Turbulent Times for Health and Welfare Benefits: COVID-19, Mental Health Parity, State Laws, and More

Ms. Santos counsels employers and multiemployer trusts on all aspects of their employee benefit plans, including health and welfare plans, Section 125 cafeteria plans, and qualified retirement plans. She assists clients with compliance matters; administrative and plan design issues; plan, SPD and amendment drafting; IRS submissions; IRS and DOL investigations; and the review and negotiation of service provider agreements, including investment manager agreements. Tiffany frequently makes presentations on health plan matters, including health care reform (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010), HIPAA, COBRA, and cafeteria plans, and on investment-related matters, including ERISA’s impact on alternative investments.

Tiffany has been listed as a Northern California “Super Lawyer” in the area of employee benefits law since 2018. Tiffany has also been selected by her peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers® in America in 2021 in the practice area of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law.

Jason Lacey practices primarily in the areas of income taxation, ERISA, employee benefits, and executive compensation. He assists both taxable and tax-exempt employers with a wide variety of employee benefit and executive compensation issues, including design and administration of welfare benefit plans and qualified and nonqualified pension, retirement savings, and deferred compensation plans. He also represents clients with respect to the tax and business aspects of entity formation, tax-advantaged exchanges and reorganizations, and tax controversies, and has significant practice experience in the areas of estate administration, estate and gift taxation, and the federal tax aspects of municipal finance transactions.

Jason has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America©, the Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® Rising Star list, and Chambers USA as a leading business attorney in the United States. He was recognized by Best Lawyers® as the 2014, 2017, and 2020 Wichita Employee Benefits (ERISA) “Lawyer of the Year.”

Christopher T. Collins is Chair of the Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits group.

He assists employers on all aspects of employee benefits, focusing on retirement and welfare plan design, qualification and compliance. He frequently advises employers regarding benefit issues in connection with mergers and acquisitions and U.S. Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service correction programs. Mr. Collins also represents companies and executives in the design and negotiation of executive compensation arrangements, such as nonqualified deferred compensation plans and equity compensation plans.

Mr. Collins regularly counsels clients on HIPAA privacy issues and has written extensively on the HITECH Breach Notification Rule. He has also assisted clients in responding to security incidents involving health- and employment-related information.

Mr. Collins is an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he teaches Employee Benefits Law. The Legal 500 United States guide recommended Mr. Collins in the Labor and Employment—Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and the Retirement Plans: Design, and Labor and Employment—Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Transactions categories. He was selected for inclusion in Leading Lawyers from 2019 to 2021, and was also selected for inclusion as an “Illinois Rising Star” from 2009 to 2011 by Super Lawyers.