News & Analysis as of

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Employee Benefits Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

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

Maynard Nexsen

Artificial Intelligence in the Health and Welfare Space: Opportunities and Considerations for Employers

Maynard Nexsen on

Artificial intelligence (also commonly referred to as “AI”) is rapidly reshaping industries, and the health and welfare space is no exception. As employers seek innovative ways to improve the administration of health 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

Alston & Bird

2024 Health Benefits Year: A Year to Remember

Alston & Bird on

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

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

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - October 2024

The October Monthly Minute highlights two recent retirement plan cases, one in which the court sides with the plan and emphasizes plan administrative review over specific investment results and another where plaintiffs are...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

DOL Expands Fiduciary Obligations for Cybersecurity to Health and Welfare Plans

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

A little more than three years ago, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) posted cybersecurity guidance on its website for ERISA plan fiduciaries. That guidance extended only to ERISA-covered retirement plans, despite health and...more

Lathrop GPM

Fifty Years of ERISA

Lathrop GPM on

On Labor Day fifty years ago, September 2, 1974, President Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) into law. It is a combination of tax and labor law incorporating trust law like fiduciary...more

Fisher Phillips

Don't Forget About ERISA in Your Health Plan’s Cybersecurity Efforts: Important Reminders for Plan Fiduciaries in the Wake of...

Fisher Phillips on

Earlier this year, a cyberattack on a leading healthcare claims processing provider had an unprecedented impact on patients and healthcare providers across the country. While group health plans were not directly targeted in...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

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

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Happy National Employee Benefits Day 2024!

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

To all those who work in the employee benefits arena, whether in legal, finance, benefits administration, payroll, tax, human resources, or many other disciplines, this is our annual reminder to celebrate the valuable and...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Wellness Apps and Privacy

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Employers looking to enhance their suite of employee benefit programs, and focused on lessons learned during the pandemic on wellbeing, are interested in providing greater access to wellness tools. And, the vendors who...more

Alston & Bird

Year-End Health Benefits Roundup 2023

Alston & Bird on

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

Quarles & Brady LLP

2023 Year-End Employee Benefits Updates

Quarles & Brady LLP on

This newsletter provides updates employers should be aware of heading into 2024, including an outline of the updated 2024 retirement and welfare plan limits, instructions related to the “gag order” attestation requirements...more

Snell & Wilmer

2023 End-of-Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists (Part 1) Health and Welfare

Snell & Wilmer on

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

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

The End of the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations

Today marks the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency that first began on March 13, 2020. The end of the public health emergency has a wide range of implications for employer sponsored benefit plans. This alert...more

Dickinson Wright

End of the COVID-19 Emergency – Impact on Employee Benefit Plans

Dickinson Wright on

On March 29, 2023, the Departments of Labor (“DOL”), Health and Human Services (“HHS”), and Treasury (the “Departments”) published FAQs Part 58 on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), the Coronavirus Aid,...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Your Employee Benefit Plans May Need a Check Up: Nearing the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

Where did the time go? Just a brief 1,199 days after it began, the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) is coming to an end. The PHE formally ends on May 11, 2023, short of any unexpected developments. And that means the...more

Sullivan & Worcester

Winter 2023 Employment and Benefits Updates

Sullivan & Worcester on

SECURE 2.0 Act - As part of a large year-end piece of legislation, the provisions known as SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”) were enacted into law. SECURE 2.0 represents a broadly bipartisan piece of legislation that...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - February 2023

The February Monthly Minute addresses new IRS electronic filing requirements, the extension of pre-deductible telehealth coverage, and the end of the public health and national emergencies’ impact on benefit plan coverage and...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

DOL Continues Active ERISA Enforcement and Focus on Cybersecurity Including Health and Welfare Plans

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the US Department of Labor (DOL) has continued to be active in civil and criminal enforcement investigations of ERISA’s fiduciary duties. This blog post details two...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Employers Prepare for Thawing ERISA Deadlines

With the pandemic winding down, deadlines for employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will be resuming. Two different emergencies affect employer-sponsored group health plans:...more

Snell & Wilmer

2022 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 1) Health and Welfare

Snell & Wilmer on

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

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

2022 ERISA Welfare Plan Automatic Participant Disclosures Checklist

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

We recognize that many companies sponsor ERISA welfare benefit plans and are currently undergoing their open enrollment process and issuing related participant communications. To assist with that process, we have prepared an...more

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