Pension Protection Act Blog

The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2008-29, containing the 2009 inflation adjusted amounts determined under Code section 223(g) for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). For calendar year 2009, the annual limitation is $3,000 for deductions under Code section 223(b)(2)(A) for an individual with self-only coverage under a high deducitble health plan. For an indiviudal with […]

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Today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Glenn, No. 06-923. MetLife v. Glenn is a case from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals about conflicts of interest for ERISA administrators. The 6th Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court that MetLife’s decision finding Glenn no […]

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CNN is reporting that Wal-Mart has decided to not pursue reimbursement for medical expenses paid by the Walmart Stores, Inc. Associates Health and Welfare Plan for Deborah Shank. I previously blogged about this case here. (hat tip to Paul Secunda of the Workplace Prof blog).
Deborah Shank was the former Walmart employee who […]

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To be ERISA-qualified, a plan must: (1) exist;

5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Per Curium, Read v. Sun Life Assurance, No. 07-10945, March 7, 2008.

In an interesting opinion from the 5th Circuit in Read v. Sun Life Assur. Co. of Canada, No. 07-10945 (5th Cir., March 7, 2008), the Court held that the […]

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In a year of great upheaval in plan documents due to regulatory and legislative changes, the third branch of government has decided to join in and add to the ERISA stress factor. This year, the U.S. Supreme Court has already decided LaRue, has MetLife coming up on the oral argument calendar in April, and […]

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SCOTUSblog is reporting that Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has asked the city of San Francisco to respond to a plea by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association in their application that San Francisco’s Health Care Security Ordinance is pre-empted by ERISA. Justice Kennedy gave the city of San Francisco until 5pm next Wednesday […]

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The oral argument calendar for April has been released by the U.S. Supreme Court, and MetLife v. Glenn is scheduled for April 23rd, 2008. It is one of two cases scheduled for that day - the other case is Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory about the burden of persuasion under the ADEA. […]

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Prof. Paul M. Secunda over at the Workplace Prof Blog discusses the article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal about Wal-Mart’s health and welfare plan.
In Wal-Mart Insured Ranks Rise, reporter Ann Zimmerman states that:

“The world’s biggest retailer by sales said 690,970 employees, or 50% of its almost 1.4 million staff, signed up for company-furnished health insurance […]

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One of the reasons I write plan documents for a living is because they are so interesting. Each plan document is like writing a novel, and a good plan document reads like a good novel. The other reason I like writing plan documents for a living is that the IRS requires a plan […]

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For an employee working two jobs, can they receive qualified transportation fringe benefits from each employer? With more employers adding transit and parking benefits for their employees, and more employees working multiple jobs, this question keeps popping up.
The answer to this question is generally “yes” - an employee working two jobs can receive qualified […]

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