ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
#WorkforceWednesday: Employee and Health Benefits One Year After Dobbs - Employment Law This Week®
The Burr Broadcast April 2023 - The Official End of COVID-19 Emergencies
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 138: Mason Ellerbe, Lead Executive for High Value Health, OneDigital
Employment Law Now VI-121 - Top 5 Fall Things You Need To Know
How the Dobbs Supreme Court Decision Affects Employee Benefits
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Health Plan Transparency Requirements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Group Health Plan Service Provider Compensation Disclosure Requirements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - 2023 Benefits Forecast with Mercer
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Prescription Drug and Health Coverage Reporting Requirements
#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA ETS in Review, Texas Vaccine Mandate Ban, Health Premium Incentives - Employment Law This Week®
Navigating the Nuances of the COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Can Employers Impose a Health Insurance Surcharge on Plan Participants Not Vaccinated for COVID-19?
AGG Talks: Solving Employers’ Problems - Health Plan Premium Surcharges for the Unvaccinated: Are They Legal and How Do They Work?
Podcast: What's New for Insurers in Mental Health Parity Compliance - Diagnosing Health Care
Leading in a Lonely World Podcast: Meet Jamie Pagliaro, a Leader Who has Made His “Passion” for Helping Others His Life’s Work
COBRA Deadlines and Proofs of Mailing in Carter v. Southwest Airlines Co. Board of Trustees
Midyear Premium Increases and Cafeteria Plan Rules
How the American Rescue Plan Act Affects COBRA
Within days of one another, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Second Circuits ruled—on issues of first impression for both—that ERISA expressly preempts state law breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims...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 Texas Medical Association and additional plaintiffs have brought four Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenges to the rules and guidance implementing the No Surprises Act (NSA) (termed TMA I, II, III and IV). The...more
The May Monthly Minute examines a recent Seventh Circuit decision upholding unambiguous plan language against class action attack, the status of the federal IDR process under the No Surprises Act, and the DOL’s recent...more
This year, Foley’s Health Benefits Practice has released multiple alerts on several of the new group health plan requirements set forth by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) and the Transparency in Coverage...more
The No Surprises Act (NSA) went into effect Jan. 1, 2022, but since the effective date, there have been numerous updates and changes regarding the NSA and compliance with it. We examine the key NSA 2022 changes and details of...more
Title I of Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”), and interim final rules issued by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor (the “Departments”) in July 2021 (see our...more
An appeal brought before the Texas Supreme Court could unleash a wave of legal action by out-of-network ER physicians pursuing insurers for underpayment of claims. Unlike in-network providers who negotiate reimbursement...more
The No Surprises Act (Act), which establishes protections for health plan participants from surprise medical billing, was passed in late 2020 as part of the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act....more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Transparency in Coverage Final Rule took effect on July 1, following a six-month delay in implementation to allow payers to come into compliance....more
Summary: For Health Plans, Machine-Readable Files, containing in-network provider charges and out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges, must be posted on a public website by July 1, 2022....more
The newly enacted federal No Surprises Act (NSA), intended to protect consumers from surprise balance billing, continues to be the subject of considerable controversy. On February 23, 2022, a U.S. District Court in Texas...more
While social distancing restrictions associated with COVID-19 are on the wane, lawsuits seeking reimbursement for COVID-19 testing are on the rise. The issue is whether federal legislation passed at the onset of the Pandemic...more
On our last visit to The Hill, we reported on the buzz surrounding the government’s efforts to end health care surprise billing and create more transparency in billing practices. Not long after that visit in 2020, the Biden...more
As reported in our January 7, 2022 SW Benefits Blog “The DOL Asks and Answers Questions About the New Welfare Plan Fee Disclosure Rules,” group health plans must now comply with the ERISA Section 408(b)(2) disclosure...more
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas recently vacated a portion of the Requirements Related to Surprise Billing, Part II, Interim Final Rule (the “Rule”) regarding the independent dispute resolution (IDR)...more
Lawsuits by out-of-network medical providers against ERISA plans and their third party administrators rank as one of the most common ERISA-type cases being raised these days. In these cases, out-of-network medical providers...more
In one of the biggest attempts by the federal government to combat surprise medical billing, Congress in late 2020 passed the No Surprises Act (NSA), which imposes a host of new transparency and coverage requirements for...more
In December 2020, Congress adopted the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CCA”), which includes a special rule — the “No Surprises Act” — that is designed to protect consumers from surprise medical bills for...more
Employer-sponsored health plans can add air ambulance claims reporting to the list of required disclosures that will go into effect in the next several years. Under proposed regulations published September 16, 2021, by...more
Group health plan sponsors soon will face daunting new disclosure and transparency requirements under multiple laws including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the No Surprises Act (the Act) and the Consolidated Appropriations...more
On July 1, 2021, the Office of Personnel Management, Department of the Treasury, Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), and Department of Labor (collectively the “Departments”) issued the interim final rule...more
Plan participants can be hit with surprise medical bills when they receive care from out-of-network providers. Sometimes, this happens when participants do not know that the care they are receiving is from an out-of-network...more
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Treasury, along with the Office of Personnel Management, on July 1, 2021, issued a much-anticipated Interim Final Rule with Comment Period (IFC) –...more
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which included a $900 billion COVID-19 relief and stimulus package and a new set of rules intended to address “surprise” medical billing. The No...more