Kendra L. Roberson

Kendra L. Roberson

Kendra Roberson has experience advising clients on a broad spectrum of employee benefits matters including tax-qualified retirement plans, employee stock ownership plans, executive compensation arrangements, stock option and other equity-based compensation plans, cafeteria plans, VEBAs, self-insured medical plans, and other health and welfare plans.  Her experience includes plan design and drafting, regulatory compliance, ERISA litigation, and handling employee benefits matters and plans in corporate transactions.  In addition, Ms. Roberson has extensive experience advising employers and state governments on compliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”).

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IRS Empowers Employers to Increase Health Coverage, FSA Election Flexibility During Pandemic; Clarifies HDHP COVID-19 Relief

By Kendra L. Roberson, Sarah Friedman and Julie Edmond on Posted in COVID-19, Welfare Plans
On May 12, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published Notices 2020-29 and 2020-33. Notice 2020-29 is the latest installment in COVID-19 relief guidance targeted at health and welfare benefits. The Notice enables employers to provide flexibility to employees to modify their health coverage and flexible spending account (“FSA”) elections and gives employees until the … Continue Reading

Tri-Agency Guidance Clarifies Some FFCRA and CARES Act Health & Welfare Provisions

By Kendra L. Roberson and Sarah Friedman on Posted in COVID-19
On April 11, 2020, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services issued joint guidance on certain provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act relating to health and welfare benefits.  This post analyzes some of the key provisions in the guidance.… Continue Reading

IRS Clears the Way for High Deductible Plans to Waive Cost Sharing for Coronavirus Testing

By Kendra L. Roberson on Posted in Health Plans
The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance (Notice 2020-15) that allows sponsors of high deductible health plans (“HDHPs”) to reimburse up to the full cost of medical care services and items for testing and treatment of COVID-19 before plan participants meet the plan’s minimum statutory deductible.  Accordingly, participants in a HDHP that waives cost sharing … Continue Reading

COVID-19: Your Health Plans and Your Business Response

By Kendra L. Roberson on Posted in Health Plans
Businesses are rapidly developing strategies to continue functioning and protect their workforces in the face of the growing Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. For obvious reasons, businesses may want to deploy health screening, testing, and professional medical advice services—including telemedicine—to their employees and dependents. It is critical that employers’ health plans support these efforts and not get … Continue Reading

DOL Proposal for Electronic Disclosure of ERISA Pension Documents

By William Woolston, Kendra L. Roberson and Sarah Friedman on Posted in Defined Benefit Plans
In October, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule that would increase plan administrators’ ability to make certain required ERISA pension disclosures through electronic, rather than paper, delivery.  Below is a summary of the proposed rule with some highlights on aspects of the proposal that have been questioned by interested parties and might … Continue Reading

Group Health Plans Face Automatic Public Disclosure of Negotiated Rates and Plan Payments

By Kendra L. Roberson and Megan Woodford on Posted in Health Plans
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury released a new “Transparency in Coverage” proposed rule that requires most group health plans and issuers to publicly disclose negotiated rates with in-network providers and historical data showing amounts paid for covered items or services furnished by out-of-network providers.  In addition, group health plans and … Continue Reading

Beware Laws Intersecting Benefit Concierge Services

By Kendra L. Roberson and Christopher Lowther on Posted in Fringe Benefits
(This article was originally published in Law360 and has been modified for this blog.) Employers commonly offer a wide array of employee benefit plans and programs.  In addition to traditional staples, many employers today offer an employee assistance program, dependent care, accident insurance and even pet insurance.  In an increasingly competitive labor market, offering a … Continue Reading

DOL Finalizes Highly Anticipated Rule Aimed at Expanding Access to Association Health Plans

By Kendra L. Roberson and Nick Pastan on Posted in Health Plans
In January, we posted about the Department of Labor’s (DOL or the “Department”) proposed rule to allow more Association Health Plans (AHPs) to be regulated as large group health plans.  The proposed rule garnered national attention and the Department received over 900 stakeholder comments from consumer groups, individual employers, employer associations, health insurance issuers, business … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Deals Another Blow to Sixth Circuit’s “Yard-Man Inferences”

By Nick Pastan and Kendra L. Roberson on Posted in Health Plans, Welfare Plans
On February 20, 2018, the Supreme Court decided CNH Industrial N.V. v. Reese, 574 U.S. ___ (2018), which raised, for the second time in three years, the question of how courts should interpret collective-bargaining agreements (“CBAs”).  Reese involved a dispute between retirees and their former employer, CNH, about whether an expired 1998 CBA created a … Continue Reading

Learning to Live with Clawbacks: The New, Long String on Executive Compensation

By Kendra L. Roberson and Rasmus Berglund on Posted in Employee Trade Secret Theft, Employment, Executive Compensation (US), International
Existing rules in Europe require, and proposed rules in the U.S. would require, companies and financial institutions to have in place effective clawback policies.  Under such policies, employers have the ability to recover compensation paid to employees when certain events occur or information comes to light that could have an adverse effect on the employer. … Continue Reading

DOL Issues Guidance on Its Broad View of Joint Employment

By Lindsay Burke and Kendra L. Roberson on Posted in Employment
On January 20, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued new guidance on joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The guidance marks the third time in recent years that WHD has stressed the broad definition of “employment” under the FLSA, following June 2014 guidance on joint employment in the … Continue Reading

EEOC Seeks to Stop Use of Financial Incentives for Wellness Program Participation

By Kendra L. Roberson on Posted in Health Plans, Welfare Plans
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has requested that the United States District Court of Minnesota stop Honeywell from implementing a wellness program that would provide financial incentives for undergoing biometric screenings.  The EEOC is challenging Honeywell’s program on grounds that it would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination … Continue Reading

Reducing Pension Costs By Increasing Defined Benefit Pensions: Kodak’s Innovative Approach

By Richard C. Shea, Robert Newman, Kendra L. Roberson and Brady McDaniel on Posted in Defined Benefit Plans
Kodak recently announced that it is increasing the benefits provided under its defined benefit plan.  Kodak will credit an additional 3% of pay each year under its cash balance pension plan instead of making a matching contribution of up to 3% of pay under its 401(k) plan.  In connection with this change, Kodak announced that … Continue Reading

Final Health Coverage Reporting Rules Offer Employers Little Relief

By Kendra L. Roberson and Amy N. Moore on Posted in Health Plans, Welfare Plans
Many employers will face two significant new reporting requirements for employee health coverage starting next year: Section 6055 Return:  Employers and insurers that provide minimum essential coverage must report information to the IRS about each covered individual for each month, and provide a copy of the report to covered employees and retirees. Section 6056 Return:  … Continue Reading

Top Ten Things to Know about the Final Shared Responsibility Regulations

By Kendra L. Roberson and Robert Newman on Posted in Health Plans, Welfare Plans
The final shared responsibility regulations under the Affordable Care Act, issued earlier this month, in large part maintain the rules set forth in the proposed regulations.  However, there are several ways in which the final regulations modify or clarify these rules.  Below is a top ten list (which we’re sure David Letterman would use if … Continue Reading

Dust Off HIPAA Policies and Procedures Before HHS Comes Knocking

By Robert Newman and Kendra L. Roberson on Posted in Health Plans, Welfare Plans
Employers should be aware that the Department of Human Services (“HHS”) is stepping up its enforcement of requirements for covered entities, such as group health plans, to adopt and implement policies and procedures for protecting and securing protected health information in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).  As our … Continue Reading

Could Smoking Cessation Programs Violate Mental Health Parity Rules? Traps for the Unwary in Recent Regulations

By Kendra L. Roberson and Christen Sewell on Posted in Health Plans, Welfare Plans
The Obama administration recently issued final regulations implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addition Equity Act of 2008 (the “MHPAEA”).  The regulations implement the MHPAEA’s prohibition against imposing limits on mental health and substance use disorder benefits that are more restrictive than the limits on medical and surgical benefits.  The … Continue Reading
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