On September 9, the US Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) jointly released a final rule to ensure that group health plans comply with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity...more
On August 2, health care providers scored yet another significant victory when the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the vacatur of various federal regulations regarding the arbitration procedures used to...more
8/8/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Certiorari ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Insurance Industry ,
No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
Reimbursements ,
SCOTUS ,
U.S. Treasury
In a recent opinion, Smith et al. v. UnitedHealth Group Inc. et al., the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class action suit brought by...more
On April 23, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule significantly expanding the definition of who qualifies as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) (the Retirement Security...more
5/15/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary ,
Final Rules ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment ,
Pensions ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On December 18, 2023, the US Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) issued a rule finalizing the 2024 non-refundable administrative fee parties must pay to access the arbitration...more
*This is the 12th article in a series analyzing the No Surprises Act and its implementation. To view the entire series, click here. A link to the proposed rule is here. As background, Congress passed the Act to prevent...more
On September 21, 2023, the US Departments of Treasury (DOT), Labor (DOL), and Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Departments) issued new rulemaking governing the administrative fee required to access the arbitration process...more
10/4/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fees ,
Final Rules ,
No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Surprise Medical Bills ,
U.S. Treasury
On August 3, 2023, health care providers in Texas scored yet another victory when a federal court vacated additional portions of the Biden Administration’s rules governing fee collection and claim batching under the federal...more
8/22/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitration ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Fees ,
Health Care Providers ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Surprise Medical Bills ,
U.S. Treasury
On July 25, 2023, the US Departments of Labor (DOL), Treasury (DOT), and Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Departments) released a much-anticipated interim final rule to ensure that group health plans comply with the...more
8/16/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Mental Health ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Substance Abuse
In parallel cases, health care providers are continuing to challenge rulemaking by the US Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) under the No Surprises Act (the Act). Having already...more
In late September 2022, health care providers in Texas sued the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (collectively, the Departments) over a recently issued final rule implementing the federal No...more
On August 19, 2022, the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, as well as the Office of Personnel Management, released a highly-anticipated final rule clarifying the procedures and considerations...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed the Northern District of California’s landmark decision against UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s behavioral health unit, United Behavioral Health (“UBH”), under which UBH had been...more
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management issued this Fall their second long-awaited interim final rule implementing the federal No Surprises Act (the “Act”),...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued new guidance on best practices for maintaining cybersecurity in connection with ERISA plans (the Guidance).
The Guidance, which is intended for sponsors, fiduciaries, record...more
8/9/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Practices ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
New Guidance ,
Plan Administrators ,
Plan Participants ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Third-Party Service Provider
On July 1, 2021, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management, released a much-anticipated interim final rule designed to protect Americans from surprise medical...more