The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Health & Welfare Plans · June 14, 2026
Expert Analysis
New Guidance on Expanded IRC Section 4960 Excise Tax: Proposed Regulations Coming Soon
“On June 5, 2026, the Treasury Department and IRS issued IRS Notice 2026-36 (the “Notice”), announcing that proposed regulations under IRC Section 4960 are imminent.”
Groom Law Group
New Colorado Law on Demographic Reporting May Signal Larger Changes
“Significantly, the new Colorado law states that employers "shall provide the EEO-1 data required" even if the federal EEO-1 reporting requirement is repealed or discontinued. This provision is timely in light of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) proposal to eliminate EEO-1 reporting.”
Ogletree Deakins
Beltway Buzz, June 12, 2026
“On June 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated President Trump's $100,000 H-1B proclamation in a legal challenge filed by twenty state attorneys general. The court found that while the Immigration and Nationality Act provides the president with "broad discretion to suspend the entry of aliens into the United States," it does not confer upon him the authority to impose taxes, as the proclamation does.”
Ogletree Deakins
Policy Week in Review – June 12, 2026
“In Opinion Letter FLSA2026-6, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) endorsed an alternative approach to the "percentage of total earnings" bonus, allowing employers to determine the total bonus pool amount after the incentive period is complete and then "reverse engineer" the percentage amount after the fact.”
Littler
The billion-dollar blind spot in employee benefits – and why AI is finally fixing it
“Industry audits regularly reveal that 70% to 90% of benefits carrier invoices contain at least one discrepancy. These errors can include billing for employees who have already left the company, incorrect coverage levels, dependents who should have been removed from plans, outdated premium rates, or duplicate enrollments.”
Employee Benefit News
Virginia’s 2026–2028 Employment Law Changes: What Employers Need to Know
“Under House Bill (HB) 636/Senate Bill (SB) 215, Virginia employers will no longer be permitted to seek wage or salary history of prospective employees and must provide wage or salary range transparency. Specifically, employers: A prospective employee may voluntarily provide the above; and if that happens, the employer may use such information to either (1) support a wage or salary higher than the employer's initial offer, or (2) confirm the wage or salary history of the prospective employee to support a wage or salary higher than the employer's initial offer.”
Troutman Pepper Locke
Designing Executive Loan Programs in the Context of Incentive Equity: Key Considerations and Practices
“If an executive loan program is structured improperly, the loan can be deemed disguised compensation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and subject to taxation as income, resulting in a heavy tax burden for the executive. To avoid this, a loan must be structured as a "bona fide loan" and be treated as such by the company.”
Morgan Lewis (ML BeneBits)
Crypto in 401(k)s: PwC Accidentally Says the Quiet Part Out Loud Again
“The crypto industry keeps insisting that regulation will somehow make crypto “safe” for retirement plans.”
The Commonsense 401(k) Project
Regulatory Action and Guidance
Government Owned Inventions Available for License: 4-Amino-2-(Piperidin-3-yl)Isoindoline-1,3-Diones as Anti-Inflammatory Agents for Systemic Degenerative and Neurodegenerative Disorders
“This site displays a prototype of a “Web 2.0” version of the daily Federal Register. It is not an official legal edition of the Federal Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official electronic version on GPO’s govinfo.”
Federal Register
Final Rule on Independent Dispute Resolution Operations | Segal
“Compliance News | June 5, 2026 The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final rule regarding the independent dispute resolution (IDR) operations under the No Surprises Act.”
Segal
Oh, Baby! Fertility Benefits Remain a Focus for Employers and Regulators
“The proposed rule allows employers to offer fertility benefits as a standalone option that qualifies as a new category of limited excepted benefit, similar in concept to standalone dental and vision coverage. This designation is significant because excepted benefits are generally exempt from many federal market reforms that apply to group health plans, including certain requirements under the Affordable Care Act and HIPAA.”
Jackson Lewis (Benefits Law Advisor)
U.S. Department of Labor Issues New FLSA Opinion Letters on Exempt Work, Bonus Calculations, Meal Periods, and Rounding Practices
“Download PDF Introduction On May 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) released four new opinion letters addressing important Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) compliance issues.”
Pierson Ferdinand
ERISA Litigation
When a Phone Call Beats the Plan’s Writing Requirement: A Louisiana Court Applies Substantial Compliance to Uphold a Telephonic ERISA Beneficiary Change
“The court agreed the Insured did not technically comply with the Certificate's written-form requirement ... Despite the technical noncompliance, the court applied the federal common law doctrine of substantial compliance, under which an attempted beneficiary change is effective when the insured evidences intent to make the change and takes positive action substantially similar to what the plan requires.”
Roberts Disability Law
Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds SEC Disgorgement Powers in Sripetch v. SEC
“On June 4, 2026, the United States Supreme Court handed down a 9-0 decision in Sripetch v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 25-466, affirming that proof of pecuniary loss to victims of securities law violations is not a prerequisite for the U.”
Foley & Lardner
Optum Rx, FTC posed for settlement in insulin pricing case
“The Federal Trade Commission may be winding down its ongoing insulin case against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers, as court docs suggest the agency has reached an agreement with Optum Rx.”
FierceHealthcare
Judge trims $83M from record-breaking age bias penalty imposed on Liberty Mutual
“He noted that the jury heard extensive evidence of an on-site supervisor's bias against older, long-tenured employees, as well as how the supervisor persistently treated younger workers more favorably than their older peers. Additionally, "multiple witnesses corroborated [the supervisor's] pattern and practice of age discrimination," and the jury's award of noneconomic damages for emotional distress was not "so grossly disproportionate" as to be prejudicial, the judge held.”
HR Dive
UnitedHealth, FTC reach proposed settlement in insulin case
“The FTC sued the "Big Three" PBMs — which jointly control about 80% of U.S. prescriptions — in 2024 for allegedly driving up the price of insulin through uncompetitive business practices, like steering patients toward higher cost medications to scoop up higher rebates from drug manufacturers. ... Express Scripts reached a deal with the FTC in early February. The settlement required the PBM to delink its compensation from savings it negotiates with pharmaceutical companies and stop preferring medications with high list prices, among other requirements.”
Healthcare Dive
Press Releases
This Week From the Hill (June 8 – 12, 2026)
“Some Congressional Republicans are continuing to call for action on a third budget reconciliation bill this year to include various health and other affordability issues. Earlier this year the House Republican Study Committee, the largest House Republican caucus, released a framework for a reconciliation bill focused on healthcare (e.g., allowing ACA subsidies to be contributed directly to individual health accounts), energy and housing reforms.”
Groom Law Group
Also of Note
- Request for Information; Comprehensive Review of the Essential Health Benefits Framework and Typical Employer Plan StandardFederal Register
- Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Public Comment Request; Information Collection Request Title: 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program Application, Implementation, and Evaluation, OMB Number 0906-NEWFederal Register