The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Health & Welfare Plans
October 21, 2026
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6 items · ~2 min read
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (3) · Health & Welfare Plans (1) · Litigation (1) · General Benefits (1)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
3 items“Key Takeaways For many companies, the end of the plan year brings an unwelcome headache: the DCAP fails its nondiscrimination testing, and HCEs learn that their elections must be capped or that part of their benefit will be taxable.” MORE >>
Source: Foley & Lardner
“On the same day the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2026-03, EBSA also posted a companion “red flags” guidance document to assist plan sponsors in identifying mental health parity compliance issues (the “Guidance”), which we discussed here. The stated purpose of the Guidance is to provide “clearer and more streamlined expectations to plans and issuers for NQTL compliance.” The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) generally requires group health plans that provide mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits to ensure that the financial requirements and treatment limitations, as well as n” MORE >>
Source: Proskauer (ERISA Practice Center)
“The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2026-03, EBSA also posted a companion “red flags” guidance document to assist plan sponsors in identifying mental health parity compliance issues (the “Guidance”), which we discussed here. The stated purpose of the Guidance is to provide “clearer and more streamlined expectations to plans and issuers for NQTL compliance.” The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) generally requires group health plans that provide mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits to ensure that the financial requirements and treatment limitations, as well as non-quantitative ” MORE >>
Source: natlawreview.com
Health & Welfare Plans
1 item“For the first time in history, more than half (52%) of health savings account assets were held in investments, as of June 30, according to the Devenir Group LLC’s “2026 Midyear HSA Research Report.” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER
Litigation
1 item“In an en banc decision in Bolton v. Inland Fresh Seafood Corporation of America, the Eleventh Circuit overruled its longstanding rule requiring plaintiffs to exhaust internal plan procedures before bringing statutory ERISA claims, including claims for breach of fiduciary duty. The court held that ERISA does not require plaintiffs asserting statutory claims to exhaust a plan’s internal administrative procedures before filing suit in federal court.” MORE >>
Source: Haynes Boone
General Benefits
1 item“Americans may see GLP-1 drugs as an investment in their long-term health, but the cost of these medications could come at the expense of their retirement savings.” MORE >>
Source: Employee Benefit News