News & Analysis as of

Department of Labor (DOL) Employer Group Health Plans Employer Liability Issues

Husch Blackwell LLP

MHPAEA July 2025 Update: What Employers and Plans Need to Know about Federal Non-Enforcement

Husch Blackwell LLP on

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

McDermott Will & Schulte

Complying With the ‘Relevant Data’ Requirement Under the Final 2024 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act: A Proposal for...

McDermott Will & Schulte on

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

Holland & Knight LLP

Understanding the Recent Wave of Litigation Targeting Tobacco-Free Wellness Programs

Holland & Knight LLP on

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) prohibits employers who offer health and welfare benefit plans from discriminating against plan participants on the basis of a health status-related factor, such as a...more

UB Greensfelder LLP

What Employers Should Know About Tobacco Surcharge Litigation

UB Greensfelder LLP on

Tobacco surcharges have become the focus of class action litigation in recent months. Although corporate wellness programs are commonplace, employers that impose a tobacco surcharge (or other premium discount) in connection...more

Verrill

Final Mental Health Parity Rule Spells Compliance Changes

Verrill on

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

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Year-End Compliance Considerations for Employee Benefit Plans

Open enrollment is right around the corner (at least for employers that run calendar-year health benefit plans), so many employers will be updating their benefit communication plans. Though not comprehensive, the following is...more

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Is Your Group Health Plan “Affordable,” According to the IRS? ‎

The 2025 open enrollment season for employee benefits is swiftly approaching. With newly released IRS guidance, employers should review the cost of their group health plan(s) to ensure affordability. Companies that rely on...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Final Mental Health Parity Rules Released: Next Steps for Employers

Epstein Becker & Green on

On September 23, 2024, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) issued a final rule (“Final Rule”) implementing amendments made by the Consolidated...more

Littler

July is Still the New January! Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute’s Mid-Year Legislative Report

Littler on

Hot off the press – here is Littler’s mid-year report!  As federal regulators, states and cities continue to pass new workplace regulations through the calendar year, we summarize each state’s notable labor and employment law...more

Verrill

Cross-Plan Offsetting in Group Health Plans—The DOL Makes its Position Clear

Verrill on

Under Section 404 of ERISA, plan fiduciaries must act for the exclusive benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries and use plan assets only to provide benefits and defray reasonable expenses of administering the plan. In...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Special Report - Funding Employer-Sponsored Group Health Coverage: The Group Captive Solution - November 2023

McDermott Will & Schulte on

Employer-sponsored health insurance covers almost 159 million non-elderly US workers and their dependents, and employees and jobseekers alike view group health coverage as the single most important non-cash job-related...more

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Medicare Part D Notices Due October 14‎

Employers, this is your annual reminder that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires sponsors of group health plans to notify eligible individuals whether the employer’s prescription drug coverage is...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Treasury, DOL and HHS Issue Landmark Mental Health Parity Proposed Rule

The US Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) recently issued much-anticipated proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) to better...more

McDermott+

Biden Administration Issues Proposed Reg to Clarify and Enforce Mental Health Parity Requirements

McDermott+ on

Another week, a lot more regs! Last week, the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor (the Departments) released a proposed reg related to mental health parity requirements for health plans. This week,...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

Assessing Your Health Plan’s Service Provider Compensation

Based on new ERISA disclosure rules, now is a good time to review the compensation paid to your health plan’s consultant and broker. ERISA Section 408(b)(2)(B) requires brokers and consultants expecting $1,000 or more in...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Navigating the Wild West of the New ACA Preventative Care Ruling

On March 30, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a decision in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra (“Braidwood”), invalidating the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA’s”) mandate...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Departments Issue Guidance on Preventive Services under the ACA Following the Braidwood Decision

In light of the March 30 Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra decision, the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Treasury (the “departments”) have issued FAQ guidance on how the...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Federal Agencies Clarify Coverage Implications for Group Health Plans

With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) set to end on May 11, 2023, the Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Health and Human Services (the “departments”) have published FAQs explaining...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

It’s a Roller Coaster … Employer Considerations After Court Invalidates ACA Preventive Care Mandate

Since the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) became law in 2010, numerous groups have attempted to invalidate the ACA or specific parts of the ACA through litigation. Even after a number of plaintiffs unsuccessfully attempted to...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

COVID-19 National Emergency Plan Deadline Extensions Set to End This Summer

On January 30, 2023, President Biden announced the Administration’s plan to extend the current declarations of the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) through May 11, 2023, and end both emergencies...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Enforcement of the Transparency in Coverage Public Disclosure Requirement Rapidly Approaching

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

Starting July 1, 2022, employers that maintain group health plans (plans) and health insurance issuers (issuers) will be required to disclose pricing information on a public website in the form of three machine-readable files...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

July 1 Deadline for Health Plan Website Disclosures

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury recently issued FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation Part 53 (FAQ), which provides additional guidance for non-grandfathered group health plans and...more

Fisher Phillips

DOL Announces Higher Penalties for Plan Compliance Errors

Fisher Phillips on

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

Epstein Becker & Green

2022 Mental Health Parity Report to Congress Highlights Increased Enforcement Efforts

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

Snell & Wilmer

In Case You Missed It – Summer 2021

Snell & Wilmer on

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

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