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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    ERISA

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Thursday, February 20, 2025

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$347.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will update ERISA counsel, plan sponsors, and third-party administrators on a potential new wave of challenges to ERISA group health plan administration. The panel will discuss the recent challenges to fees and expenses charged by health plan service providers, highlighting novel lawsuits and recent court decisions. The panel will provide strategies for handling these disputes along with steps to ensure compliance and minimize risks.

Faculty

Andrew Holly
Partner
Dorsey & Whitney Llp

Mr. Holly serves as co-chair of Dorsey’s ERISA Litigation Practice Group. He has 20 years' experience representing fiduciaries, sponsors, and insurers in ERISA litigation matters. For the last three years, he has been ranked by Chambers as one of the top ERISA litigators in the nation. 

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Kara Petteway Wheatley
Principal
Groom Law Group Chtd - Washington

Ms. Wheatley is an experienced and versatile litigator who approaches cases strategically and is skilled in all stages of litigation, including trial. She handles complex litigation and government investigations with a particular focus on health care related litigation. Ms. Wheatley regularly represents health plan sponsors, TPAs and health insurers in various litigation, including suits brought under ERISA, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as in investigations by federal and state regulators. In addition to her healthcare practice, Ms. Wheatley represents clients in employer stock, affiliated funds, imprudent investment and 401(k) litigation and related government investigations. She also works with non-profit certification boards and foundations on compliance issues.

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Ian H. Morrison
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Mr. Morrison has extensive experience representing employers, employee benefit plans, and fiduciaries in a broad range of employment and employee benefits litigation. He has successfully handled litigation at all stages—from pre-lawsuit negotiation and evaluation through trials and appeal. Mr. Morrison has successfully handled numerous high-stakes ERISA class actions for Fortune 500 companies.

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Description

Starting nearly 20 years ago, the ERISA world was swept by a wave of challenges to the fees and costs charged by third-party service providers to 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Those cases radically changed the way that recordkeepers, investment managers, and plan fiduciaries analyze these issues and have increased the potential litigation and financial risks associated with ERISA defined contribution retirement plans.

Now, a new litigation wave may be on its way--this time targeting fees and expenses charged to or built into group health plans. Several recent signs suggest a potential surge of challenges to the fees and costs associated with health plans. Among other things:

  • The 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act imposes new disclosure obligations on certain group health plan vendors to disclose fees and revenue from third parties;
  • The same plaintiff's law firm that originated the tsunami of 401(k) fee cases has signaled that it is looking to file a new set of lawsuits challenging group health plan fees and expenses;
  • New putative class actions have challenged indirect compensation received by third-party service providers to group health plans; and
  • Plan sponsors are getting involved too; several unions and Fortune 500 companies have filed novel lawsuits against their third-party administrators, challenging their fees.

Collectively, these developments point to a new series of lawsuits between health plan sponsors, participants, and third-party administrators.

Speakers Andrew Holly, a partner and co-chair of the ERISA Litigation department at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Ian Morrison, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw, and Kara Petteway Wheatley, a principal at Groom Law Group will examine these cases and trends. They will look at the issues and challenges that arise in litigation between plan participants, group health plans, and their service providers. They will also look at potential disputes between health plan sponsors and their third-party administrators. And they will offer practical advice about what sponsors and service providers can do to avoid litigation and, if necessary, win it.

Outline

  1. ERISA fiduciary standards for health and welfare plans
  2. New cases challenging group health plan fees
  3. Analysis of potential fiduciary and prohibited transaction issues relating to group health plan fees and expenses
  4. Best practices for ERISA counsel, plan sponsors, and third-party administrators

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • Understanding the new case law and lawsuits challenging group health plan fees and expenses
  • Understanding ERISA's prohibited transaction and fiduciary rules as they apply to group health plans
  • Analyzing best practices with respect to the administration of group health plan fees and expenses