Photo of Melanie N. Aska

Melanie N. Aska brings more than three decades of experience in ERISA and employee benefit plans to her legal practice.

A member of the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation practice since 2018, Melanie works with clients of all sizes from the manufacturing, health care and nonprofit sectors.

Applying her keen understanding of the regulatory landscape that impacts plans offered by for-profit and tax-exempt employers, she guides clients in the design and implementation of retirement, flexible benefits and welfare benefit programs.

Melanie’s long tenure in the field allows her to quickly identify and solve issues that may arise during the operational stage, especially voluntary corrections, plan amendments, compliance reporting or other adjustments that may be prompted by competitive factors, regulatory changes, mergers, spinoffs or terminations.

Melanie brings in-depth experience in 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), 457(f) and defined benefit retirement plans; cafeteria plans; employee health and welfare benefit plans; ACA compliance; and review of service provider contracts. Her due diligence skills are frequently sought by clients involved in mergers or acquisitions.

Valued for her practical approach, reliability and responsiveness, Melanie recently helped a leading company in the home technology space seamlessly transition an acquired company’s employees into their workforce and integrate their employee benefit plans.

Melanie is an accomplished writer whose articles are regularly distributed in Murtha Cullina newsletters and client alerts. Since 1995, she has co-authored the Pension Distribution Answer Book, published by Wolters Kluwer, and written many articles on retirement plan-related topics for that publisher’s Journal of Pension Benefits.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 economic stimulus bill which provides eligible qualified beneficiaries with up to six months of free COBRA continuation coverage during a temporary COBRA premium subsidy period beginning April 1, 2021 and ending September 30, 2021.
Continue Reading New COBRA Premium Subsidy Law Requires Prompt Action by Employers and COBRA Administrators