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
State laws seeking to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have increased significantly over the past few years. As it stands, all 50 states have laws that regulate PBMs in some way, but all are unique. However, most of...more
Arkansas has become the first state in the nation to enact legislation, effective starting in 2026, prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers (PBM’s) from owning or operating actual pharmacies within the state. We take a look at...more
In an April 15 Executive Order, entitled “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First,” the Trump Administration has called attention to an ERISA disclosure required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of...more
The end of 2024 gave group health plan sponsors several new lawsuits to watch in 2025. Gurwitch v. SAVE ON SP LLC - On December 26, 2024, a class action complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District...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
In February 2024, a group representing (among others) the Johnson & Johnson Group Health Plan and its component plans (Plaintiffs) sued Johnson & Johnson and The Pension & Benefits Committee of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) over...more
Our “health plan hygiene” series has focused on steps that fiduciaries of employer-sponsored group health plans can take to ensure they meet their fiduciary responsibilities. This issue has been brought to the forefront...more
At A Glance - In recent months, there have been a number of important developments in the United States relating to health and welfare plans. This list of hot topics identifies the key areas for employers and plan sponsors to...more
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
Earlier this year, a Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) employee brought a class action complaint (the “Complaint”) against J&J alleging fiduciary breaches under ERISA related to the prescription drug coverage under J&J’s self-funded...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
An employer health plan is the latest target of class action litigation seeking redress for the alleged conduct of the plan's pharmacy benefit manager ("PBM")....more
Employers that cover Florida employees under their prescription drug plans are now prohibited from imposing mandatory mail-order requirements and are required to provide a sixty-day continuity of care period following midyear...more
As employers look back at 2023 and ahead to 2024, there are so many compliance-related items to consider relating to their employee benefit plans. The rules employers are supposed to be complying with keep growing and...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
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
In a win for self-funded (i.e., self-insured) health plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), the Tenth Circuit recently ruled that ERISA preempts provisions of an Oklahoma law...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit issued a sweeping decision that (1) maintains long-standing federal protections for employer and union-sponsored health plans to design their health benefit plans, including...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently held in Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) v. Mulready that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and Medicare Part D preempted several...more
Effective December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”), as part of its transparency in health care protections, prohibits group health plans and issuers from entering into agreements that directly or...more
On April 25, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy introduced a package of legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. The...more
Not surprisingly, leading up to and in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, our employee benefits team has been spending a lot of time helping our clients wade through...more
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its highly anticipated decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392. The Dobbs decision expressly overrules the two key precedents that...more
Employers and their benefit administrators have more detail and a more convenient way to submit “top 50” lists and other data - but no more time to comply with - daunting prescription drug cost reporting requirements in the...more
In a recently decided case, Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) does not preempt an Arkansas statute that...more