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Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Employer Group Health Plans Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Hall Benefits Law

Federal Agencies Issue Updated Instructions for Annual Submission of Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation

Hall Benefits Law on

​​​​​​​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

Kilpatrick

ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans

Kilpatrick on

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

Snell & Wilmer

2023 End-of-Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists (Part 1) Health and Welfare

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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

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Don’t Choke on the Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation Requirement of the CAA

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

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

First Look at Proposed New Federal Mental Health Parity Rules

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

Ballard Spahr LLP

Gag-Clause Attestations Due by End of Year

Ballard Spahr LLP on

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

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Agencies Release FAQs Confirming Impact of End of the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations on Employee Benefit Plans

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

Morgan Lewis

COVID-19 Public Health and National Emergencies to End May 11—or Earlier

Morgan Lewis on

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

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Gag Clause Compliance Attestation Requirements for Plan Sponsors

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

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

The End of the Line Draws Near for COVID-19 Plan Deadline Extensions

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

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Employer Provided Travel Benefits in Response to Dobbs and State Prohibitions on Abortion

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

Fox Rothschild LLP

The Supreme Court’s Dobbs Ruling Creates a Variety of Significant Legal Issues

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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

Verrill

Surprise Medical Bills: Texas District Court Vacates Portion of Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) Process in Agency Rule

Verrill on

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

Epstein Becker & Green

2022 Mental Health Parity Report to Congress Highlights Increased Enforcement Efforts

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

Ballard Spahr LLP

The CAA's New Identification Card Requirements

Ballard Spahr LLP on

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

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Making a List, Checking It Twice: Year-End Guidance on Drug Cost Reporting

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

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Broker and Consultant Disclosures to Group Health Plans under Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

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

Foley & Lardner LLP

The Consolidated Appropriations Act’s Compensation Disclosure Provisions from a Carrier and Plan Service Provider Perspective

Foley & Lardner LLP on

...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

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Health Insurance Broker Compensation Disclosures Coming in 2022

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

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

HHS Proposes Air Ambulance Reporting Details Beginning in 2022

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

Holland & Knight LLP

HHS Issues Interim Final Rule Implementing Certain Provisions of the No Surprises Act

Holland & Knight LLP on

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

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

DOL to Focus on Red Flags in Mental Health Parity Requests

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

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

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

DOL Actively Enforcing Newly Required Mental Health Comparative Analysis

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

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Are You Ready to Provide Your MHPAEA Disclosure?

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

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Departments Release FAQs on Implementing the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Requirements under the Consolidated...

As described in a recent blog post, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 amended the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) to require group health plans and health insurance issuers (collectively, “group...more

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