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 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) was enacted to ensure that group health plans and health insurance issuers offering mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits do not impose...more
On this episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt discusses prohibitive gag clauses under the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA). While intended to promote transparency, not all gag clauses are...more
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
The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury have announced that they will pause enforcement of the 2024 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) Final Rule (the “2024 Final Rule”) for...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
A recent court filing offers a reprieve to health plan sponsors in their efforts to comply with final regulations issued last year under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA)....more
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury, with the Office of Personnel Management (the “Departments”) jointly released FAQs About Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 Implementation Part 69...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
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) generally requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as copays and deductibles), quantitative treatment...more
Employers providing health plan coverage through a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) may need to amend their HDHP before year-end to remove first-dollar telehealth coverage. Although prior regulatory relief permitted...more
Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group discusses what health plan sponsors need to know about the final rule on nonquantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) and NQTL comparative analysis under the Mental Health...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
If you are a state or local government that sponsors a “self-funded” employee group health plan instead of using an insurance provider, you had previously been allowed to “opt out” of compliance with the following four...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the invalidity of regulations governing the independent review process under the No Surprise Billing Rules....more
The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the “Tri-Departments”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on August 3, 2023, to propose new regulations for the...more
On July 1, 2024, the US Department of Labor (DOL) submitted final regulations to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) as most recently amended by the...more
During the next several weeks, we will publish a series of articles that dive deeply into “health plan hygiene” relating to health and welfare benefit plan fiduciary issues and how employers can protect themselves in this...more
Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”), employer-sponsored group health plans, including medical-only plans, must submit information about their prescription drugs and health care spending. This submission...more
As a reminder, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 includes a provision that requires group health plans and health insurance issuers (collectively “plans and issuers”) to report certain specified data related to...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
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
Many employers offer health insurance as a way to recruit and retain talent. Sponsoring a group health plan, however, can subject the employer plan sponsor to significant legal and regulatory burdens deriving from laws such...more
As part of the No Surprises progeny of legislation seeking transparency in health care, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 prohibits the use of "gag clauses" in group health plan agreements. All group health plans...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
The Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) was attached to a spending bill (the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, or FCAA) and signed into law on December 20, 2019, taking effect...more