Litigation and policy developments at the state and federal level continue as we approach the November election. The Indiana State Supreme Court issued an order on October 12 upholding the temporary injunction on enforcement...more
We are now more than 100 days out from the release of the Dobbs decision and the laws around reproductive rights remain in flux....more
The Mental Health Matters Act, passed in the US House of Representatives on September 29, significantly expands the US Department of Labor’s authority to enforce or file civil litigation with respect to mental health parity...more
Recent developments reinforce the importance of state litigation to reproductive rights post-Dobbs. In Indiana, a court blocked enforcement of the state’s new abortion prohibition, finding that the ban could contravene rights...more
The most significant development regarding reproductive rights in the last week occurred in West Virginia, where the state legislature enacted a near-total ban on abortion. Other major events included the introduction of...more
In the last two weeks, South Carolina’s Senate failed to pass a near-total ban on abortion, California’s legislature passed a law prohibiting California corporations from assisting with certain investigations related to the...more
Federal litigation was in the spotlight last week with two major decisions related to the Biden-Harris administration’s Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) guidance on providing abortion services as emergency...more
Litigation over the effectiveness of various state abortion laws and state legislative efforts continues as we near two months after the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling. The last of the state trigger laws are set to go into...more
The legal landscape around access to abortion services continues to change rapidly in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. While a number of states have begun implementing laws that were on the books and...more
This past week witnessed the first referendum on abortion rights since the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, along with legislative developments in several states concerning access to abortion....more
Federal and state activity in the initial weeks after the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision largely focused on litigation and executive and state legislative action designed...more
The COVID-19 pandemic brought multiple temporary changes for ERISA-governed group health and welfare plans. Certain coverage mandates apply for only the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (the Public Health...more
The weeks after the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision have seen an array of federal and state actions on the issue of access to abortion-related services, including new...more
The US Supreme Court released its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health on June 24. The decision overturns prior Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which held that the US Constitution...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2022-24 on April 29 to provide the inflation-adjusted amounts for health savings accounts (HSAs) in calendar year 2023....more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, which was signed March 15, again permits first-dollar coverage for telehealth services without jeopardizing health savings account (HSA) eligibility, effective April 1, 2022,...more
In the case of Texas Medical Ass'n, et al. v. US Department of Health and Human Services, et al., the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on February 23 invalidated portions of the second interim final rule...more
The US Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services, and Treasury issued new frequently asked questions on February 4, 2022, regarding coverage of over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests at no cost sharing (i.e.,...more
The US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury issued their 2022 Report to Congress regarding their enforcement activities under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act as required under the...more
The US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) on January 10 published much-anticipated FAQs implementing President Joseph Biden’s announcement last month to expand...more
The Department of Labor (Department) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-03 (FAB) on December 30, 2021, announcing a temporary enforcement policy for group health plan service provider disclosures under ERISA Section...more
Permissible Flexibility under Code Section 125 Pursuant to IRS Notice 2021-15 Notice 2021-15 offered plan sponsors the flexibility to adopt any of the following options despite the longstanding rules under Section 125 of the...more
11/9/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
COBRA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
NQTLs ,
TPAs
As we get closer to the September 30 expiration date of the COBRA premium subsidy provided under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the IRS has issued a second set of FAQs in Notice 2021-46 (Notice) to supplement its prior...more
On July 19, the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the Departments) issued Part 47 of their frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation. There are three new...more
The US Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part I on July 1. ...more