Medical Device Legal News with Sam Bernstein: Episode 19
Midyear Premium Increases and Cafeteria Plan Rules
K&L Gates Triage: An Insider’s Perspective on the Health Care Debate in Washington, DC
K&L Gates Triage: 340B Regulatory Update: CMS Proposal and Draft Executive Order Could Have Big Impact on 340B Program
Collaborating Before The PTAB
Employers providing health plan coverage through a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) may need to amend their HDHP before year-end to remove first-dollar telehealth coverage. Although prior regulatory relief permitted...more
Employer-sponsored health plans would be required to cover over-the-counter contraception, including condoms and emergency contraception, without a prescription and without cost sharing under newly proposed Affordable Care...more
Recent scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers, also known as “PBMs,” has resulted in various lawsuits alleging that the high drug costs they charge violate ERISA. Among the first lawsuits in what appears to be a wave of new...more
Summary - Employers taking advantage of copay accumulator programs now face unexpected administrative complications following a recent federal court decision....more
Employers’ high deductible health plans (HDHPs) can continue to cover COVID-19 testing and treatment without violating the eligibility rules for health savings accounts (HSAs)—but only through 2024—under new Internal Revenue...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
In light of the March 30 Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra decision, the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Treasury (the “departments”) have issued FAQ guidance on how the...more
Plan participants can be hit with surprise medical bills when they receive care from out-of-network providers. Sometimes, this happens when participants do not know that the care they are receiving is from an out-of-network...more
New rules published last month likely require your employer health plan to phase-in certain disclosures over a three-year period beginning in one year: 1. January 1, 2022 (three files must be disclosed): For plan years...more
On November 15, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a proposed "Transparency in Coverage" rule that would require most...more
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a popular vehicle for paying health care costs. Employees find HSAs attractive because they can control the amount of money contributed, determine when to withdraw money, and enjoy the...more
Editor's Overview - For over two decades, federal law has required covered health plans and insurers to ensure that certain mental health benefits are in parity with offered medical/surgical benefits. The meaning of...more
The rising cost of drugs in the U.S. is frequently in the news. So it is not surprising that in its contract year 2019 Proposed Medicare Advantage and Part D Regulations (Proposed Rule), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...more
As 2017 comes to an end, we are happy to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are publishing our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered year-end...more
On June 22, 2017, the Senate released its much anticipated health care reform legislation – the Better Care Reconciliation Act (“BCRA”) (linked to amended version released June 26, 2017). In many respects the BCRA is similar...more
As employers and plans prepare for 2016 open enrollment, they must be sure to address in their benefit design and with their third party vendors the new embedded out-of-pocket maximum limitations on individuals that were...more
As we do every month, we have provided below a comprehensive alert that highlights the most important employee benefits legal developments during May of 2015. We hope that our “Monthly Benefits Updates” continue to be a...more