News & Analysis as of

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Employer Group Health Plans Health Insurance

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Gone But Not Forgotten: How to Handle Final Pay and Benefits When an Employee Passes Away, Part 2

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Benefits and Beyond: What Happens to PTO, Health Insurance, Retirement Plans, and other Benefits?...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Employers Continue to Face ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Lawsuits, With Mixed Results

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Recently, companies have seen a spate of class action lawsuits challenging the legality of tobacco cessation wellness programs and related tobacco surcharges imposed by their employer-sponsored health benefit plans....more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

One Big Beautiful Bill: Impact on Welfare Benefits

President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) into law on July 4, 2025. The OBBB is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that introduces significant reforms across multiple areas of federal policy, including...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Key updates on the US health benefits and reimbursement landscape

The world of health benefits is constantly evolving. Recent policy shifts and legislative developments are expected to impact the economic landscape and have significant implications for employer plan sponsors, insurers,...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

Departments Will Not Enforce 2024 Final Rule under MHPAEA

Quarles & Brady LLP on

The Trump Administration has just announced that it will pause enforcement of the September 2024 final rule (“Final Rule”) under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”)....more

Epstein Becker & Green

Federal Regulators Announce Non-Enforcement of the 2024 Rule for Mental Health Parity

Epstein Becker & Green on

On May 9, 2025, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (collectively, “the Departments”) asked the D.C. federal court to suspend litigation while they consider whether to rescind or modify the 2024...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Special Report: Examining Group Health Coverage Alternatives for Small Employers - Update

Originally published in February 2025, this updated report provides new material on physician practice management (PPM) arrangements, reference-based pricing arrangements, minimum essential coverage (MEC) and MEC+ plans, and...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

Tobacco Surcharge Lawsuits: Considerations for Plan Sponsors

A growing number of class action lawsuits have been filed against employer-sponsored self-insured group health plans alleging that tobacco cessation wellness programs violate key provisions of the Employee Retirement Income...more

Fisher Phillips

Rising ERISA Class-Action Lawsuits Over Tobacco Surcharges in Health Plans: What Employers Need to Know + 6 Steps to Stay...

Fisher Phillips on

A wave of ERISA class-action lawsuits is challenging tobacco surcharge programs in employer-sponsored health plans across the U.S. These cases center on potential fiduciary breaches, with plaintiffs arguing that surcharges...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

Alston & Bird

Final Mental Health Parity Rules: A Plan Sponsor’s Implementation Guide

Alston & Bird on

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

BCLP

Mental Health Parity Final Rule Imposes Year-end Action Items on Group Health Plan Sponsors

BCLP on

On September 9th, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) issued the much anticipated final rule under the Mental Health...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

Ballard Spahr LLP

Practical Pointers for Compliance With New MHPAEA Regulations

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services have published final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act that prohibit group health plans and health insurers from imposing...more

Fisher Phillips

Open Enrollment Season in the Workplace: 5 Legal Considerations + Employer Takeaways

Fisher Phillips on

Open enrollment season can put a spotlight on the many complex rules applicable to employer-sponsored health and welfare plans. As you announce your benefit offerings for the upcoming plan year and tirelessly work to inform...more

Akerman LLP - Health Law Rx

MHPAEA Final Rule: Clarity on Mental Health Parity?

The three federal agencies tasked with enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) — the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services (through CMS), and Treasury (the Departments) — issued their...more

Hall Benefits Law

Federal Agencies Issue Updated Instructions for Annual Submission of Gag Clause Prohibition Compliance Attestation

Hall Benefits Law on

​​​​​​​The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have updated the Submission Instructions and User Manual for the Gag Clause Prohibition...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Hole in the Bottle… Employer Considerations After Another Lawsuit Against an Employer Health Plan

Last week, former Wells Fargo employees filed a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo and its health plan fiduciaries alleging that Wells Fargo’s self-funded health plan violated ERISA by paying its pharmacy benefits...more

Robinson+Cole ERISA Claim Defense Blog

Ninth and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals Rule that Preauthorization Process Does Not Impose Independent Contractual Liability on...

Within days of one another, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Second Circuits ruled—on issues of first impression for both—that ERISA expressly preempts state law breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Group Medical Captives, Level Funding and US Healthcare Policy

In a recent article in Managed Healthcare Executive, Peter Wehrwein examines the trend of self-funding of group health benefits by smaller employers who used to depend mainly or entirely on fully insured programs....more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - June 2024

Saul Ewing LLP on

This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions with issues spanning physician power of attorney to preexisting exclusions and the fiduciary duty of an insurance company....more

Verrill

Can a Self-Funded Group Health Plan Exclude Coverage for Gender-Affirming Care?

Verrill on

We are sometimes asked whether a self-funded group health plan is required to cover gender-affirming medical services. As this post explains in detail, it is generally impracticable for a self-funded ERISA-covered plan to...more

Woodruff Sawyer

Navigating Mid-Year Benefit Election Changes

Woodruff Sawyer on

One of the most common questions that we receive is whether an employee can change their benefits elections after the plan year has already started (also referred to as a mid-year change).  The answer is very fact-specific...more

Fenwick & West LLP

The Shifting Regulatory Landscape for Level-Funded Plans: An Alternative for Group Health Insurance

Fenwick & West LLP on

In the constantly changing health insurance landscape, level-funded health plans are steadily gaining ground as a viable middle approach between fully insured health plan and self-funded health plans—arguably offering...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

[Webinar] Gender-Affirming Benefits: Best Practices for Group Health Plans - February 29th, 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST

Employers and plan sponsors are facing growing – and often conflicting – pressures related to the coverage of gender-affirming care. Join McDermott lawyers Sarah G. Raaii and Alden J. Bianchi for a webinar to review recent...more

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