Most employers know that if a group health plan provides mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits in any of six specified classifications, the plan must provide MH/SUD benefits in all specified classifications in which the plan provides medical or surgical (M/S) benefits. Additionally, the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addition Equity Act (MHPAEA)
SECURE 2.0 Series Part 3: Retirement Plan Required Minimum Distribution Age to Increase to 75
Most Americans prefer not to pay more in income tax than absolutely required or to pay taxes any sooner than necessary. This includes many retired individuals who do not need to tap into their employer-sponsored retirement plan benefits yet but are required to do so – and to pay taxes on those benefits – once
December 27, 2022, Deadline for Mandatory Rx Data Collection Reporting
As group health plan sponsors, employers are responsible for ensuring compliance with the prescription drug data collection (RxDC) reporting requirements added to ERISA by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA). Under ERISA section 725, enforced by the US Department of Labor (DOL), group health plans (not account-based plans, e.g., health reimbursement arrangements and health
Group Health Plan Considerations in the Face of (Potentially) Changing Abortion Laws
On May 2, 2022, a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health was leaked to the press, and as a result the Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, effectively leaving the issue of abortion rights to the states. Thirteen states currently
Mental Health Parity – Don’t Be Left Out in the Cold!
News Flash: There’s no actual statutory mandate that employers offer group health coverage at all, much less coverage for specific conditions. However, federal law requires health plans that provide mental health and substance use disorder coverage to ensure that the financial requirements (like coinsurance) and treatment limitations (like visit limits and provider access) applicable to
COVID-19 Deadline Extensions—No More Time Outs but No Single Deadline Either!!
We recently provided an update on the looming end date for COBRA and other deadline extensions and the uncertainty that continues to add to the administrative burdens without more clarity from the DOL and IRS. Message received, apparently.
On behalf of the IRS, the DOL has now released Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 that attempts to
March 31st Deadline for 403(b) Plan Sponsors
March 31st Deadline for 403(b) Plan Sponsors
If your organization sponsors a 403(b) plan for employees and has not adopted an up-to-date written plan document that complies with the applicable regulations, you have until March 31, 2020 to do so. Failure to do could cause substantial negative tax consequences for employees (and the organization)
Stimulating Consumerism in Health Care By Revealing Costs
When is the last time one of your employees asked how much an in-network physician’s visit would cost? How much does a blood test cost at the hospital to which your doctor referred you, compared to the same blood test at another facility you could use? Why haven’t consumers who spend hours shopping for the
Is Your Employer Worksite Medical Clinic a Group Health Plan?
Worksite medical clinics, some offering round-the-clock access to medical providers via telemedicine, seem to be growing in popularity. Promoters tout cost savings resulting from what would otherwise be lost productivity (employees whiling away afternoons waiting to see their private doctors or having to drive long distances to have blood drawn for routine laboratory work)
Ho! Ho! Ho! Where Did It Go?
On December 14, 2018, a federal district judge sitting in Texas ruled that, without the so-called “individual mandate” which requires individual taxpayers to maintain minimum essential coverage, the rest of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended (widely known as the “ACA”) is “INVALID”.
What was the case about?