Arkansas has become the first state in the nation to enact legislation, effective starting in 2026, prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers (PBM’s) from owning or operating actual pharmacies within the state. We take a look at...more
4/25/2025
/ Arkansas ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Drug Pricing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
State and Local Government
Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 9, 2024, the Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) released highly anticipated Final Rules under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity...more
9/30/2024
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Mental Health ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Proposed Rules ,
U.S. Treasury
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following years of back and forth, new final rules were published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 6, 2024 reinstituting the Department’s interpretation that the prohibition on...more
5/21/2024
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Final Rules ,
Gender Identity ,
Health Insurance ,
LGBTQ ,
OCR ,
Section 1557 ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Transgender
The agencies have finalized a portion of their proposed rules impacting so-called “junk insurance” regarding short-term limited-duration insurance, but deferred finalizing the more significant changes that would have impacted...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that cryogenically frozen embryos are children and are protected from destruction under state law. This is the latest in a series of post-Dobbs judicial rulings...more
2/28/2024
/ Abortion ,
AL Supreme Court ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family Planning Clinics ,
Fertility Treatments ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Human Embryos ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Patient Access ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Wrongful Death
The first complaint was filed in what is expected to be a wave of litigation alleging breach of fiduciary duty in selecting and monitoring welfare plan vendors. While the facts of this particular case may make it somewhat...more
2/26/2024
/ 401k ,
Breach of Duty ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retirement Plan
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires group health plans and insurers to cover treatments for mental health and substance use disorders in a manner that is equitable to the...more
8/22/2023
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Mental Health ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
U.S. Treasury
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires group health plans and insurers to cover treatments for mental health and substance use disorders in a manner that is equitable to the...more
8/22/2023
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Mental Health ,
MHPAEA ,
NQTLs ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Safe Harbors ,
U.S. Treasury
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires group health plans and insurers to cover treatments for mental health and substance use disorders in a manner that is equitable to the...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employer health plan sponsors, administrators, and insurers have been eagerly awaiting the U.S. Department of Labor’s upcoming guidance on mental health parity. According to recent reports, newly proposed...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In light of a recent focus on price transparency, claims data, and hidden fees in the health plan world, employer-sponsored health plans have been bringing their fight to the courtroom in an effort to lower...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Just like a bad penny, schemes promising employers ways to reduce their FICA tax burden, and maybe their employees’ income tax burden at the same time, keep popping up with a slightly different burnish on...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Recently, on October 11, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued final regulations which finalized changes to affordability of employer coverage for the family members of employees under Internal...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In light of recent state-level trends, businesses have begun exploring avenues to assist employees in states with restrictive abortion laws with travel to nearby states to receive abortion services. In...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Since March 18, 2020, group health plans have been required to provide benefits for certain items and services related to testing for or diagnosis of COVID-19 during the applicable emergency period - see...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Almost a decade after the 408(b)(2) fee disclosure requirements took effect for retirement plan service providers, Congress finally passed legislation addressing compensation disclosure rules for service...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”), which requires plan sponsors to provide free COBRA coverage from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021, to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As discussed in our March 11, 2021 Alert, Congress has made another avenue of health coverage more accessible by fully subsidizing the cost of COBRA coverage from April 1 - September 30, 2021 for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The latest COVID relief bill, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), provides for a 100% COBRA premium subsidy from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. ARPA, which was signed into law by President...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”) offers significant relief for employers sponsoring flexible spending accounts (for a more detailed description of those changes, check out our alert). ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As you’ll recall, last Spring, the DOL and IRS issued guidelines providing relief from certain deadlines for employee benefit plans, retroactive to March 1, 2020 (i.e., the beginning of the COVID-19...more
Synopsis: For years, employers have struggled to understand what level of incentives in wellness programs might be considered “voluntary” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available in coming months, employers are exploring ways to maximize vaccination rates within their workforce. Some employers are considering making vaccination...more
As COVID-19 vaccines become more readily available in coming months, employers are exploring ways to maximize vaccination rates within their workforce. Some employers are considering making vaccination mandatory. ...more
1/12/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Insurance ,
Incentives ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Wellness Programs ,
Workplace Safety