Employee Benefits Archives - Page 44 of 150

Payers Seek Clarity on Biden’s Vaccination Mandates

by Michelle S. Strowhiro | Nov 4, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

A recent Biden administration Executive Order requires workplace COVID-19 vaccinations for many companies, healthcare workers and federal contractors to occur by December 8. However, the federal government has yet to rule whether payers are federal contractors.

In this Health Payer Specialist article, McDermott Partner Michelle Strowhiro said if the government determines that payers that administer certain plans are federal contractors, renewal contracts signed between October 15 to November 14 will require clauses guaranteeing compliance with the vaccination mandates.

Access the article.

When Is COVID-19 a Disability? Courts Tackle Issue in Bias Cases

by Brian Mead | Nov 3, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

A Pennsylvania federal judge recently allowed an employee to move forward with a discrimination lawsuit after her employer terminated her following a positive COVID-19 test result. According to this Bloomberg Law article, the judge noted that COVID-19 could be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); however, it’s unclear if the ADA also protects infected workers before they display long-haul COVID-19 symptoms. McDermott Partner Brian Mead said the employee’s presentation of long-haul COVID-19 symptoms (including loss of smell and taste) was also key in the judge’s ruling.

“The difference between having a cough or a substantial lung impairment is the difference between being covered by the ADA or not covered,” Mead said.

Access the article.

Agencies Clarify How Employers Can Charge COVID-19 Vaccine Premium Incentives

by Sarah Raaii and McDermott Will & Emery | Nov 2, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

On October 4, 2021, the US Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services issued guidance regarding the application of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) wellness rules to vaccine-related premium surcharges and discounts, clarifying that employers may charge vaccine premium incentives if they adhere to the requirements of activity-only health-contingent programs.

Employers have grown more interested in exploring incentives designed to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among employees. Some employers have announced plans to charge unvaccinated employees higher contributions for health coverage than vaccinated employees, while some have been considering other options, such as excluding coverage for COVID-related illnesses, charging higher cost-sharing for COVID-19-related illnesses and offering more generous plan options to employees who are vaccinated.

Read more here.

Missing Participants, Cybersecurity Top Challenges for Plan Advisors

by McDermott Will & Emery | Oct 28, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Privacy and Data Security, Retirement Plans

Missing participants and cybersecurity are among the top challenges for retirement plan advisors, according to participants at the National Association of Plan Advisors’ 2021 NAPA 401(k) Summit in Las Vegas. During the Summit’s opening day workshop session, McDermott Partner Erin Turley said advisors should make an effort to discuss cybersecurity with clients in advance of a US Department of Labor audit.

“The plan document says X, the recordkeeping agreement says Y, and maybe the (summary plan description) says something different—if it’s even addressed in the SPD,” Turley noted. “So make sure all those documents sync and your process actually matches your documents as equally.”

Read more here.

IRS Provides Further Guidance on COBRA Election and Payment Deadlines

by Sarah Raaii and McDermott Will & Emery | Oct 27, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

In Notice 2021-58, the Internal Revenue Service clarified that the one-year tolling relief periods for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) elections and initial premium payments run concurrently, not consecutively. This means that a qualified beneficiary generally will have only one year of total disregarded time for the election and initial payment periods.

Read more here.

Employers on Hook for Mental Health Parity Despite New Target

by McDermott Will & Emery | Oct 20, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

The US Department of Labor (DOL) is casting a skeptical eye on health insurance companies’ inconsistent coverage of mental health and substance use disorder benefits. The DOL recently commenced litigation against an insurer to require mental health and substance use disorder coverage be on par with regular physical care.

In an article in Bloomberg Law, McDermott Partner Judith Wethall said employers are usually unaware about these violations. Self-funded employers typically simply accept whatever their third-party administrator (TPA) is offering.

“Sometimes a TPA does things behind the scenes that might violate mental health parity and an employer might not even know it,” Wethall said.

Access the article.

Supreme Court Agrees to Review Medicare Payment Cuts to 340B Drugs

by Drew Elizabeth McCormick and Emily J. Cook | Oct 19, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

The US Supreme Court announced in July that it will take up review of the decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upholding Medicare’s 2018 payment cuts to 340B drugs. The case will be closely watched, given its potentially far-reaching impacts on reimbursements to most hospitals that participate in the Medicare program, not just those that participate in the 340B Program.

Read more here.

Premium Surcharges for the Unvaccinated Are Lawful Within Limits

by McDermott Will & Emery | Oct 14, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

Many plan administrators expressed bewilderment at the Biden administration’s recent guidance to limit vaccine incentive or surcharge programs for unvaccinated plan participants. According to this SHRM article, which features insight from McDermott Partner Judith Wethall, any premium surcharges must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPPA) nondiscrimination rules. HIPPA nondiscrimination rules allow for participatory and health-contingent permissible wellness programs.

Read more here.

FTC Issues Policy Statement Expanding Interpretation of Health Breach Notification Rule’s Scope

by Carolyn Metnick, Edward G. Zacharias and Sam Siegfried | Oct 13, 2021 | Digital Health, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Privacy and Data Security

On September 15, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3–2 along party lines (with Republican commissioners dissenting) to issue a policy statement announcing an expansive interpretation of the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule, 16 CFR Part 318 (the Rule). According to the policy statement, the Rule applies to health apps and connected devices that are not subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) but are capable of drawing information from multiple sources—for example, through a combination of consumer inputs and application programming interfaces (APIs).

Read more here.

The Questions Your Board’s Human Capital Committee Needs to Ask

by Michael W. Peregrine | Oct 12, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Labor

What questions should a governing board’s human capital committee ask itself? According to this August 2021 e-book edited by McDermott Partner Michael Peregrine, committee members should regularly ask themselves questions about workforce strategy and engagement, outstanding litigation, talent pipeline and management strategy and human capital technology.

Access the e-book (Page 8).

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