Advisory Opinions

Requests for interpretations and other rulings under Title 1 of ERISA are handled by the Office of Regulations and Interpretations under the provisions established by ERISA Procedure 76-1.  The office answers inquiries from individuals and organizations in the form of advisory opinions, which apply the law to a specific set of facts, or information letters, which merely call attention to well established principles or interpretations.

Data Dictionary

1994
AO/ Date/ Reference Recipient Description of Request
07/01/1994
2510.3-1(j)
3(1)

Ms. Catherine A. Powers 
Benefits Attorney 
Air Line Pilots Association 
535 Herndon Parkway 
P.O. Box 1169
Herndon, Virginia 22070

Whether the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) Group Term Life Insurance Plan is an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA.

06/17/1994
3(32)

Ms. Theresa L. Holmes 
Corporate Counsel 
Lexington Fayette Urban County Government 
200 East Main Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507

Whether inclusion of employees of The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in the County Employees Retirement Systems (CERS), a retirement system administered by the Kentucky Retirement Systems to provide retirement benefits to employees of counties and school boards in the State of Kentucky, would affect the status of CERS as a governmental plan within the meaning of section 3(32) of Title I of ERISA.

06/17/1994
3(40)
514(b)

Mr. Alfred W. Gross
Deputy Commissioner 
Virginia Bureau of Insurance 
Box 1157
Richmond, Virginia 23209

Whether the Freedom Spirit program offered by Unitec Association which is insured by The Centennial Life Insurance Company is a multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) within the meaning of section 3(40) of Title I of ERISA.

06/13/1994
3(32)
4(b)(1)

Mr. David R. Levin 
Reish & Luftman 
11 Dupont Circle, Suite 775 
Washington, D.C. 20036-1207

Whether the Appalachian Regional Commission Pension Plan is a governmental plan within the meaning of Title I of ERISA and thus is excluded by section 4(b)(1) from coverage by the requirements of Title I of ERISA.

05/23/1994
3(33)
4(b)(2)

Ms. Melissa B. Rasman 
Dechert Price & Rhoads 
4000 Bell Atlantic Tower 
1717 Arch Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-2793

Whether certain benefit arrangements for the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a/k/a Princeton Theological Seminary's employees are church plans within the meaning of section 3(33) of Title I of ERISA.

04/29/1994
606(a)(1)

Mr. David A. Snouffer 
Willcox & Savage, PC 
1800 Nations Bank center
One Commercial Place
Norfolk, Virginia 23510-2197

Whether, in complying with the notice requirement imposed by section 606(a)(1) of ERISA, with respect to the continuation of coverage provisions, such group health plans must provide the required notice not only to the covered employee, but also, in all cases, to the spouse of such employee, regardless of whether the spouse is covered under the group health plan.

04/20/1994
3(33)
4(b)(2)

Mr. S. Howard Kline
Buchanan Ingersoll 
600 Grant Street, 58th Floor
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219-2887

Whether St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, a medical facility of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, New York, benefit arrangements are church plans within the meaning of section 3(33) of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

04/20/1994
3(33)
4(b)(2)

Mr. I. Lee Falk 
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius 
2000 One Logan Square 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-6993

Whether certain benefit arrangements for employees of the Presbyterian Homes of the Presbytery of Huntingdon are church plans within the meaning of section 3(33) of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

04/20/1994
3(1)

Mr. Emil Steck, Jr.
The Park Center Building 
221 East Walnut Street, Suite 236 
Pasadena, California 91101

Whether the Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Joint Apprenticeship Trust or the Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Maintenance and Hazardous Waste Agreements Trust are employee welfare benefit plans within the meaning of section 3(1) of Title I of ERISA, and if so, whether any ERISA reporting requirements are applicable to the plans.

04/04/1994
3(33)
4(b)(2)

Mr. I. Lee Falk 
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
2000 One Logan Square 

Whether benefit arrangements for the Lutheran Social Services--East Region (LSSER) in Lititz, Pennsylvania, an institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America employees are church plans within the meaning of section 3(33) of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).