Image of paper files with a folder entitled Compliance.

Compliance and Procedure

We routinely communicate with fund office personnel and fund administrators assisting in complying with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation regulations, and routine issues facing by employee benefit funds. Our attorneys handle all types of compliance issues such as assisting in the preparation of filings with the DOL, IRS, and other governmental agencies; drafting and reviewing summary plan descriptions, summaries of material modifications, trust agreements, collection policies, and other plan documents; advising on member appeals for denial of benefits; and reviewing Qualified Domestic Relation Orders (QDROs).

Specifically, with respect to defined benefit plans, our attorneys have helped guide pension funds through the changes imposed by Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980, Pension Protection Act of 2006, and most recently the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014.

Our firm also advises health and welfare funds with fully insured health plans, self-insured health plans, and supplemental health plans about compliance with continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA); privacy and security protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act; plan design under the Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act of 1996 (NMHPA), Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA), and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).