Pension Annuitization – De-Risking or Added Risk?
Defined benefit (DB) pension plans used to be the prevalent form of retirement benefit offered by American employers to their employees. […]
Disability Claim Ruling Holds ERISA Fiduciary Duty Lessons
Every claim for group long-term disability benefits requires input from the claimant’s employer […]
How Denial of Autism Care Coverage Can Breach ERISA Duty
According to statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in 54 children has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which is considered a developmental disability associated with social, communication and behavioral issues. Although there is no known cure for autism, children with autism may be helped with behavioral treatment such as applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, and early intensive behavioral intervention, or IBT, a subtype of ABA treatment. […]
Federal Judge Found Insurance Giant Breached Its ERISA Fiduciary Duties and Violated Illinois Law
Approximately 50 percent of Americans receive health insurance through their employer,1 making most of those plans subject to The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERJSA”). After passage of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of2008 (“MHPAEA”), the majority of health plans that cover mental health treatment, including large employer -sponsored plans, […]
Review Your Employee Benefits Every Three Years
We have all seen the letters in the mail. Your employer is updating their benefits policies, and by law, you are required to receive notification summarizing the changes. These notices contain a lot of legal jargon and fine print, and you probably threw them away without much more than a cursory glance. Although these updates […]
401(k) Litigation Is Rising. What Could Change?
According to USA Today, the stock market gained 20 percent last year, making 2017 one of the best years for stocks since Y2K. A natural result of these gains was a rise in the value of 401(k) or 403(b) investments for consumers around the country. While the money in 401(k) and 403(b) accounts grew, so […]