K&L Gates Triage: An Insider’s Perspective on the Health Care Debate in Washington, DC
On April 29, 2024, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a final regulation (the “Final Rule”) that rescinded the Trump Administration rule that expanded the availability of association health plans (“AHPs”) (“Trump DOL...more
On April 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”) rescinding the 2018 Association Health Plan rule (“2018 AHP Rule”), thereby marking a return to the more rigid pre-2018...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would rescind a 2018 DOL rule entitled “Definition of Employee – Association Health Plans,”...more
On December 19, 2023, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a proposed rule rescinding a Trump Administration rule that expanded the availability of association health plans (“AHPs”) (the “Proposed Rule”)....more
2020 saw the courts continuing to play an important role in health policy with several notable lawsuits related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Several other Trump administration policies were challenged, including Medicare...more
In the opening days of his administration, President Biden has signed a flurry of Executive Orders impacting multiple sectors of the U.S. economy. This article summarizes the Orders that impact employee benefits and...more
As with many of the issues at stake in the upcoming Presidential election, the future of how Americans will obtain healthcare is a core issue this November. The Trump administration previously outlined its view that...more
In 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) continued its trend of providing limited advance guidance under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). By volume, the amount of 2019 guidance...more
On May 13, 2019, the Department of Labor released additional guidance addressing questions about the enforcement relief announced earlier by the Department pending its appeal of the district court’s ruling that invalidated...more
Top DOL Official to Depart. This week the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that Chief of Staff Nicholas Geale will resign his position effective May 31, 2019. Geale is a veteran of the D.C. labor policy debates,...more
On April 29, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released a policy statement providing transitional relief from the potential adverse consequences arising from a District Court’s vacating portions of the...more
As we predicted in our last Deep Dive, the Department of Labor (DOL) has appealed the District Court for the District of Columbia’s ruling in State of New York, et al. v. United States Department of Labor, et al. which...more
Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) responded to the district court decision striking down the final regulations expanding the ability for a group of unrelated employers to form an organization in order to offer health...more
Medical coverage for employees is often a stressful decision for small and family-owned businesses. Providing competitive benefits to employees can help attract and retain good employees....more
A D.C. federal district court struck down DOL rules allowing expanded Association Health Plans (AHPs), effectively putting that new insurance market on hold. ...more
On April 26, 2019, the Department of Labor filed a notice of appeal in the case that invalidated key provisions of its Association Health Plan (AHP) regulations. Released last summer, the AHP regulations loosened the...more
On March 28, 2019, the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion and order vacating key portions of the Department of Labor’s regulation, published in June 2018, which had expanded the definition...more
Judge John Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia recently struck down two parts of the US Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) final regulations on Association Health Plans (AHPs). On March 28, Judge Bates...more
In the employment world, April showers bring regulatory updates impacting employers and employees throughout the country. We’ve provided brief updates below, along with links to our other posts providing more detail on each...more
On March 28, 2019, in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor, a federal district court in the District of Columbia set aside key portions of the Department of Labor’s final rule (the “Final Rule”) which paves...more
On March 28, a District of Columbia federal court agreed with a New York-led challenge by a group of 11 states and the District of Columbia and found that the Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2018 association health plan (AHP)...more
On Friday, March 28, 2019, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates rejected the Trump Administration’s proposal for association health plans (AHP). ...more
Gentlemen, You Can’t Fight in Here! This Is the War Room! On April 3, 2019, for the third time in six years, the U.S. Senate went “nuclear” and changed its rules regarding filibustering of presidential nominees. This time,...more
This is the one hundred and nineteenth issue in our series of alerts for employers on selected topics on health care reform. ...more
A recent ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia calls into question the recently expanded regulations allowing small employers to band together to establish Association Health Plans....more