BASE^® Blog

The beginning of March always starts my favorite time of year, March Madness. Don’t let your company be called for a penalty this season. Gear up, take charge and prevent unnecessary fouls by calling BASE®.

Did you know that without an ERISA Wrap, your company is vulnerable to a $110 per-day, per-employee fine? Employers/plan administrators are liable for serious penalties if they don't provide an SPD or have a current Plan Document.  In fact:

• Failure to provide an SPD or Plan Document within 30 days of receiving a request from a plan participant or beneficiary can result in a penalty of up to $110/day per participant or beneficiary for each violation.
• Lack of an SPD could trigger a plan audit by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
• The DOL has increased its audit staff and national enforcement initiatives to investigate employers' compliance with Health Care Reform, resulting in companies of all sizes being audited and being required to provide an SPD and Plan Document.

The case of Lee. ING Groep, N.V., 2016 WL 3974176 (9th Cir. July 25, 2016) is just one example of how a court can impose such penalties.  In this case, the court granted summary judgement to the plaintiff and imposed a penalty of $27, 475 for failure to produce a Plan Document in a timely manner.

Group health plans must be administered in accordance with a written Plan Document, which must be made available to plan participants and beneficiaries upon request.  In this case, ING North America learned that even though they couldn’t be penalized for failure to provide documents relevant to a benefit claim, penalties could be imposed for failure to provide required plan governing documents. While this case started because an employee was unhappy regarding the handling of claims, it proves that one complaint can lead to a DOL audit and put employers at risk for thousands of dollars in penalties.  

Regardless of business size, almost every company needs an ERISA Wrap to stay in compliance. The BASE® staff strives to make the process as simple as possible and works with you to meet all regulations. We provide clients with a Wrap SPD and Wrap Plan Document to be handed out to plan participants that meet the regulations and requirements set by the Department of Labor and ERISA.

The BASE® staff are experts in compliance, rules and regulations. We can assure clients are on the right track by providing wrap around protection with the BASE® ERISA Wrap. A BASE® client recently stated, “My experience in setting up a BASE® ERISA Wrap has been incredible. BASE® is courteous and thorough, and their follow up is unlike any other company.”

BASE® can help clients avoid the risk of penalties and meet government requirements with the BASE® ERISA Wrap. Contact BASE® to learn more about how a customized Wrap SPD and Wrap Plan Document can provide the required ERISA provisions and information that will help achieve compliance.

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