ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
#WorkforceWednesday: Employee and Health Benefits One Year After Dobbs - Employment Law This Week®
The Burr Broadcast April 2023 - The Official End of COVID-19 Emergencies
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 138: Mason Ellerbe, Lead Executive for High Value Health, OneDigital
Employment Law Now VI-121 - Top 5 Fall Things You Need To Know
Dobbs on Demand: Approaching Benefits in the New Legal Environment
How the Dobbs Supreme Court Decision Affects Employee Benefits
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: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - 2023 Benefits Forecast with Mercer
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Prescription Drug and Health Coverage Reporting Requirements
#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA ETS in Review, Texas Vaccine Mandate Ban, Health Premium Incentives - Employment Law This Week®
Navigating the Nuances of the COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Can Employers Impose a Health Insurance Surcharge on Plan Participants Not Vaccinated for COVID-19?
AGG Talks: Solving Employers’ Problems - Health Plan Premium Surcharges for the Unvaccinated: Are They Legal and How Do They Work?
Podcast: What's New for Insurers in Mental Health Parity Compliance - Diagnosing Health Care
Leading in a Lonely World Podcast: Meet Jamie Pagliaro, a Leader Who has Made His “Passion” for Helping Others His Life’s Work
COBRA Deadlines and Proofs of Mailing in Carter v. Southwest Airlines Co. Board of Trustees
Midyear Premium Increases and Cafeteria Plan Rules
Many employers have faced the same “knot in the stomach” moment during insurance renewal season. We’re all too familiar with the stress of inexplicably rising health care costs, especially when group plan risk pools take an...more
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
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
The year was packed with developments for health and welfare benefits plans. Our Health Benefits Team reviews 2024, from new data privacy rules to disaster tax relief....more
For calendar-year plans, the 2025 plan year is right around the corner. And even for non-calendar-year plans, January 1, 2025, is a key implementation date for certain plan features. This is the ideal time for plan sponsors...more
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
Administrators of governmental plans and church plans that are not subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) should review the following actions to be taken before the end of 2024 and address what...more
Recently HHS issued a memorandum announcing the maximum annual limitation on cost sharing (a/k/a out-of-pocket maximum) for 2026 and the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2024-40 announcing the cost-of-living adjustments to certain...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 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
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
On September 23, 2024, the U.S. Departments of Labor, the Treasury, and Health and Human Services (collectively, the “Departments”) released final rules (the “Final Rules”) that implement requirements under the Mental Health...more
On September 9, 2024, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The...more
A health plan’s fiduciaries are responsible for administering the health plan. Because most employers are not in the business of administering health benefits, they outsource the day-to-day health plan administration to a...more
The US Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) recently issued much-anticipated final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The newly issued...more
Recent lawsuits filed against the group health plans of two large US employers underscore the importance of implementing formal welfare benefit plan governance structures that include fiduciary committees comparable to the...more
A question in response to last week’s post on self-funding of employer group health plans assumed that stop-loss coverage under a level-funded plan could be provided under a group captive medical captive. However, it cannot...more
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
For the past few years, we have encouraged plan sponsors to focus on matters of fiduciary governance for their health and welfare benefit plans (see our 2021 blog post). Yet many plan sponsors overlook the fact that the...more
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
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 post continues our investigation of proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) issued by the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury (the...more
We previously reported on proposed regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). If adopted in final form, these regulations would vastly complicate compliance by group health plans and health...more
Fifteen months ago, we wrote that the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) had informed Congress that it intended to devote substantial resources to enforcing the new comparative analysis requirement for non-quantitative...more
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