The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Health & Welfare Plans
October 28, 2026
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8 items · ~2 min read
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (2) · Litigation (4) · General Benefits (2)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
2 items“The revenue ruling affects 14 states (and Washington, DC) that have PFML mandates for private employers: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island started with a wage-replacement program for nonwork-related disabilities only. All but Hawaii later added a wage-replacement program for family leave, which typically includes leave for child bonding, caring for a family member with a serious health condition and handling military exigencies.” MORE >>
Source: Mercer
“This summer, employers received a nice surprise when the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued proposed regulations for dependent care assistance plans (“DCAPs”), which clarified an issue that had bedeviled employers since 1981, when Congress added section 129 to the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax-favored treatment for DCAPs.” MORE >>
Source: Blank Rome LLP
Litigation
4 items“In Sonderling v. Sills, the court affirmed a $209,466.34 judgment and a permanent fiduciary-service ban against the sole owner of a Louisiana company after he withheld employee premium contributions from insurers and left self-funded medical claims unpaid. The decision illustrates how closely the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and courts scrutinize who actually controls plan assets and claims-payment decisions, and not merely who is named in plan documents.” MORE >>
Source: HUB International
“Plaintiffs claim the firm received more than $14 million in commissions and fees tied to benefits offered to its employees.” MORE >>
Source: Ogletree Deakins
“The en banc Eleventh Circuit in Bolton v. Inland Fresh Seafood Corporation of America, Inc. overruled Mason v. Continental Group, Inc. “to the extent [Mason and its progeny] hold that ERISA itself requires exhaustion of statutory claims (including those alleging a breach of fiduciary duty).” The term “exhaustion” simply means that, before suing, a participant must first pursue the claim through the plan’s own internal claims and appeals process and give plan fiduciaries a chance to resolve it.” MORE >>
Source: Thompson Hine
“In recent years, plaintiffs’ firms have increasingly turned their attention to employer-sponsored health plans, bringing new ERISA class action lawsuits challenging the management and administration of health benefits.” MORE >>
Source: Groom Law Group
General Benefits
2 items“As prescription drug costs continue to climb, employers are demanding greater accountability from their pharmacy benefit managers, putting the market in flux.” MORE >>
Source: Employee Benefits Network
“Americans scored low on the care, home and health measures of the Longevity Preparedness Index by John Hancock and MIT AgeLab.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
Also of Note
- Industry Groups Urge DOL to Adopt Proposed ERISA E-Delivery Rules — “In July 2026, EBSA released a proposal to make e-delivery the default form of communications for all ERISA-governed plans.” (Hall Benefits Law)