Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 243: HIPAA Compliance and Potential Changes with Shannon Lipham of Maynard Nexsen
The Trend of Threatening Physicians for Personal Gain
Navigating Legal Strategies for Covering GLP-1s in Self-Insured Medical Plans — Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Podcast
Podcast: Addressing Patient Complaints About Privacy Violations
Podcast - What Healthcare Providers Should Be Telling Students and Interns About HIPAA and Snooping
Top Healthcare Compliance Priorities for 2025
Podcast - Who Owns Your DNA? Lessons Learned from 23andMe
Building a Solid HR Foundation in Healthcare Practices
New Developments in Health Information Policy
New HIPAA Final Rule: Key Changes to Reproductive Health Care Privacy - Thought Leaders in Health Law®
Healthcare Document Retention
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 192: Business Issues for Healthcare with Ira Bedenbaugh and Randi Branham of Elliott Davis
Business Better Podcast Episode: Cyber Adviser – Your Data, My Headache: Consumer Health Data Laws
Conducting Healthcare Compliance Investigations
The FTC's Health Privacy Enforcement Actions
Web-based Tracking Technology and AI: HIPAA Compliance Issues for Health Care Practices
Podcast: Discussing the Implications of Healthcare Privacy Violations
Podcast: Keeping an Eye on HIPAA Trends with Shannon Hartsfield
Podcast - Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and How to Comply with HIPAA & State Privacy Laws
Meeting Cancer Reporting Requirements
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
Even the most well-managed employee benefit plans may have certain compliance blind spots. From outdated documentation to missed filing deadlines, we have highlighted a few areas below where we often see gaps....more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 SW Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues. Parts 2,...more
Last week, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury issued a Joint Notice requiring the extension of certain benefit plan deadlines for individuals affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and Tropical Storm Helene.[1] The...more
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
There have been two important developments in the law applicable to the privacy and cybersecurity of group health plan participants’ health information. Plan sponsors must review plan policies and procedures, provider...more
On April 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Final Rule updating certain Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules with respect to the disclosure of...more
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
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
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 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
ERISA requires plan sponsors to distribute SPDs to inform participants of their benefits, rights, and obligations under the plan and describe how the plan operates. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations (available here)...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
The constitutional right to abortion has been eliminated. The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, undoing a federal standard that had legalized abortions since 1973. ...more
A medical plan surcharge for the COVID-19 unvaccinated is workable, but complex. To implement such a surcharge, plan sponsors need to make sure they take several steps. Here is a handy checklist... ...more
The Federal Vaccine Mandate - Preparing for OSHA's COVID-19 Requirements - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") has released an Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS") regarding COVID-19-related compliance...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued some much-needed guidance surrounding the application of deadline extensions that the IRS and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) previously issued for initial elections under...more
Last year the IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) extended various ERISA and COBRA deadlines for employee benefit plan participants affected by COVID-19. The extended deadlines included...more
On January 7, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued proposed guidance regarding employer-sponsored wellness programs and the level of incentives employers may offer employees who participate in these...more
Health and retirement benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) have troves of personal information regarding plan participants and their beneficiaries - e.g., participants’ age, marital...more