New Fees Payable by Health Plan Sponsors and Insurers

Friday, May 18, 2012 | Kenneth A. Mason

Filed under: Multiemployer Plans, Health Care Reform, Health Plans

Under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), both health insurers and sponsors of self-funded employer health plans will be assessed a fee to fund a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.  This fee will start at $1.00 per covered life for the first year (which is the first plan year ending on or after October 1, 2012), but will then double to $2.00 per covered life during the following year.  The first deadline for paying this fee is July 31, 2013.

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The Fiduciary Corner: The Duty to Collect Delinquent Contributions

Saturday, March 01, 2008 | Gregory L. Ash

Filed under: Multiemployer Plans, Fiduciary Duties

In a Field Assistance Bulletin issued February 1, 2008 (FAB 2008-01), the Department of Labor highlighted a problem that apparently is pervasive in retirement plan and trust documents: confusion over the responsibility to collect delinquent contributions. Recent DOL investigations uncovered plan and trust documents that neglected to assign responsibility for monitoring and collecting contributions, and some that even purported to relieve all of the plan’s fiduciaries from this responsibility.

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THE FIDUCIARY CORNER: Fiduciary Liability for Delinquent Contributions

Sunday, April 01, 2007 | Gregory L. Ash

Filed under: Multiemployer Plans, Fiduciary Duties

Failing to make required contributions to a multiemployer benefit plan can become a matter of fiduciary liability in some circumstances. And according to a federal court in Connecticut, that liability attaches personally to company executives who control the corporate checkbook. (Trustees of Connecticut Pipe Trades Local 777 Health Fund v. Nettleton Mechanical Contractors, Inc. (March 15, 2007)).

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The Clock Is Ticking: Prepare Now for New Multiemployer Plan Funding Rules

Thursday, March 01, 2007 | Kenneth A. Mason

Filed under: Multiemployer Plans, Legislation, Pension Plans

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) contains dozens of changes to multiemployer pension plan funding standards, most of which are effective for plan years beginning in 2008. Many of these provisions are applicable to all multiemployer plans, but Congress also included important relief for the construction industry. Employers, unions, and trustees of multiemployer plans should begin preparing now to meet the new standards.

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New Funding Notice Required for Multiemployer Pension Plans

Wednesday, February 01, 2006 | Lawrence Jenab

Filed under: Multiemployer Plans, Participant Communications, Pension Plans

In January, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) finalized regulations intended to increase understanding on the part of multiemployer plan participants and beneficiaries of the funding status of their defined benefit pension plans. Issued under the Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004, the new rules require multiemployer plans to provide an annual “funding notice” with respect to all plan years beginning after December 31, 2004. Unions and employers that co-sponsor such plans are also intended to benefit from this new notice requirement. In January, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) finalized regulations intended to increase understanding on the part of multiemployer plan participants and beneficiaries of the funding status of their defined benefit pension plans.

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Upcoming Events

Health FSAs: What Do You Need to Know?

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

In this webinar, we’ll look at how the various legal constraints apply to health FSAs, including the many mandates added by the 2010 Affordable Care Act. We’ll also see what changes might be in store for these programs.

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Employee Benefits Group

Spencer Fane’s Employee Benefits Group has earned a national reputation developing innovative benefits solutions to meet client needs. From left to right: Melissa Hinkle, Rob Browning, Chadron Patton, Ken Mason, Larry Jenab, Julia Vander Weele and Greg Ash.

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Benefits in Brief Volume 2012 Issue II

Benefits in Brief Volume 2012 Issue I

Benefits in Brief Volume 2011 Issue IV

Benefits in Brief Volume 2011 Issue III