ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
#WorkforceWednesday: Employee and Health Benefits One Year After Dobbs - Employment Law This Week®
The Burr Broadcast April 2023 - The Official End of COVID-19 Emergencies
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 138: Mason Ellerbe, Lead Executive for High Value Health, OneDigital
Employment Law Now VI-121 - Top 5 Fall Things You Need To Know
How the Dobbs Supreme Court Decision Affects Employee Benefits
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Health Plan Transparency Requirements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Group Health Plan Service Provider Compensation Disclosure Requirements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - 2023 Benefits Forecast with Mercer
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Prescription Drug and Health Coverage Reporting Requirements
#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA ETS in Review, Texas Vaccine Mandate Ban, Health Premium Incentives - Employment Law This Week®
Navigating the Nuances of the COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Can Employers Impose a Health Insurance Surcharge on Plan Participants Not Vaccinated for COVID-19?
AGG Talks: Solving Employers’ Problems - Health Plan Premium Surcharges for the Unvaccinated: Are They Legal and How Do They Work?
Podcast: What's New for Insurers in Mental Health Parity Compliance - Diagnosing Health Care
Leading in a Lonely World Podcast: Meet Jamie Pagliaro, a Leader Who has Made His “Passion” for Helping Others His Life’s Work
COBRA Deadlines and Proofs of Mailing in Carter v. Southwest Airlines Co. Board of Trustees
Midyear Premium Increases and Cafeteria Plan Rules
How the American Rescue Plan Act Affects COBRA
The three federal agencies tasked with enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) — the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services (through CMS), and Treasury (the Departments) — issued their...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have updated the Submission Instructions and User Manual for the Gag Clause Prohibition...more
The Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the US Department of Health and Human Services recently released a final rule (“Final Rule”) to update the HIPAA Privacy Rules for reproductive health care information. The Final Rule...more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues....more
On or before Dec. 31, 2023, certain group health plans and health insurance issuers must submit an attestation to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) certifying their compliance with the “gag clause...more
Last week, the departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services (collectively, the Departments) published long-awaited proposed regulations intended to clarify and improve compliance with the federal mental...more
Summary - By December 31, 2023, health plans and insurers must submit an attestation of compliance with the anti-gag rules of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). The rules apply to all agreements entered into...more
Employers should prepare now for impacts to their employee benefit plans when the COVID-19 Outbreak Period expires. On March 29, 2023, in anticipation of the ends of both the National Emergency and Public Health Emergency,...more
With the COVID-19 public health emergency and the presidential declaration of national emergency intended to end on May 11 and the US government recently issuing guidance on unwinding these emergency declarations, this...more
Since 2021, certain group health plans and health insurance issuers have been prohibited from entering into agreements with “gag clauses” (“Gag Clause Prohibition”). By December 31, 2023, these plans and issuers will be...more
On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration released a Statement of Administration Policy providing that the Administration intends to end the COVID-19 National Emergency declared in 2020 (the “National Emergency”) on May...more
The implications of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade’s constitutional right to abortion have had sweeping implications that affect...more
The Supreme Court of the United States held in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, overruling long-standing precedent in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood...more
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas recently vacated a portion of the Requirements Related to Surprise Billing, Part II, Interim Final Rule (the “Rule”) regarding the independent dispute resolution (IDR)...more
On January 25, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”), Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Treasury (collectively, “Departments” or “Regulators”) released their 2022 Annual Report to Congress on...more
Summary - To help individuals better understand the costs they will bear for medical care, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) requires health plan ID cards to include clear information about deductibles and...more
Employers and their benefit administrators have more detail and a more convenient way to submit “top 50” lists and other data - but no more time to comply with - daunting prescription drug cost reporting requirements in the...more
Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“Act”) broadly addresses surprise medical billing and health plan transparency. This post focuses on Section 202 of Division BB (the “Provision”), which establishes...more
...The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260 (CAA) sets forth new compensation disclosure requirements that apply to brokers and consultants with respect to both fully-insured and self-insured group health...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), made dozens of changes to health care regulation, including a landmark ban on surprise medical billing. Easily overlooked were new compensation disclosure requirements related...more
Employer-sponsored health plans can add air ambulance claims reporting to the list of required disclosures that will go into effect in the next several years. Under proposed regulations published September 16, 2021, by...more
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Treasury, along with the Office of Personnel Management, on July 1, 2021, issued a much-anticipated Interim Final Rule with Comment Period (IFC) –...more
Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will focus on requesting information from employers where there are potential “red flags” of non-compliance with the provisions and rules of the Mental Health Parity...more
Group health plans and insurers have been required since 2008 to ensure that any “nonquantitative treatment limitations” (NQTLs) imposed on mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are comparable and no more...more
We previously blogged about the new Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) reporting and disclosure requirements established by the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 (CAA). As a refresher, employers and...more