases, ring so true. In the first case, the insurer was designated as claims fiduciary for an employer’s long-term disability plan, and ended up in litigation with the least friendly standard of review –

On Tuesday, September 30, federal Judge Ronald White of the Eastern District of Oklahoma ruled in Pruitt v. Burwell that the plain text of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) does not allow for the provision of subsidies to individuals purchasing health coverage through a federally-facilitated exchange. The court ruled that the Internal

Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit released an opinion which highlights the importance of ensuring ERISA plan documents grant plan administrators the discretion to construe and interpret the terms of the plan. In Hall v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., the Appeals Court dealt with a case in which a

On March 19, 2014, a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued its decision in Tussey v. ABB, Inc., No. 12-2056 (8th Cir. Mar. 19, 2014).  The case came to the Eighth Circuit on an appeal of a decision by the United States District Court for

On February 26, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service published a final regulation clarifying the meaning of “substantial risk of forfeiture” under section 83 of the Internal Revenue Code.  The new guidance will help taxpayers who receive property, other than money, in exchange for services determine when they must recognize the difference between the fair market