McDermott Will & Emery
Subscribe to McDermott Will & Emery's PostsCongress Passed the 21st Century Cures Act
By McDermott Will & Emery on Dec 12, 2016
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Health and Welfare Plans
Congress has passed, and President Obama is expected to sign the 21st Century Cures Act, H.R. 34. Among other things, the new legislation will permit small employers (those that are not considered applicable large employers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)), to maintain general-purpose stand-alone Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) if they do not offer a...
Continue Reading
IRS Adjusted ACA Fee Amounts for the 2017 Policy or Plan Years
By McDermott Will & Emery on Dec 6, 2016
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Fee The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee was established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to advance comparative clinical effectiveness research. The PCORI fee is assessed on issuers of health insurance policies and sponsors of self-insured health plans. The fees are calculated using the average number of lives covered...
Continue Reading
Acquisition Strategies for ESOP Companies
By McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 22, 2016
Posted In Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
ESOPs have long provided an exit strategy for owners of privately held businesses and a platform for management buyouts. Mergers and acquisition (M&A) advisors increasingly look to leverages ESOPs to accomplish both conventional stock and asset acquisitions. Once an ESOP company decides to pursue an acquisition opportunity, it will generally structure in one of three...
Continue Reading
Trump’s Obamacare: What Employers Can Expect
By McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 21, 2016
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Health and Welfare Plans
In the aftermath of the recent election of Donald Trump as president of the United States and the Republicans’ retention of control over both the House and the Senate, many are beginning to assess the impact of a Republican controlled Congress and presidency on the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Read the full...
Continue Reading
IRS Restates EPCRS Correction Methods and Procedures
By McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 1, 2016
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employment, Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service recently issued Revenue Procedure 2016-51, a new version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) to consolidate and update its prior guidance regarding how to correct of errors in qualified retirement plans. The new version of the EPCRS program also reflects changes that the IRS has made to its determination...
Continue Reading
DOJ, FTC Issue Antitrust Guidance to Human Resources Professionals
By McDermott Will & Emery, Stefan M. Meisner and Stephen Wu on Oct 27, 2016
Posted In Employment, Executive Compensation
On October 20, 2016, the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued joint Antitrust Guidance to Human Resource (HR) Professionals (the Guidance) involved in hiring and compensation decisions. The agencies issued the guidance to educate HR professionals about how the antitrust laws apply in the employment context. Read...
Continue Reading
Affordable Care Act Whistleblower Complaint Procedures
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 20, 2016
Posted In Health and Welfare Plans
On October 11, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a final rule that establishes procedures and time frames for handling whistleblower complaints under the Affordable Care Act (ACA); for hearings before US Department of Labor (DOL) administrative law judges in ACA retaliation cases; review of those decisions by the DOL Administrative Review Board;...
Continue Reading
Wellness Incentive Programs: Navigating Legal Landmines and Designing Effective Employee Communication Strategies
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 18, 2016
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans
This year’s Employer Healthcare & Benefits Congress featured a presentation by Susan Nash that addressed the many shapes and sizes of wellness programs today. Programs are typically designed to promote health and to educate employees about prevention, but some are disease management oriented, while others are designed to improve the general overall health of an...
Continue Reading
Score on Wellness Lawsuits—Wellness Plans 3, EEOC 0?
By McDermott Will & Emery on Sep 27, 2016
Posted In Employment, Health and Welfare Plans
On September 19, 2017, in the ongoing lawsuit the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought against Orion Energy Systems Inc. (Orion) regarding its wellness program, a Wisconsin federal judge found that Orion’s wellness program was voluntary. The employees have a choice between participating in the program or paying the full price for health benefits....
Continue Reading
Section 457(f) Proposed Regulations – Not What We Expected (In a Good Way)
By McDermott Will & Emery on Sep 22, 2016
Posted In Executive Compensation
The very long awaited release of the new proposed regulations for Internal Revenue Code (the ‘‘Code’’) Section 457(f) plans arrived at the end of June and presents welcome and surprising new opportunities with respect to tax-exempt and governmental entities’ ‘‘ineligible nonqualified deferred compensation’’ arrangements. The Proposed Regulations present some unexpected and surprising opportunities with respect...
Continue Reading
