Enacted into law as part of the 2025 budget reconciliation act and as initially described in an earlier Thompson Hine blog post, Trump accounts will provide a new private savings vehicle for the exclusive benefit of eligible minor children. The IRS recently issued Notice 2025-68 to provide additional detail on Trump accounts while proposed
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”). Among other things, the OBBBA created a “starter” individual retirement account called a “Trump Account” and authorized a program under which an employer can make non-taxable contributions to an employee’s Trump Account. Employers considering the new Trump
A rapidly growing line of ERISA cases seeks to impose fiduciary standards of conduct—developed by courts largely in the retirement plan context—to health plan design choices. The most recent, Barbich et al. v. Northwestern University et al., No. 1:25-cv-06849 (N.D. Ill.) filed on June 20, 2025, involves a new and potentially disruptive twist: plaintiffs
A recently filed lawsuit is a good reminder that self-insured health plan fiduciaries have a fiduciary duty to ensure that their health plans are being administered according to the plan’s terms and in compliance with law, while defraying the reasonable expenses of administering the plan. In discharging this responsibility, plan fiduciaries must oversee any party
On July 25 the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services (“tri-agencies”) released guidance related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Among other documents, the guidance includes a proposed update to the MHPAEA regulations and a report to Congress summarizing the tri-agencies’ enforcement efforts related to group health
“Wilderness therapy? What’s that?”
That’s the common response I receive when I mention that wilderness therapy is a hot topic in mental health parity litigation. Wilderness therapy is a form of residential treatment that uses nature and the outdoors as a therapeutic tool. Often used with operationally-defiant or drug-addicted teens, wilderness therapy combines traditional therapy