PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Gag Clause Prohibitions
Changing Telehealth Rules
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: What's New for Insurers in Mental Health Parity Compliance - Diagnosing Health Care
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Employee Retention Tax Credit Expansion
Department of Labor Imposes Additional Requirement on Employer-Provided Health Services
COVID-19 Relief in 2021: What Small Businesses Need to Know
On-Demand Webinar | Navigating Leave and Disability Protection Laws During COVID-19: A Practical Guide for California Employers
COVID-19 in the Workplace - PPP Update, COVID Plans from the Biden Transition Team, Higher Education Relief Package Provision, COVID WARN Act Developments
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Round of COVID-19 Relief Expands Assistance for Employers
The May Monthly Minute brings you up-to-date on mental health parity enforcement relief, as well as smoker surcharge and prohibited transaction litigation. Nonenforcement of 2024 Mental Health Parity Regulations - Earlier...more
Under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, group health plans and health insurance issuers must conduct comparative analyses to show that...more
As we bid farewell to 2024 and look ahead to the new year, we reflect on the many evolving compliance obligations that health and welfare plan sponsors tackle each year. Although this list is by no means exhaustive, it...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 SW Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues. Parts 2,...more
The long-anticipated final rule under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was published on September 9, 2024. The MHPAEA prohibits group health plans that provide mental health and substance use...more
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
The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury, along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), released FAQs about the implementation of Title I of Division BB of the Consolidated...more
Best practices in the area of ERISA health and welfare plan governance are evolving. Concerned group health plan fiduciaries have been evaluating compliance processes while facing a set of rigorous fiduciary duties imposed by...more
It was a lively year for health benefits. Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group unpacks 2023, from the end of the COVID-19 emergencies to the much-anticipated Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act...more
This is a reminder that a new compliance deadline is on the horizon for group health plans. The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021 generally prohibits group health plans and health insurance issuers from entering...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
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
Like a 401(k) plan, a group health plan must comply with ERISA’s rule that prohibits a plan fiduciary from paying more than a reasonable amount for services provided to the plan. When a group health plan offers insured...more
The widely publicized 2022 Report to Congress regarding the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“Parity Act”) forewarned greater enforcement efforts by the Department of Labor and highlighted suspected deficiencies...more
On this episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt discusses the group health plan broker and consultant compensation disclosure requirements under the Consolidated Appropriations Act and what you...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) generally requires group health plan sponsors to request and review fee information from their plan service providers who provide brokerage services or consulting. This fee...more
The Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Treasury (collectively, the Departments) recently issued their joint report to Congress regarding their Mental Health...more
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
On January 25, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury (collectively the Tri-Agencies) published the first annual report on group health plans’ and health insurance...more
On December 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-03 (“FAB”), announcing its temporary enforcement policy for group health plan service provider disclosures under ERISA...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260 (CAA) set forth new compensation disclosure requirements that apply to service providers who provide “brokerage services” or “consulting” to group health plans...more
In two previous posts, we reported on the rules enacted in Section 202, Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) requiring the disclosure of direct and indirect compensation paid to brokers and...more
Summary - The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a temporary enforcement policy to address frequently asked questions about the requirement for certain service providers to disclose direct and indirect compensation...more
Through Field Assistance Bulletin 2021-03 (FASB 2021-03), the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a temporary enforcement policy for the new fee disclosure requirements that apply to group health plan service providers, added...more