As part of implementing federal health reform, New York State has adopted a law requiring insurance plans in the small group markets to spend 82 cents of every premium dollar received on medical services, and plans in the large group market to spend 85 cents of every premium dollar received. Insurers that do not meet […]
In CIGNA Corp. v. Amara, the Supreme Court recently reviewed whether Section 502(a)(1)(B) of ERISA, which states that a participant or beneficiary may bring a civil action under ERISA to recover benefits due him under the terms of the plan, gives a court authority to reform plan terms to comply with the terms of a […]
On November 14, 2011, the Supreme Court announced that it will review a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, holding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate unconstitutional. The individual mandate, which would require citizens to have health insurance in place or pay a penalty, is scheduled to […]
Follow the yellow brick road… Executives of credit unions that participant or seek to participant in a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”) need to understand the benefit formula of the SERP, the impact that promotions, terminations and career related decisions may have on the calculation of benefits and rights under the SERP. This is particularly […]
In Toohig v. National City Corp. Amended and Restated Management Severance Plan, the court denied severance benefits to a banking executive following a change in control where the plan administrator interpreted the provision to require that the executive actually relocate more than fifty miles. This is a case where an additional condition is being imposed […]
On February 9, 2012, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) announced a limited voluntary compliance window for covered defined benefit plans that have never paid required premiums. The relief allows affected plans to pay past-due premiums without any premium payment penalties or information penalties for failure to timely file premium information. To qualify for the […]
A former employee has sued Brunel Energy Inc. for failure to notify her of her right to maintain her health insurance coverage after she voluntarily separated from service in 2010 and her attorneys have proposed to bring the lawsuit as a class-action that could involve hundreds of other former employees.
Understanding the road map to challenging a denial of executive benefits Executives of credit unions challenging the decisions of plan committees need to understand the role of the plan committee, how courts review plan committee decisions and the standards that apply. A recent case involving a group of executives that challenged the plan committee’s determination […]