#WorkforceWednesday®: Mental Health Parity Rules, NLRB Restrictions, New York's Workplace Violence Prevention Law - Employment Law This Week®
Labor & Employment Symposium - Topics: Religious Accommodations—Vaccinations; DOL Mental Health Parity Audits
On May 15, 2025 the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Departments”) announced they will temporarily not enforce their new standards published under the mental health parity Final Rule last...more
Only weeks after the principal effective date for the final 2024 federal mental health parity rules for employer-sponsored health benefit plans, those rules—and specifically some key features that are frustrating...more
As we bid farewell to 2024 and look ahead to the new year, we reflect on the many evolving compliance obligations that health and welfare plan sponsors tackle each year. Although this list is by no means exhaustive, it...more
Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group discusses what health plan sponsors need to know about the final rule on nonquantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) and NQTL comparative analysis under the Mental Health...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
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 three federal agencies tasked with enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) — the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services (through CMS), and Treasury (the Departments) — issued their...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
The time may have come to add a welfare plan committee to your company’s governance of employee benefit plans. New legal obligations and other developments impose fiduciary risks for welfare plans similar to what already...more
On July 25, the Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Health and Human Services (the Departments) released new Proposed Rules (Proposed Rules) that clarify certain requirements imposed by the...more
With the COVID-19 public health emergency and the presidential declaration of national emergency intended to end on May 11 and the US government recently issuing guidance on unwinding these emergency declarations, this...more
The widely publicized 2022 Report to Congress regarding the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“Parity Act”) forewarned greater enforcement efforts by the Department of Labor and highlighted suspected deficiencies...more
The Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Treasury (collectively, the Departments) recently issued their joint report to Congress regarding their Mental Health...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 mandates that employers offering medical/surgical and mental health/substance use disorder coverage provide comparative analyses and any supporting documentation demonstrating...more
Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will focus on requesting information from employers where there are potential “red flags” of non-compliance with the provisions and rules of the Mental Health Parity...more
Now more than ever, we are aware of the close interplay between mental and physical health. Historically, our health care system has too often turned a blind eye to mental health conditions—simply treating and providing...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, which was signed into law December 27, 2020, includes provisions designed to increase transparency in employee health benefit plans in four key areas. Removal of Gag Clauses...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
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule is Finally Dead or Is It? The U.S. Department of Labor (“DoL”) permitted the Fifth Circuit’s decision overruling the fiduciary rule in its entirety on a nationwide basis due to...more
Editor's Overview - For over two decades, federal law has required covered health plans and insurers to ensure that certain mental health benefits are in parity with offered medical/surgical benefits. The meaning of...more