Pension plan wrongfully denied benefits to a sister's designated beneficiary where a lump-sum election was not finalized due to illness; the court reversed, holding the substantial compliance doctrine applies.

Seyfarth reviews the IRS's latest proposed Trump Account guidance, which addresses employer contribution programs and the eligible-investment rules confining account assets to low-fee, broad-market index funds during a beneficiary's childhood.

Treasury and the IRS have issued proposed rules addressing the opening and administration of Trump Accounts, employer contribution programs, and eligible investments during a beneficiary's childhood.

The agency raised rates that pension plans and multiemployer plans use for valuation and funding purposes.

Estimated competitive retiree buyout cost, as a percentage of accounting liability, increased by 10 basis points from 99.6% to 99.7% during July.

Products must innovate within the fiduciary framework. The fiduciary framework should not be diluted to accommodate products.

One of the biggest misconceptions among plan sponsors is that providing required notices and disclosures means employees understand their retirement plan.

A new report by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies examining the retirement prospects of the middle class finds them feeling positive but stressed over competing financial priorities.

The agencies will not take enforcement action against plans that apply a tobacco surcharge reward prospectively once an employee satisfies a reasonable alternative standard, so employers need not refund amounts already collected. Bricker Graydon cautions that the relief is enforcement discretion, not a safe harbor. Programs must still be reasonably designed, properly documented, and disclosed, and the guidance does not resolve the private class actions already in the courts.

ERIC's read of the Georgetown research puts No Surprises Act arbitration costs at $22.4 billion over four years, with filings up 77 percent year over year and providers winning roughly 85 percent of disputes at awards well above median in-network rates. The employer lobby wants Congress to recalibrate the IDR process, arguing plans and workers ultimately absorb the pressure.

A deal between rival drug middlemen Prime Therapeutics and Express Scripts depressed reimbursement rates for pharmacies, according to the new complaint. It is the latest legal challenge against the partnership.

A self-funded group health plan is generally a HIPAA covered entity, while the third-party administrator that processes its claims is a business associate. Constangy walks through what the distinction means for the compliance obligations on each side.

While the legislation's future is still unclear, there are many important things for leaders to know.

Employers project base merit increases of 3.2 percent and total salary increases of 3.5 percent for 2027, in line with recent years, while employees' average healthcare contribution climbs 7.9 percent to $5,297. Only 13 percent of organizations had finalized 2027 salary budgets as of July.

Today's complex stressors require clearer access pathways and a company-wide commitment to mental health support.

In Sleep Number's chapter 11, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York held that roughly $17.6 million in the company's deferred compensation rabbi trust is property of the estate, leaving plan participants to file general unsecured claims alongside other creditors. The decision underscores that a rabbi trust shields deferred compensation from the employer's change of heart, not from the employer's insolvency.

The quarterly survey tracks health plan design challenges after Barbich v. Northwestern, the forfeiture line following the Eighth Circuit's standing dismissal in Matula, actuarial-equivalence rulings in the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits, and the Supreme Court's withdrawal-liability decision in M&K Employee Solutions, with the Fifth Circuit's en banc surcharge case and Anderson v. Intel on the watch list.

The contribution mandate of Maryland's Family and Medical Leave Insurance program will soon take effect, and unionized employers face a potential labor relations challenge that requires immediate attention.

Cooley adds the timing read on the SEC's executive compensation disclosure proposal now at OIRA. The office's review often takes a fraction of its allotted 90 days, so a formal proposal could surface within weeks.

In a new WatchBlog post, the Government Accountability Office revisits its recommendation that the Labor Secretary provide guidance on participant data privacy for plan sponsors and service providers.

Miller & Chevalier's September outlook starts with the continuing resolution needed to avert a partial government shutdown before fiscal 2027 begins October 1 and surveys what tax legislation could move this month.