ERISA compliance. Documents, disclosures and filings.

If your company sponsors a health or welfare plan, ERISA requires a written plan, specific disclosures to employees, annual reporting and fiduciary conduct. Ethos Benefits reviews and maintains your plan documents, tracks every required disclosure and filing, collects service provider compensation disclosures, and gives you access to ERISA attorneys.

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What you get.

Many health plans run on carrier certificates that were never pulled into an ERISA plan document. The gaps usually surface during an audit, a claim dispute or a lawsuit.

Plan and wrap documentsA written plan document, and a wrap document where needed, so every benefit sits under one ERISA plan.
Summary Plan DescriptionAn SPD that matches how the plan actually runs, distributed on time and updated when it should be.
Summaries of Material ModificationsChanges to the plan disclosed to participants within the required window.
Form 5500 and Summary Annual ReportThe annual filing prepared or supported, and the SAR distributed to participants.
408(b)(2) disclosuresCompensation disclosures collected from every covered service provider and reviewed every year.
ERISA attorney accessPlan interpretation questions answered by ERISA counsel, with the guidance kept in your record.

What ERISA requires.

Item	What it is	When
Plan document	The written terms of the plan	In place at all times
Summary Plan Description	The plan explained in plain language	Within 90 days of becoming a participant; restated every five years if amended, every ten if not
Summary of Material Modifications	Notice of a change to the plan	Within 210 days after the end of the plan year of the change; within 60 days for a material reduction in group health benefits
Form 5500	The plan’s annual report	The last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends, with an extension available
Summary Annual Report	A summary of the Form 5500	Nine months after the plan year ends, or two months after an extended 5500 deadline
Claims procedures	How claims and appeals are decided	Described in the SPD and followed every time

Conduct, not just paperwork.

ERISA also governs how the plan is run: loyalty, prudence and following the plan documents. Documents without a process leave your committee exposed. Read what a fiduciary owes the plan, and how fiduciary governance keeps the record.

An audit at the start.

When Ethos begins with a plan, every document, notice and filing is reviewed. The gaps are listed, prioritized and fixed, and the result becomes the baseline for your compliance calendar.

Part of your Fiduciary Framework™.

Every Ethos service reports to your benefits committee. The work is reviewed at your quarterly committee meeting, each decision is recorded with the reasoning behind it, and the record lives in your Ethos Fiduciary OS. That is what lets your committee show the plan was run prudently.

See the Fiduciary Framework™ · How fiduciary governance works

Sources

Reporting and Disclosure Guide for Employee Benefit Plans, U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
Understanding Your Fiduciary Responsibilities Under a Group Health Plan, U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

Questions employers ask about this.

Does every ERISA plan need an SPD?

Yes. Every ERISA-covered plan must provide a Summary Plan Description to participants, regardless of size or whether it is insured or self-funded.

What is a wrap document?

A wrap document is a plan document that brings insurance certificates and other benefit documents under one ERISA plan and adds the provisions ERISA requires that carrier documents leave out.

Who files the Form 5500?

The plan administrator, which is usually the employer. Plans with 100 or more participants generally must file, and so do self-funded plans that hold assets in a trust.

When does an SPD have to be updated?

A restated SPD is generally due every five years if the plan has been amended, and every ten years if it has not, with SMMs in between.

See what your plan is really costing you.

A Strategic Analysis starts with your plan documents and your broker agreement, then shows you what your plan costs, where the risk sits, and what a committee would decide with the full picture.

Request a Strategic Analysis Call (407) 803-4710