Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 17, 2025, the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services (the “Agencies”) released its annual report to Congress assessing compliance with statutory mental health parity requirements under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”). On the same day, a federal lawsuit was filed against the Agencies challenging the recently published final rule governing MHPAEA compliance (the “Final Rule”).

Each year since the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the Agencies have published a report to Congress detailing widespread noncompliance with the MHPAEA rules governing non-quantitative treatment limitations (“NQTLs”), providing examples of problematic NQTLs, and outlining related corrective actions enforced by the Agencies. This year was no different. In January, the Agencies’ annual report to Congress identified common NQTLs and how to address them, focusing primarily on certain key priority areas such as mental health and substance use disorder benefit exclusions, prior authorization requirements, and network composition issues. For example:Continue Reading Federal Lawsuit and Tri-Agency Report Shake Up Mental Health Parity

Seyfarth Synopsis: The DOL updated its voluntary fiduciary correction program (“VFCP”) which was introduced over 20 years ago to allow plan sponsors to corrected enumerated fiduciary breaches. The amended VFCP now allows for self-correction of the failure to timely remit contributions and loan repayments withheld from participants’ salary to the plan.

The prior VFCP required

Seyfarth Synopsis:  Over the years, plan sponsors and administrators have wrestled with the question of what to do with the accounts of participants who left employment years earlier and cannot now be located.  Notwithstanding their best efforts, plans continue to maintain accounts of participants who are either missing or unresponsive to plan correspondence (“missing participants”). On January 14, 2025, the DOL issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2025-01 that allows sponsors and administrators of ongoing defined contribution (DC) plans to transfer unclaimed small accounts to a state unclaimed property fund of the participant’s last known address provided the fund satisfies certain requirements.

The issue of what to do with the accounts of missing participants is an age-old question. In 2014 the DOL issued FAB 2014-01, stating that an IRA was the preferred destination for unclaimed defined contribution (DC) plan accounts. That same FAB also acknowledged that IRAs may not be available for terminating DC plans, and suggested that in certain circumstances, a state unclaimed property fund or an interest-bearing FDIC-insured bank account might also be appropriate. More recently, the DOL became concerned that IRAs may not be the sole (or even most) appropriate destination for unclaimed plan accounts, as IRAs charge fees that often exceed the investment returns of small accounts, resulting in the account being eaten away by fees. In fact, when plan sponsors started looking to IRAs as the destination of its unclaimed account balances, the sponsors found it challenging to find an IRA provider who would accept all accounts, particularly small accounts, and that the limited choices resulted in front end, back end, and/or annual fees that would quickly exhaust the account balance. From the fiduciary perspective, many plan fiduciaries were reluctant to make such transfers. As time passed, however, more IRA providers became available and fees dropped. But not necessarily to zero.Continue Reading Missing Participants – What to do With Abandoned Accounts

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Seyfarth Synopsis:  Since September 2023, there have been at least 25 lawsuits filed claiming the ability to choose between using 401(k) forfeitures to reduce plan expenses or the plan sponsor’s contributions is a fiduciary choice, and that choosing to reduce the plan sponsor’s contributions constitutes a violation of ERISA’s fiduciary duties.  In the latest decision

Seyfarth Synopsis: Recently HHS issued a memorandum announcing the maximum annual limitation on cost sharing (a/k/a out-of-pocket maximum) for 2026 and the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2024-40 announcing the cost-of-living adjustments to certain welfare and fringe benefit plan limits for 2025.

2026 Out-of-Pocket Maximum

On October 8, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services

Seyfarth Synopsis: The federal district court for the Northern District of Texas has issued an order in the Ryan case staying the effective date on a nationwide basis the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Rules banning noncompete agreements (the “Rule”), as well as enforcement of the Rule. However, legislatures and agencies at the federal and state

Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 9, 2024, the Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) released highly anticipated Final Rules under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA).  Instead of providing the guidance hoped for by stakeholders, the new rules may leave employers wondering if they should continue to