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 August Monthly Minute highlights new IRS guidance addressing student loan matching programs, HHS’s increases to civil monetary penalties and Form 5330 paper filing updates....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
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
The employee benefits 2024 open enrollment season is quickly approaching and, with newly released IRS guidance, employers should be careful to ensure the health plan they offer employees is considered affordable. According to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Fresh on the heels of the IRS Chief Counsel Memorandum on wellness and indemnity products, discussed in our prior post here, the agencies have weighed in with more formal and more expansive guidance...more
The CAA Transparency Rules Will Let Plans and Participants Know. The Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the IRS (collectively the Departments) recently released the Interim Final Rules with a request for...more
A collection of federal agencies recently released guidance to assist group plan health sponsors navigate upcoming disclosure obligations. On November 17, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the...more
Employers who sponsor group health plans will be interested in new guidance released last week by the DOL, IRS and HHS in the form of five COVID-19 related FAQs. Two of the FAQs address group health plan coverage requirements...more
For years (and we do mean years), the EEOC has waffled about whether incentives were permissible in connection with a medical inquiry under a voluntary wellness program. Friday, the EEOC issued its most recent pronouncement...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
The Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021 was signed into law on December 27, 2020 and is an impressive 5,593 pages. According to the Senate Historical Office, the Act is the longest bill ever passed by Congress. Buried...more
By the time this article goes to print, it is likely that COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration will be underway in the United States. In late October, the Trump Administration released an interim final regulation...more
New guidance issued by the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Health and Human Services requires group health plans to disregard certain timeframes and deadlines related to...more
In April 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released guidance indicating that a health plan must include the value of financial assistance received from a drug manufacturer (often referred to as a...more
What is the Annual Maximum Out-Of-Pocket Limit (“MOOP”)? MOOP is the most a participant must pay for covered services under a group health plan in a plan year. After a participant spends this amount on deductibles,...more
On July 17, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released Notice 2019-45 which expands the list of permissible preventive care benefits for high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) purposes. Among other requirements, an...more
Healthcare coverage became an employer-offered benefit during World War II as the result of the federal government’s wage and price controls. Since that time, Medicare has become an important part of how healthcare is...more
On June 13, the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services jointly released final regulations dealing with health reimbursement accounts (“HRAs”). These regulations fulfill the Trump administration’s...more
On June 13, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (collectively, the “Departments”)...more
• The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) issued Final Rules regarding a new type of health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) – the individual coverage HRA...more
In October 2018, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services issued proposed regulations expanding the availability of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) by eliminating a prohibition on integrating...more
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (or “HRAs”) are employer-funded, account-based group health plans, which are used to reimburse certain medical expenses incurred by eligible employees, their spouses, and their dependents....more
Under a proposed rule that the Department of Labor (DOL), Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) jointly issued on October 29, 2018, employers may soon have more flexibility to fund...more
After multiple failed attempts by Congress to reform the Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Trump announced several weeks ago that the federal government would stop making subsidy payments to insurers who sell coverage...more
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced a “pay or play” scheme, effective January 1, 2015, in which Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) must offer affordable qualifying healthcare to their full-time employees (and their...more