Law and legal issues

Anthem Inc. is pushing for a speedy decision on the government’s bid to block the health insurer’s planned $48 billion merger with rival Cigna Corp.

The new penalties for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act are set to climb next month.

Zenefits reached its first settlement with a state government over its use of unlicensed health insurance brokers, an issue that prompted investigations in at least three other states and led its founding chief executive officer to resign this year.

U.S. antitrust enforcers roundly rejected a pair of proposed deals that would consolidate the nation’s five biggest health insurers into three.

President Obama’s signature healthcare law was dealt another blow as a federal judge ruled a key program intended to reduce consumers’ out-of-pocket medical bills is unconstitutional because it relies on money that hasn’t been appropriated by Congress.

A Massachusetts district court recently ruled that two affiliated private equity funds were liable for the unfunded vested benefits owed to a multiemployer pension fund by its bankrupt portfolio company.

Following a suit filed in federal court, employers are advised to be careful about how they communicate changes to employees’ hours.

Plan sponsors should stand their ground to discourage plaintiffs from pursuing more lawsuits, says one expert.

Following a suit filed in New York federal court, employers are advised to be extremely careful about how they communicate changes to employees’ hours.

Lawsuits can’t be avoided, so advisers should focus on helping clients improve their processes, one expert says.

MetLife beat back a U.S. attempt to label it too big to fail, which would’ve put America’s biggest life insurer under tougher government scrutiny and forced it to put more money in reserves.

For labor unions, the death of Justice Antoin Scalia is is truly an instance of deus ex machina — a miraculous ending that doesn’t fit the rest of the play.

Benefit plan sponsors will have to be more careful about recording workers’ hours and paying appropriate compensation.

While only a small sector of employers will be impacted by the coming decision, a ruling in favor of the petitioner could encourage future contests to the health law’s mandates, experts predict.

While only a small sector of employers will be impacted by the coming decision, a ruling in favor of the petitioner could encourage future contests to the health law’s mandates, experts predict.

From the Affordable Care Act to the EEOC’s retaliation guidance, the world of benefits law is always rapidly evolving, says lawyer Richard Meneghello.

Justice Antonin Scalia’s death and ACA developments have created legal uncertainties that employers and their advisers should know about.

Merrick Brian Garland, President Obama’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice, is considered a moderate, but at least one business group is expressing concerns about his record as an appellate court judge.

In the first case of its kind, a federal court in New York City has recently given employers some potential instruction on how it views the inevitable interplay between the ERISA and the ACA.

When it comes to producing documents in employment litigation, the deck is usually stacked in favor of the employee, except in unusual situations when an employee is squirreling away documents in an effort to build a case against the employer.