MEWAs

[Guidance Overview] Schedule C: A New Era in Annual Reporting (PDF)
4 pages. Excerpt:"The DOL expanded Schedule C disclosure as the first of a series of three'fee disclosure'regulations intended to improve transparency and to provide plan fiduciaries and plan participants better information on which to base their decisions regarding the selection of service providers and the services they render."(American Society of Pension Professionals&Actuaries via PrimeTRUST Advisors)

New Federal Rules Target MEWA's
Excerpt:"[Health] reform legislation contains several provisions directed at Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements ('MEWA's'). A new criminal enforcement section contains broad language prohibiting false statements. [One section] prohibits false statements about a MEWA as to: the MEWA's financial condition or solvency, the benefits provided, or the regulatory status of the MEWA under state or federal law, including specifically the exemption of the MEWA from state regulatory authorities."(Roy Harmon via Health Plan Law)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Final Benefit Restriction Regulations (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt:"These developments affect sponsors of and participants in qualified single-employer and multiple employer defined benefit plans."(Prudential Retirement)

[Guidance Overview] PowerPoint Presentation: Preparing Form 5500 Schedule C
19 slides. Excerpt:"On January 12th, 2010, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored a webinar in conjunction with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America to help plan sponsors address the practical issues they may face when filing the Form 5500 Schedule C."(U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

[Guidance Overview] SEC Final Enhanced Compensation and Corporate Governance Disclosure Requirements
Excerpt:"Note that the SEC stated in the release that under the current CD&A disclosure rules, to the extent that risk considerations are a material aspect of the company's compensation policies or decisions for its named executive officers, the company is required to discuss them as part of the CD&A and will continue to be required to discuss them in the CD&A after the adoption of these amendments."(Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.)

GASB Issues OPEB, Bankruptcy Guidance Statements
Excerpt:"The rulemaking organization has released Statement No. 57, OPEB Measurements by Agent Employers and Agent Multiple-Employer Plans and Statement No. 58, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Chapter 9 Bankruptcies."(PLANSPONSOR.com)

[Official Guidance] IRS Notice on the Availability of the Year 2009 Form M?1 with Electronic Filing Option (PDF)
Excerpt:"This document announces the availability of the Year 2009 Form M-1, Annual Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements and Certain Entities Claiming Exception. It is substantively identical to the 2008 Form M-1. The Form M-1 may again be filed electronically over the Internet. . . . Copies of the Form M?1 are available on the Internet at ."(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Small Employers Get a Reprieve on Huge Penalties Over Pension, Health Plans
Excerpt:"Hundreds of small employers caught a break last week when the Internal Revenue Service agreed to extend its moratorium on collecting penalties from them. During the past four years, the IRS has increased its auditing of small employers with pension and health and welfare plans to make sure they comply with a 2004 tax code change that requires these companies to notify the agency that they have plans that act as tax shelters. The fines for failing to do so are $200,000 per business per year the plan has been in place and $100,000 per individual."(Workforce Management)

[Guidance Overview] 2008 Form M-1, Including Self-Compliance Tool, Made Available by DOL with Few Changes from Previous Year
Excerpt:"EBIA Comment: Substantial penalties apply for failing to comply with the Form M-1 reporting requirements -- the administrator of a MEWA may be subject to penalties of up to $1,100 per day of noncompliance and there is also the potential for personal liability of the administrator. Thus, filings of the Form M-1 should be completed on a timely basis."(Employee Benefits Institute of America)

[Official Guidance] DOL Form M-1 Now Available; Annual Report for Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements and Certain Entities Claiming Exception (PDF)
It is substantively identical to the 2007 Form M-1. The Form M-1 may again be filed electronically over the Internet. (Employee Benefits Security Administration. U.S. Department of Labor)

[Guidance Overview] VEBAs For Non-Union Private Employers Face Unrelated Business Income Taxes
Excerpt:"Although VEBAs established under ? 501(c)(9) are tax-exempt, they must pay tax on UBTI [under Internal Revenue Code section 512(a)(3)(A)]."(McGuireWoods)

[Guidance Overview] ERISA Does Not Prohibit Proposed Transfer of Assets from Terminated MEWA to Tax-Exempt Foundation
Excerpt:"EBIA Comment: We found this advisory opinion noteworthy because it addresses issues relating to the distribution of welfare plan assets on plan termination. But given how little guidance exists on this topic, it is unfortunate that the DOL did not explain its reasoning more clearly. The opinion appears to conclude that the proposed transfer was permissible because the trust had been properly terminated and all liabilities satisfied."(Employee Benefits Institute of America)

[Official Guidance] Text of Advisory Opinion 2008-07A: Bend, Oregon, Chamber of Commerce on Offering Fully Insured Benefits to Employees of Member Employers
Excerpt:"[The DOL was asked w]hether a proposed arrangement offered by the Chamber of Commerce in Bend, Oregon would be a multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) within the meaning of section 3(40) of ERISA, and whether such an arrangement would itself be an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA."(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

[Guidance Overview] New ERISA Reporting and Disclosure Rules and Guidance Appear to Favor VCOC/REOC Compliance Over 25% Test Reliance (PDF)
3 pages. Excerpt:"One surprising aspect of these new rules is that they appear to apply to investment funds that rely on the'25% Test'for their exemption from ERISA, while investment funds that qualify as'venture capital operating companies'('VCOCs') or'real estate operating companies'('REOCs') are specifically exempt from these rules."(Paul, Hastings, Janofsky&Walker LLP)

[Guidance Overview] IRS Issues Minimum Required Contribution Rules for Defined Benefit Plans (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt:"WHO'S AFFECTED These developments affect sponsors of qualified single-employer, multiple employer and multiemployer defined benefit plans. They do not affect governmental plans or church plans that do not elect to be covered by ERISA ('non-electing church plans')."(Prudential Retirement)

[Guidance Overview] Court Rejects Imputation of Counsel's Knowledge to Plaintiff Class in ERISA Fiduciary Action
Excerpt:"Aside from demonstrating once again the hazards of multiple employer pooling arrangements to provide health care benefits, this case provides an excellent overview of the operation of the ERISA statute of limitation provisions, replete with examples of common exceptions to those rules."(Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

[Guidance Overview] Bargaining Strategies in the Wake of Multiemployer Pension Plan Notices Issued Pursuant to the Pension Protection Act
Excerpt:"If you contribute to a multi-employer pension fund, the 415-page Pension Protection Act's ('PPA'or'the Act') provisions affecting multi-employer plans are now taking effect. The first of these provisions is the requirement that actuaries certify to the Internal Revenue Service into which funding zone (critical - red; endangered yellow; or no zone - green) the plan falls."(Littler)

Report of the Working Group on Fiduciary Responsibilities and Revenue Sharing Practices
Excerpt:"Testimony to the Working Group was provided on July 11, 2007 and September 20, 2007, by seventeen (17) speakers representing the federal government, professionals that represent multiemployer plans, investment consultants, benefit plan administrators, benefit plan consultants, the actuarial industry, benefit plan trustees, plan sponsors, representatives of the investment industry, record keepers, and other individuals who provide services to benefit plans. After careful debate and analysis of the issues and transcripts, the Working Group submits the following recommendations to the Secretary of Labor for consideration:"(Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)

[Guidance Overview] IRS's Plan Valuation Regulations for Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plans (PDF)
Excerpt:"These developments affect sponsors of and participants in qualified single-employer and multiple employer defined benefit plans. They do not affect multiemployer plans, governmental plans or church plans that do not elect to be covered by ERISA ('non-electing church plans')."(Prudential Retirement)

Overview: DOL Announces Availability of 2007 Form M-1, Including Health Care Self-Compliance Tool; Both Virtually Unchanged from 2006
Excerpt:"EBIA Comment: The self-compliance checklists included as part of the Form M-1 package provide a useful list of ERISA Part 7 compliance issues not only for MEWAs, but also for group health plans, plan sponsors, plan administrators, and health insurers."(Employee Benefits Institute of America)

Formal Announcement of 2007 DOL Form M-1 (PDF)
1 page. Excerpt:"This year's Form M–1 is substantively identical to the Year 2006 Form M–1. The electronic filing option has been retained and filers are encouraged to use this method."(U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration)

EBSA Releases 2007 M-1 MEWA Form
Excerpt:"Federal regulators have announced the availability of the M-1 annual reporting form for multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWA).'(PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

DOL Advisory Opinion -- MEWA Status of Benefit Arrangement Is a Question of Federal Law
Excerpt:"The'professional employer organization'lobby has been successful in prevailing upon many state legislatures to enact favorable legislation exempting the benefits programs provided by such entities from state insurance department regulation. The recent advisory opinion from the Department of Labor confirms that these legislative initiatives are not binding on the Department of Labor."(Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

A Checklist of Recent Department of Labor Guidance on MEWA's
Excerpt:"On a point stubbornly, but unjustifiably, resisted by the professional employer organization industry, the Department of Labor has once again clearly stated the correct view that determination of whether a benefit arrangement constitutes a multiple employer welfare arrangement is a matter of federal law."(Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)

Partially Insured MEWA Subject to State Regulation to Extent Regulation Not Inconsistent with ERISA
Excerpt:"EBSA found that the MEWA was not fully insured as, as such, would be subject to state insurance regulation only to the extent that state law was not'consistent with'Title I of ERISA."(Wolters Kluwer Law&Business)

EBSA Reasserts that Determination of Whether Arrangement Is MEWA Is Preempted by ERISA
Excerpt:"The determination of whether an arrangement is a multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) is preempted by ERISA, and is, therefore, not determinable under state law, according to an EBSA opinion letter."(Wolters Kluwer Law&Business)

State PEO Law Does Not Determine Status as a MEWA; Stop-Loss Coverage Does Not Make a MEWA Fully Insured
Excerpt:"EBIA Comment: As these advisory opinions illustrate, both MEWAs and the state agencies that regulate them continue to be vexed by the complex interplay of state and federal law created by ERISA's special preemption rules for MEWAs."(Employee Benefit News; free registration required)

Text of Advisory Opinion 2007-05A, Issued August 15, 2007
Excerpt:"[DOL was asked w]hether an employee benefit arrangement sponsored by Payroll Solutions Group Limited constitutes a'multiple employer welfare arrangement'within the meaning of section 3(40) of ERISA subject to regulation under the insurance laws of the State of Nevada pursuant to section 514(b)(6) of ERISA."(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

Text of Advisory Opinion 2007-06A, Issued August 16, 2007
Excerpt:"[DOL was asked w]hether the Custom Rail Employer Welfare Trust Fund is an'employee welfare benefit plan'within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA, and whether it is a'multiple employer welfare arrangement'(MEWA), within the meaning of section 3(40), that is'fully insured'within the meaning of section 514(b)(6)(A) of ERISA."(U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration)

IRS 2007-2008 Priority Guidance Plan (PDF)
28 pages. Names the regulations the IRS hopes to issue next, including regulations on employee benefit plans (see pages 2-5). (Internal Revenue Service)

Excellent Resource for Breaking Courts of Appeals Cases on ERISA Matters
The link we've provided for you sorts the cases by date; newest cases appear up top. Definitely one to bookmark! (FindLaw.com)

State Insurance Commissioner Need Not Treat MEWA as Fully Insured Without DOL Determination
Excerpt:"EBIA Comment: Although this decision is binding only on courts in the Fifth Circuit (covering Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas), we think other courts might find it persuasive. We thought the case was interesting in part because we see so few reported decisions addressing the permitted level of state regulation of MEWAs."(Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc.)

Overview: Form LM-30 Rules Finalized
Excerpt:"The rules are effective August 16, 2007."(International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans)

MEWA Loses Preemption Case Against Texas Department of Insurance
Excerpt:"In this case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed claims by a MEWA that its insurance arrangements made it a'fully insured'MEWA."(Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)