Employment Law This Week®: DOJ’s New Stance on Title VII, ACA Contraception Mandate, SCOTUS Hears Class-Action Waiver Arguments, RI’s Paid Sick Leave Policy
Once again, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury have issued guidance on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) required coverage of contraception without cost sharing, clarifying the permitted...more
In response to Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra, a recent case striking down part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) preventive services mandate, the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury...more
As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we examine the decision of a Texas district court to strike down an Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandate on preventive medical services and look at the U.S. Department of Justice’s...more
Employers can’t say they weren’t warned. For the second time in six months, frequently asked question (FAQ) guidance from federal regulators is calling attention to the requirement that employer-sponsored health...more
The courts continue to play an important role in health policy. 2020 saw several notable lawsuits related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Several other Trump administration policies were challenged, including Medicare...more
After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in a 2-1 decision last December, declared the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) individual health insurance mandate unconstitutional as a result of Congress’ elimination of...more
On December 18, 2019 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in a 2-1 decision which the court revised on January 9, declared the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) individual health insurance mandate unconstitutional as...more
A Third Circuit appeals panel upheld the lower court ruling in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. President United States of America et al. No. 17-3752. This ruling grants a nationwide preliminary injunction against the...more
The US Supreme Court declined to review a recent Ninth Circuit decision, blocking the interim rules that exempted employers with religious or moral objections from providing birth control coverage required by the Affordable...more
Increasing uncertainty and hostility surrounding the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) have resulted in a burst of health insurance reforms at the state level. For example, Washington recently passed a law creating a public...more
On January 14, 2019, US District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s carveouts to the...more
After a brief lull in activity, recent developments are likely to involve all three branches of government in addressing issues under the Affordable Care Act....more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued interim final rules on October 6, 2017, expanding exemptions to protect religious beliefs and moral convictions for certain entities and individuals whose health plans...more
Last week the Department of Treasury, U.S. Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services (Departments) published rules exempting employers from the contraceptive coverage mandate created under the Affordable...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just issued new rules which will limit the contraception coverage mandate covering employers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The new rules, released Friday, expand the...more
Timely Topics - The final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on May...more
A federal report finds that Marketplace premiums are lower in expansion states; Massachusetts and Pennsylvania launch prescription drug monitoring systems; and Kentucky submits a slightly modified Medicaid expansion waiver to...more
This past May, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin,...more
The Vulnerability of Healthcare Information - According to a report the Brookings Institute issued in May 2016, 23% of all data breaches occur in the healthcare industry. Nearly 90% of healthcare organizations had some...more
Maryland becomes the first State to mandate over-the-counter contraceptive coverage; Missouri plans to increase Medicaid asset limitations by 500% by 2021; and HHS' final rule extends protections against sex discrimination to...more
On October 23, 2015, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury (the “Agencies”) jointly released their twenty-ninth (XXIX) set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Affordable Care Act (ACA)...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
Hobby Lobby took on the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that it must provide female employees certain contraceptives on religious grounds and won. March for Life, a pro-life organization, is trying to reach the same result but...more
The Massachusetts Marketplace takes steps to ease consumer confusion by reducing choice among QHPs; North Carolina appears poised to pass Medicaid reform legislation; and bipartisan support is gaining for defining businesses...more
Respondeat superior (literally, "let the master answer" in Latin) is a doctrine that applies when an employer or principal has the ability and authority to direct and control the pertinent acts of the employee. Put otherwise,...more