Segal Company

Compliance

Segal offers a range of compliance services and publications to help public sector employers navigate the maze of federal, state and local laws and regulations related to benefit plans.

We have extensive experience in preparing comprehensive analyses of federal, state and local legislative and regulatory issues for our public sector clients. These include a wide variety of research projects and reports that we have prepared for boards of trustees of state and local government plans, state legislatures, state commissions, and the Federal Executive and Judiciary branches.

Compliance Services

  • Drafting plan documents, summary plan descriptions, plan enrollment information, administrative forms and participant correspondence and notices
  • Reviewing documents for compliance with Internal Revenue Code provisions and regulations, internal and external consistency, and the provision of clear rules and guidelines for plan operations
  • HIPAA privacy and security assessment, policies and procedures, compliance and training programs
  • Designing wellness programs to promote healthy lifestyles while complying with strict federal guidelines
  • Drafting policies and procedures, and conducting training, on a wide range of federally mandated plan provisions, including COBRA, QDROs, USERRA, Cafeteria plans, and other laws
  • Developing individual account health plans to accommodate changing health policy needs of employers, including Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements
  • Help employers navigate new and confusing rules regarding Medicare, coordination of benefits, and the Medicare Part D Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS)
  • Help employers prepare for government audits of health and retirement plans
  • CrosscheckSM, an operational review of your administrative procedures

Compliance Publications

  • Compliance Alert, a periodic electronic newsletter that summarizes important developments affecting benefit plan compliance
  • Capital Checkup, a periodic electronic newsletter that summarizes health care related activity in Washington
  • Periodic Public Sector Letters that discuss creative benefit planning options for plan sponsors
  • Periodic Bulletins that describe compliance issues raised by major legislation, regulatory developments or accounting standards

Our Washington-based staff include experts in both health and pension laws, who are able to maintain close relationships with government agencies, which allows them to be able to respond to questions quickly and efficiently.  We are able to follow legislative developments carefully and update clients as to new laws.  In addition, The Segal Company's compliance experts wrote and serve as ongoing editors to the Employer's Guide to HIPAA Privacy Requirements, by the Thompson Publishing Group, Inc., and serve on the advisory boards of multiple employee benefit publications.

When a new statute, regulation, or judicial decision can potentially affect one of our clients, we alert them by telephone, letter, or both. In addition, we encourage our clients to contact Segal whenever a question arises about an issue that can affect their plan. However, because Segal does not practice law, if a legal issue arises, you should supplement the information and observations that we offer by looking to your attorneys for authoritative legal advice.