K&L Gates Triage: An Insider’s Perspective on the Health Care Debate in Washington, DC
Biden Administration Issues Final Reg on Mental Health Parity Requirements McDermott+ is pleased to bring you Regs & Eggs, a weekly Regulatory Affairs blog by Jeffrey Davis. Click here to subscribe to future blog posts....more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues....more
With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) set to end on May 11, 2023, the Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Health and Human Services (the “departments”) have published FAQs explaining...more
The expanded Medicaid and CHIP coverage offered during the COVID-19 public health emergency ended March 31, 2023, and employees and dependents who were participating in the expanded government-provided health insurance were...more
Sponsors of self-funded group health plans are required to notify enrollees about the availability of the plan’s notice of privacy practices and how enrollees can obtain a copy of such notice. This must be done at least once...more
Since 2015, federal agencies have been required to annually review the laws and regulations they enforce to adjust applicable penalties for inflation. The idea has been to provide increasingly greater incentives for plan...more
October brings with it the approach of year-end notices and open enrollment for 2021 health & welfare benefits. While open enrollment for your organization may be a month or so away, October 15 is the deadline for...more
We recognize that many of our clients sponsor ERISA welfare benefit plans and are currently undergoing their open enrollment process and issuing related participant communications. To assist our clients with that process, we...more
The Grand Old Party may have just won the dictionary definition of a Pyrrhic Victory. That’s because Republicans’ decade-long assault on the Affordable Care Act his finally showing predictable results, with the share of...more
Following a brief shutdown of the federal government, on February 9, Congress passed and President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Budget Act), which provides Congress until March 23 to...more
In August 2017, Governor Charlie Baker signed into law, “An Act Further Regulating Employer Contributions to Health Care,” which became effective on January 1, 2018, and will remain on the books through the end of the 2019...more
On August 1, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law H. 3822, “An Act Further Regulating Employer Contributions to Health Care” (the “Act”). The purpose of the Act is to shore up the finances of the...more
In an effort to make up for a funding shortfall in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, state policymakers have proposed solutions that include a “play-or-pay” option under which employers who fail to offer...more
ABSTRACT - Although the American Health Care Act, as passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, mainly affects the individual and small group health insurance markets, it has implications for large employers. The repeal of...more
Oregon’s hospitals see improved financial performance following the ACA; CMS denies Indiana’s request for an additional lockout period in the Medicaid expansion program; and a new Manatt Health report details Medicaid funding...more
On June 30, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued an interim final rule that significantly increases various penalties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). The interim rule is the...more
Employers and plan sponsors must comply with numerous filing and notice deadlines for their retirement and health and welfare plans. Failure to comply with these deadlines can result in costly penalties. To avoid such...more
On April 10, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction...more
HHS ramps up for the final week of open enrollment. Families buying into CHIP in Pennsylvania are granted tax relief, and though Medicaid expansion efforts seem to have hit a wall in Tennessee and Wyoming, Arkansas assures...more
Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new proposed regulations on FY 2014 payment updates and regulatory policy changes for inpatient and long term care hospitals, skilled nursing facilitates,...more