News & Analysis as of

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Employee Benefits Health Insurance

Bricker Graydon LLP

Can you Charge Smokers More for Your Health Plan?  

Bricker Graydon LLP on

Several new lawsuits have been filed recently alleging that employers violated HIPAA’s non-discrimination rule by charging higher health insurance premiums to employees who use tobacco products. ...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

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Time to Revisit Your HIPAA Documents After Reproductive Health Privacy Rule Vacated

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In the wake of a recent federal District Court decision, the reproductive health care HIPAA Privacy rules finalized during the Biden Administration have been vacated and plan sponsors should re-evaluate the language included...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Navigating Legal Strategies for Covering GLP-1s in Self-Insured Medical Plans — Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation...

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In this episode of Troutman Pepper Locke's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation podcast, hosts Lydia Parker and Lynne Wakefield explore the complex legal landscape surrounding the coverage of GLP-1s prescribed for...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Why You Can’t Kick High Claimants Off Your Health Insurance

Bricker Graydon LLP on

If your health insurance premiums have gone up again, you are not alone.  For that reason, we frequently get questions from clients on whether there is anything they can do to get high claimants off of their plans....more

Amundsen Davis LLC

Refusing to Quit: Class Actions on Tobacco Surcharges in Health Plans Continue

Amundsen Davis LLC on

Over the past year, numerous class actions have been filed against large employers claiming their health plan surcharge for tobacco use is not in compliance with HIPAA nondiscrimination rules. With yet another lawsuit filed...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

Warner Norcross + Judd

Holy Smokes: Is Your Tobacco Surcharge Program Compliant?

Warner Norcross + Judd on

A “tobacco surcharge” is part of many employers’ wellness programs, where the employer charges tobacco users higher health insurance premiums than non-tobacco users. A typical tobacco surcharge program will ask an employee if...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

Baker Donelson

Health Plan Compliance Concerns for Year-End 2024

Baker Donelson on

As employers look toward open enrollment for their group health plans, now is a good time to review action items needed for those plans by year-end, as well as upcoming deadlines in the near future. While fully-insured health...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Health Plan Compliance Deadlines Draw Near

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Regulations under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and HIPAA will require health plans and health care providers to take action in the coming months to meet new requirements. Health plan sponsors and providers that...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

New Reproductive Health Care Privacy Final Rule: Key Compliance Steps and Dates

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and subsequent state abortion bans, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a...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

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Employers Must Keep Reproductive Health Information About Their Plan Participants Private Under New HIPAA Privacy Rule

Imagine you are a corporate Human Resources/Total Rewards leader who receives a request from a state’s law enforcement agency for health plan records about a plan participant’s abortions or other reproductive health care. How...more

Akerman LLP - Health Law Rx

Attention, Group Health Plans: New HIPAA Privacy Rule Governing Reproductive Health Care Information Imposes Obligations,...

It is critical for employers and plan fiduciaries/administrators to stay informed of HIPAA privacy and security-related legal developments because most employer sponsored group health plans — regardless of the employer’s...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

Dickinson Wright

10 Important Issues For Employers During the 2024 Open Enrollment Season

Dickinson Wright on

Open enrollment is rapidly approaching for employers with calendar-year employee benefit plans. Following are ten important issues for employers to consider for the 2024 open enrollment season...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

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

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Navigating Open Enrollment Notice Requirements

Fall open enrollment is upon us, and plan sponsors and administrators are preparing to provide their employees with the required notices related to their health and welfare plans. Notice and disclosure obligations for health...more

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog

Abortion as an Employee Health Benefit – How to Protect against Potential Liability Post-Dobbs

Amazon. Bank of America. Citigroup. Dick’s Sporting Goods. JP Morgan. Kroger. Meta. Microsoft. Procter & Gamble. Target. Walt Disney Company. These are just a few of what is a growing list of companies that have offered to...more

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

Medical Travel Reimbursement Benefits Under the Supreme Court’s New Dobbs Decision

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

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Guidance Clarifies HIPAA Hurdle Regarding Group Health Plan Premium Vaccination Incentive Programs

As the open enrollment period for many employers draws near, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury issued joint agency guidance in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) addressing,...more

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

Health Plan Surcharge for Unvaccinated Employees: New Guidance Provides a Roadmap

Employers that are considering imposing health plan premium surcharges to encourage their employees to get vaccinated have clearer guidance on how to do so without running afoul of the nondiscrimination rules under the Health...more

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