The first stage of First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research kicked off on March 6, 2024, when the Department of Health and Human Services ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health held a proposer...more
THIS WEEK’S DOSE - Uncharted Territory in the House: The House voted to remove Rep. McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House, then recessed until at least October 11, when the House is slated to reconvene to elect a new...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the broad application of a district court decision that would have invalidated a number of preventive care requirements under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, health plans,...more
On March 30, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a decision in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra (“Braidwood”), invalidating the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA’s”) mandate...more
Summary - The Departments of Labor, the Treasury, and Health and Human Services have jointly issued FAQs that address the requirement to cover the full cost of certain preventive care services in view of the recent ruling...more
The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) recently issued yet another favorable Advisory Opinion on the use of gift cards to motivate patients to receive medically necessary or...more
Summary - Health plans and insurance policies may no longer be required to cover the full cost of preventive care that carries an A or B rating by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), following a recent ruling...more
On March 30, 2023, the District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an opinion and order in Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra that vacates the implementation and enforcement of certain preventive service provisions...more
On September 7, 2022, a US district court judge for the Northern District of Texas issued a ruling that preventive care provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requiring private insurance plans to cover drugs that prevent...more
Wearable fitness products company Fitbit Inc. announced Friday it entered a definitive agreement to be acquired by Alphabet Inc.-owned Google for $7.35 per share in cash, valuing the company at approximately $2.1 billion....more
Big data and numbers may seem to drive the world these days, but human factors can play a dizzying role when it comes to statistics and medical treatments....more
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced mandatory coverage for a wide array of preventive care services. Section 2713 of the ACA requires most health plans to provide coverage for various preventive care services without...more
The Department of the Treasury, DOL, and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued final rules regarding coverage of certain preventive services required to be provided under ACA without cost sharing by...more
Reductions in uninsured rates are greatest in states with Medicaid expansions and State-based or State Partnership Marketplaces; Kentucky finds increased use of preventive healthcare following Medicaid expansion; and,...more
Major Revisions to Qualified Plan Determination Letter Process Announced - Effective January 1, 2017, the staggered five-year determination letter remedial amendment cycles for individually designed plans will be...more
The U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor (DOL) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have issued interim final regulations and Frequently Asked Questions and Answers on the cost-free coverage of preventive services under the...more
This is the 49th in a series of WorkCite articles concerning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its companion statute, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (referred to collectively as the...more
Recent guidance issued jointly by the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury clarifies how the Affordable Care Act's requirement to provide cost-free coverage for preventive care applies to...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued an advisory opinion approving an arrangement whereby a licensed entity providing services under a state program for...more
In This Issue: - Hobby Lobby decision further complicates ACA implementation - Implementation of the Affordable Care Act - Other Federal Regulatory Initiatives - Other Congressional and State...more
In a wide-ranging set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and other guidance, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services have addressed a number of issues pertaining to the Affordable Care Act...more
Preventive Care Expansion for Calendar Plan Year 2015 for Non-Grandfathered or Non-Exempt Plans - The preventive care coverage requirements were updated in September 2013 to include a requirement that there must be...more
Recent guidance clarifies important issues under the Affordable Care Act, including mental health parity requirements; coverage of preventive care services; cost-sharing requirements; and out-of-pocket maximums, wellness...more