12 Days of Regulatory Insights: Day 9 - Trends in the Tobacco Industry — Regulatory Oversight Podcast
2022 Significant Developments in the Tobacco Industry and What to Expect in 2023 (Part Two) - Regulatory Oversight Podcast
Employers are facing a surge in class action lawsuits challenging health plan premium surcharges imposed on smokers and other tobacco users, commonly referred to as “smoker surcharges.” Earlier this year Bass Pro Shops agreed...more
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
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
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
Over the past several months, numerous large employers and their health plan fiduciaries have faced lawsuits regarding their health plan’s tobacco surcharge. A tobacco surcharge wellness program typically charges a higher...more
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
A new and unprecedented wave of class action complaints is targeting a common feature of many employer-sponsored benefit plans: tobacco-user surcharges. These surcharges are often part of a wellness program that charges...more
With employers considering the imposition of health plan premium surcharges on participants who are COVID unvaccinated, a recent court decision highlights the importance of complying with the HIPAA wellness program...more
On October 22, 2019, Skadden hosted our Ninth Annual Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Enforcement and Litigation Seminar in New York, which focused on U.S. enforcement issues companies face throughout the industry. The key...more
Defining “wellness” for any one person is no simple task and neither is deciphering a given wellness program’s compliance under the law. In 2016, when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its final...more
In our April 21 blog, Wellness Programs: Agencies Issue Helpful Guidance but Look Before You Leap, Nancy Campbell wrote about the release of the much-anticipated EEOC proposed regulations concerning wellness programs. In her...more