PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Health Plan Transparency Requirements
Podcast: What's New for Insurers in Mental Health Parity Compliance - Diagnosing Health Care
Compliance Perspective: What's New in Healthcare Privacy
Preparing Employers and Employees for 2021 Benefit Plans Decisions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Employee Benefits Considerations When Conducting Furloughs and Layoffs
COVID-19-Related Guidance Allows Employees to Revise 2020 Health Insurance Elections
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Deadline Extensions Impacting HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA
Employers: Benefits Considerations Post-Pandemic [More with McGlinchey Ep. 3]
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition; New Opportunities for Health Flexible Spending Arrangements and Cafeteria Plans
The Biggest Obstacle to Value-Based Care
Family building benefits continue to be top of mind as employers and plan sponsors implement new benefit programs to support family building journeys for their employees. At the same time, there have been a few recent...more
At the end of June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court order invalidating the Affordable Care Act preventive services mandate for “A” or “B” items and services recommended by the United...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued final regulations on the nondiscrimination rules set forth in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The new rules apply to certain group health plans, as...more
Employers and plan sponsors are facing growing – and often conflicting – pressures related to the coverage of gender-affirming care. Join McDermott lawyers Sarah G. Raaii and Alden J. Bianchi for a webinar to review recent...more
America’s cultural wars may be opening up a new front, and group health plans may be caught in the fray. Since the US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs ended almost fifty years of constitutional protection for abortion rights...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 time may have come to add a welfare plan committee to your company’s governance of employee benefit plans. New legal obligations and other developments impose fiduciary risks for welfare plans similar to what already...more
Excessive fee litigation is no longer confined to defined contribution plans. In recent months, plan sponsors of self-funded health plans have filed three cases against Aetna, Elevance, Inc. (formerly known as Anthem, Inc.),...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit approved the parties’ stipulated agreement to stay enforcement of the district court decision in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra until the appeal is resolved...more
A federal judge has struck down a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandating group health plans and insurers to cover a long list of preventive services without cost-sharing from participants. The March 30 decision...more
On the heels of several recent court decisions concerning gender-affirming care, a federal district court in Washington concluded that the denial of benefits for gender-affirming care by a third-party administrator (“TPA”)...more
The IRS has released Notice 2022-59, which sets the applicable PCORI fee for plan years ending between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023 at $3.00 per covered life....more
Final Regulations under Section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code - On October 11, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Final Regulations under Code Section 36B relating to eligibility for the Affordable Care...more
Applicable large employers must adhere to many Affordable Care Act (ACA) rules to remain compliant regarding group health plan offerings. We offer the following checklist of the five most helpful reminders you should take...more
Within days of the Supreme Court’s June 24th Dobbs decision, which held that the Constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion, key government agencies have taken action to protect access to sexual and reproductive...more
What is the PCORI Fee? The Affordable Care Act created a non-profit corporation, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (“PCORI”), to conduct research to help individuals, providers, and policymakers make better...more
Employers that sponsor self-insured group health plans, including health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) should keep in mind the upcoming July 31, 2022 deadline for paying fees that fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes...more
Summer has come and gone, but there was no summer vacation for employee benefits legislation and guidance. In case you have been too busy to check out our blogs lately, here are some key items to help you stay organized and...more
The federal government will delay for six months its enforcement of key portions of the Transparency in Coverage (TiC) final rule that goes into effect on January 1, 2022. The change was announced in guidance issued jointly...more
As we continue our three-part webinar series, McDermott’s litigation and healthcare lawyers will focus on how payors can actively prepare for possible enforcement and litigation stemming from recent and potential changes to...more
On March 10, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319, the “Act”), sending it to President Biden for his signature later this week. The Act includes a number of significant health,...more
On October 29, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) along with the Department of Labor (DOL) and Treasury issued a final rule on price transparency to enable patients to accurately predict health care...more
Some found it somewhat ironic when, only one week before the Acting Solicitor General appeared before the United States Supreme Court to argue that Congress effectively repealed the entire Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) in...more
The IRS has announced the 2021 dollar limits impacting retirement plans and IRAs. The agency also issued welfare plan limits, as well as ACA penalties. The chart below summarizes these 2021 figures along with the...more
On October 29, 2020, the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury (collectively, the Departments) issued the Transparency in Coverage final rule (the Rule), along with a fact sheet, setting forth...more