BIP Fall 2024

KEY

PROVISIONS OF ERISA Fiduciary Responsibility: Imposes strict duties on plan fiduciaries to act solely in the interest of plan participants and their beneficiaries. Funding: Establishes funding requirements for pension plans to ensure financial stability. Participation and Vesting: Sets minimum standards for employee participation and eligibility to receive pension benefits. Plan Information Reporting and Disclosure: Requires sponsors of private employee benefit plans to provide participants and beneficiaries with adequate information about their plan and rights. Benefit Claims Process: Requires written procedures for filing claims, notifications and appeals. Imposes a timeframe for decisions with a clear explanation for approval or denial.

And, interpreting the implications of ERISA is likely to get even more murky thanks to a ruling in June by the Supreme Court that cut back the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws they administer. By reversing its 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Supreme Court ruled courts are no longer required to uphold an agency’s interpretation of a statute. The final authority for interpretation now is in the hands of the courts. “This decision ties the hands of federal agencies whose goal it was to interpret ambiguities in the regulations,” says Mordo. “Everything is deferred to the courts. Where is the ERISA law going in the future? The courts don’t move quickly, so wherever it’s going, it will go very, very slowly.” What agents need to think about With the continuing focus on what it means to be a plan fiduciary, agents need to draw a clear line between their role as client advocates and their role as fiduciaries. Mordo recalls a client referral he received for a family whose child was very ill with cancer. The family received bills every day but did not know how to navigate them. Mordo started sifting through them to determine which bills should and shouldn’t be paid, almost putting himself as a fiduciary.

“How employer plan sponsors meet their fiduciary duties is being litigated as we speak,” says Jennifer Berman, NABIP Legislative Council chair.

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Fall 2024 bip magazine 31