Legal

The high cost of health care drove the vast majority of strategies in the benefits space, as pharmacy benefit managers found themselves in the headlines far too often this year, as the high costs of drugs (and weight loss drugs, in particular) were a hot topic.

Seattle-based Weyerhaeuser Company employees filed a class action lawsuit over the transfer of plan assets to Athene Annuity & Life Assurance, alleging a breach of fiduciary duty, according to law firm Schlichter Bogard.

The lawsuit alleged UnitedHealth CFO John Rex interfered with the company's decision to drop "one of the worst-performing target date options in the entire market.”

The IRS reminded account holders, and their beneficiaries, with employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRAs, of the upcoming Dec. 31 deadline — or face penalties.

The late CEO Brian Thompson, along with two other UnitedHealth Group executives, were accused of dumping stock prior to a Department of Justice antitrust investigation into the company.

These large asset management firms violated antitrust law through climate activism that resulted in reduced coal production and boosted energy prices, according to a lawsuit filed by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton.