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
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and its implementing regulations and guidance (MHPAEA) prohibit health insurance policies and group health plans that cover mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD)...more
Earlier this year, a cyberattack on a leading healthcare claims processing provider had an unprecedented impact on patients and healthcare providers across the country. While group health plans were not directly targeted in...more
In the United States, mental health (“MH”) and substance use disorder (“SUD”) (collectively “MH/SUD”) have continued to represent areas of intense concern. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the MH struggles of essential workers...more
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires health plans and insurers to offer mental health coverage in “parity” with a plan’s medical or surgical coverage. In 2024, as the post-COVID era brings a...more
History of 401(k) Plan Excessive Fee Cases. Once the Department of Labor’s participant fee disclosure rules for retirement plans became effective in 2012, the plaintiffs’ bar latched onto recordkeeping and investment fees...more
This newsletter provides updates employers should be aware of heading into 2024, including an outline of the updated 2024 retirement and welfare plan limits, instructions related to the “gag order” attestation requirements...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
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires health plans to provide mental health benefits, including coverage for substance use disorders (SUDs), that are in “parity” with medical and surgical...more
Certain provisions of the Transparency in Coverage Final Regulations and the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 (“CAA”) require group health plans and/or their vendors to report information to federal agencies. On December...more
On March 29, 2023, the US Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Treasury (the “Joint Agencies”) released welcome guidance on the announced end of the COVID-19 national...more
Summary - The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury have issued guidance on how health plans and insurers may attest to their compliance with the anti-gag rules of the Consolidated...more
On January 30th, President Biden announced his intention to end both the COVID-19 national emergency and the COVID-19 public health emergency (together, the “Emergency Declarations”) effective May 11, 2023. The Emergency...more
In a new set of Frequently Asked Questions, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury provide significant relief to health plan sponsors and insurers seeking to report on expenditures for...more
Plan sponsors are ultimately responsible for compliance with the Prescription Drug Data Collection (RxDC) required reporting for their group health plans—and there’s no time to waste since the reporting is due by December 27,...more
Air ambulance services often result in large, unanticipated medical bills for patients. A study by the Government Accountability Office found that in 2017, 69% of air ambulance transports provided to individuals covered by...more
In late 2020, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (the Departments) released Transparency in Coverage (TiC) rules that put several new compliance burdens on group health plan sponsors. The next...more
In our January 2022 update, we discussed new federal requirements that group health plans should pay close attention to in 2022. The sponsor of a self-funded plan will need to work closely with its legal counsel, benefits...more
Since 2015, federal agencies have been required to annually review the laws and regulations they enforce to adjust applicable penalties for inflation. The idea has been to provide increasingly greater incentives for plan...more
There are many new and expanding legal requirements for group health plans and issuers of group health plan coverage to pay attention to this year. Many of these requirements were enacted as part of the Consolidated...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
Six months ago, we cautioned health plans and plan sponsors that states, the federal government, and private litigants were laser focused on Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”) compliance. The United...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
Year-end is always a scramble for health plan sponsors as they go through renewal and open enrollment. This year was looking to be worse than normal given the impending deadlines for complying with the transparency in...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