Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
Compliance and Your Business: Managing SCA Costs and Liability
Nuts and Bolts of SCA
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 4 of 5) – Retirement Plan Costs
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 3 of 5) – Medical Benefit Costs
Cutting Costs With Employee Benefit Plans (Part 2 of 5) – Identifying Potential Targets
COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
Welcome to our inaugural issue of The Health Record - our healthcare law insights e-newsletter! As such, we wanted to pull together our insights and pass them along to you. Our goal is to create a publication that is...more
Sustainability of our healthcare system was an interesting topic at Day 2 of the 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Paul Markovich, CEO of Blue Shield of California, expressed the concern that “[T]he status quo is...more
In 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed changes to the Privacy Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act of 1996 (HIPAA) that would significantly alter the current...more
In a significant development with far-reaching implications for health plans and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has recently struck down a federal...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced a settlement with a community hospital resolving an investigation under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
In 2020, Congress passed the No Surprises Act (NSA) in an attempt to protect patients from surprise billing. Some sections of the NSA became effective January 1, 2022, while other sections are on hold until regulations are...more
This post reviews Part II of the federal No Surprises Act regulations. In previous publications, we have commented upon the No Surprises Act, and Part I of the regulations. The “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing;...more
On July 1, 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration issued “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part 1,” an interim final rule (IRM) that will restrict health care providers and facilities from sticking patients with...more
After years of concern from policymakers and industry stakeholders about patients receiving surprise medical bills when they inadvertently use an out-of-network provider, a new federal law will go into effect January 1, 2022,...more
The myriad health and welfare plan requirements in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 include those for a group or individual health plan to maintain a cost comparison tool and an accurate and up-to-date network...more
No Surprise Act - On December 27, 2020, Congress enacted the No Surprise Act (the “Act”) as part of the $900 billion omnibus spending bill. Effective January 1, 2022, the Act provides long-anticipated statutory protections...more
State insurance regulators play many roles in making health insurance more available and affordable to consumers. Two that stand out are enhancing transparency and promoting competition. Every state department of insurance...more
Governor delivers budget address - Gov. Phil Scott delivered his budget address on Tuesday, focusing on the demographic crisis and a shrinking workforce as the state’s biggest challenges....more
As we look forward to 2020, we bring you a few key takeaways on the hot topics and trends that individuals operating in the employee benefits space are watching in health and welfare, plan sponsor considerations, executive...more
Employers and retail giants alike are increasingly inserting mental health into the broader, public conversation around individual health care and employee benefits. Various U.S. employers are rolling out employee-based...more
Now that spring has arrived, thoughts turn to the design, communication, and eventual implementation of next year’s health and welfare benefits. Reviewing and drafting open enrollment communication materials can help address...more
Lawmakers across the country are considering “Medicaid buy-in” programs to stabilize the Affordable Care Act insurance market and offer a coverage option that is more affordable and accessible than current options in the...more
Editor’s Note: The number of healthcare transactions reached a record-smashing 1,738 in 2018. According to a new Capital One poll, mergers and acquisitions are the preferred growth vehicle for 44% of healthcare executives in...more
Health and Welfare Plan Update - It is 9:00 p.m., do you know where your health plan data is? As IT systems continue to expand, and data is accessed, moved and stored in many new and different ways, the Office for Civil...more
The United States is in the midst of the worst drug crisis in its history. In 2017, nearly 50,000 Americans died of an opioid overdose, including more than 2,000 Californians. Addressing the epidemic requires responses from...more
The Rise of Consumer Driven Health Care - ..Wellness programs ..Smoking programs ..High deductible health plans & HSAs ..Telemedicine ..Direct contracting ..Affordable Care Organizations CDHP –Compliance...more
Last week, CMS issued a final rule which aims to relax certain Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plan regulations, found at 45 C.F.R. Parts 147, 153, 154, 155, 157, and 158, while increasing marketplace competition. In...more
On April 4, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finalized guidance and policies for the Medicare Advantage program that will expand the supplemental benefits afforded to beneficiaries to include items...more
A new report prepared for the California Health Care Foundation reviews California’s Medicaid rate-setting process and offers recommendations for adjustments to that process to encourage health plan investments in...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) started the year with a bang, issuing guidance on January 11, 2018, in support of Medicaid demonstration projects that condition coverage on beneficiary participation in work...more