Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 3 of 5) – Medical Benefit Costs
Correcting Health Savings Account Contribution Errors
I-22- The Benefits of Benefits: A Roundtable Discussion on Trending Benefits Issues for 2018
A recent string of lawsuits, regulatory guidance, and market trends have dramatically impacted the types of services that enjoy first dollar coverage under high deductible health plan (HDHP) and health savings account (HSA)...more
The Biden Administration announced on Jan. 30, 2023, its intent to end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023. Fortunately, the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) extends certain key telehealth...more
As employers plan for the impact of the anticipated May 11, 2023, end of the two federal COVID-19 emergency orders, they have some important new clarity on test and vaccine coverage and on how to unwind COVID-19–era extended...more
On Thursday, February 20, 2020, the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Insurance issued a bulletin clarifying the applicability of Texas’ small and large employer health plan laws and regulations to individual coverage...more
New regulations issued by the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) have expanded the use of health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”), including permitting the use of HRAs to...more
On July 17, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released Notice 2019-45 which expands the list of permissible preventive care benefits for high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) purposes. Among other requirements, an...more
A new IRS notice will allow many with chronic health conditions who participate in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) with health savings accounts (HSAs) to receive necessary care that may otherwise be out of financial...more
US President Donald Trump issued the Executive Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First on June 24, another in a long line of recent executive and legislative branch...more
President Trump signed an executive order on June 23, 2019, to increase healthcare transparency. The order requires negotiated rates to be posted in a consumer-friendly way, increases access to de-identified claims data,...more
On June 24, 2019, President Trump issued the “Executive Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First” (the Order). The Order directs several executive agencies to issue...more
This week’s “Capitol Hill Healthcare Update” includes the latest on a series of healthcare bills scheduled for House votes, including one to repeal the medical device tax; Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott...more
HOUSE PANEL TO EXAMINE POTENTIAL CHANGES TO STARK LAW - Senior Health and Human Services (HHS) officials are scheduled to testify this week before a House subcommittee examining whether laws governing physician...more
Foley & Lardner LLP’s (“Foley”) Bipartisan Public Policy Team is pleased to share our “Public Policy Weekly* Health Care Newsletter” in which we compile the latest Health Care policy news and legislation. *Please note that we...more
Outlook for This Week in the Nation's Capital - Omnibus Could Be Released Today. House Republicans are scheduled to have a meeting early this evening to discuss the FY18 Omnibus bill and the text of the bill could possibly...more
Editor's Overview - For over two decades, federal law has required covered health plans and insurers to ensure that certain mental health benefits are in parity with offered medical/surgical benefits. The meaning of...more
Late last week, two major proposals arose that will have a significant impact on the health care industry. First, the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under new HHS Secretary Tom Price...more
The total U.S. health care expenditure was $3.2 trillion in 2015, and is projected to grow to nearly $5.6 trillion by 2025. As our nation’s cost of care rises, both Democrats and Republicans recognize the overwhelming need to...more
President-elect Donald Trump announced on November 28, 2016, that current House Budget Chair Representative Tom Price is his choice for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. Many providers are wondering what health care...more
The Affordable Care Act has withstood 62 repeal attempts by the House of Representatives and several challenges brought to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, with Donald Trump as President and a new Republican-led House and...more
Editor's Overview - It has been a little more than one year since the U.S. Supreme Court altered the legal landscape for litigating ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims relating to the investment in employer stock...more
Increased plan choice on HealthCare.gov is linked to lower premium growth; Arizona seeks changes to Medicaid expansion; and California and New York release detailed Marketplace and Medicaid enrollment reports....more
In April, the IRS released the 2015 inflation adjustments for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and HSA-qualified high deductible health plans (HDHPs). A month earlier, HHS released details on the “premium adjustment percentage,”...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Essential Health Benefits Final Rule and actuarial value regulations offer few surprises and much needed certainty to enable group health plans and health insurance...more