About the Course
Introduction
This CLE webinar will guide Employee Benefits counsel, fiduciaries, human resources personnel and plan administrators on federal regulatory compliance challenges. The panel will discuss critical issues plan fiduciaries face, including compliance obligations under ERISA (including GINA, ADA, & CAA), COBRA, Affordable Care Act (ACA), Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and more.
Description
This webinar will examine the Department of Labor’s heightened enforcement focus on health and welfare plan compliance and the growing litigation and fiduciary risks facing plan sponsors, fiduciaries, administrators, and ERISA counsel. As federal agencies intensify scrutiny of group health plans, employers and their advisors must understand evolving compliance obligations and implement effective administrative procedures to reduce exposure to audits, penalties, and participant claims.
The panel will discuss key operational and fiduciary requirements under ERISA and related federal laws, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), COBRA, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), HIPAA, and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Speakers will address the DOL’s current audit and enforcement priorities, including mental health parity compliance, discrimination concerns, cybersecurity obligations, prohibited transactions and self-dealing, fiduciary process failures, and ACA reporting and disclosure requirements.
In addition, the program will highlight common compliance pitfalls in plan administration, documentation deficiencies that frequently trigger investigations, and practical strategies for maintaining defensible procedures and records. The panel will also examine potential liability arising from plan operations, vendor oversight, participant communications, and fiduciary decision-making.
Listen as the panel provides practical guidance for identifying compliance risks, preparing for agency audits and investigations, and implementing best practices to help minimize exposure and strengthen health and welfare plan administration.
Presented By
Mrs. Kerpen focuses her practice on a variety of employee benefits tax and ERISA matters related to 401(k) plans, pension plans, health and welfare plans, and executive compensation plans, including designing, amending and administering such plans. She has extensive experience with PPACA compliance as with HIPAA and various other federal and state laws relevant to health and welfare plans.
Ms. Powers represents employers in all aspects of executive compensation and employee plans matters, including the design and administration of qualified retirement plans, health and welfare benefit plans, and non-qualified executive compensation and equity plans. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Employee Benefits Law at the University of Alabama's Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law. Ms. Powers' practice focuses heavily on issues related to controlled and affiliated service groups of employers. She helps create solutions for benefits issues that arise in complicated organizational structures, such as nondiscrimination testing, Qualified Separate Line of Business (QSLOB) filings, and Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA) analysis. Ms. Powers has significant experience representing third-party administrators (TPAs) and employers with respect to administrative service agreements and ERISA compliance. Her practice includes employers in a variety of industries, with a focus on health care, manufacturing, and REITs.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
- schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
- Reporting and Disclosure Obligations Under:
- General ERISA requirements (including CAA, ADA, GINA, Mental Health Parity)
- COBRA continuation coverage
- ACA rules and compliance
- Fiduciary rules and liability
- Plan documents and reporting requirements
- Best practices for plan sponsors and administrators
The panel will review these and other essential items:
- What are the administrative challenges for health and welfare plans?
- What are the key provisions of the CAA impacting health plans?
- What are the requirements under the mental health parity rules?
- What are the administrative challenges for health and welfare plans under the ACA?
- What are the challenges for health and welfare plans under the COBRA, ADA, and GINA?
- What are the fiduciary obligations and rules for health plan sponsors and administrators?
- What are best practices to overcome legal and compliance challenges?
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