SubscribeThe US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the Departments) have released a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in response to Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra, a recent case that invalidated a portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) preventive services mandate. The FAQs aim to address inquiries from stakeholders, while also emphasizing the Departments’ opposition to the Braidwood ruling. The Departments urge plans and issuers to continue providing coverage for preventive services at no additional cost to patients.
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Healthcare Predictions for 2023: Hard Choices and Working Smarter
What is the primary force that will act on healthcare in 2023? What topics, trends and opportunities are hot this year? And how does the public feel about healthcare provider organizations today?
In this special report produced by Jarrad Inc., McDermott Partner Kerrin B. Slattery and other industry professionals provide insight into the themes that will shape the healthcare industry this year.
Welcome (But Last Minute) Relief for Prescription Drug Reporting Originally Due December 27
Section 204 of Title II of Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 amended the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to add rules governing prescription drug data collection (RxDC). The rules require group health plans, including plans offered to Federal Employees Health Benefits carriers, and health insurance issuers to report certain information related to prescription drug and other healthcare expenditures to the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments). Under the statute, the first RxDC reports were due to be filed by December 27, 2021. However, in response to concerns expressed by stakeholders, enforcement was pushed back a full year to December 27, 2022.
In an FAQ issued December 23, 2022 (FAQ About Affordable Care Act and Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 Implementation Part 56), the Departments provided relief to group health plans and health insurance issuers who are required to report information relating to prescription drug and healthcare spending.
HHS Nondiscrimination Proposal on Gender Procedures, Abortions Meets Resistance
Multiple Republican lawmakers are opposing a US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed rule that would expand the Affordable Care Act’s Section 1557 requirement preventing most health plans from discriminating on the basis of sex. According to this SHRM article, the rule applies to health insurers or plans that receive federal funds or that contract with the government. McDermott lawyers previously wrote about this proposed rule, noting that the definition of a covered entity is “similar in many ways to the 2016 Final Rule” but “does not explicitly include employee benefit group health plans as covered entities subject to Section 1557.”
COVID and a Cloud of Dust
The COVID-19 pandemic forced lawmakers to respond with an array of legislation to help Americans, such as the No Surprises Act, the Families First Coronavirus Responses Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Now, however, pandemic-related litigation involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is becoming more common. In this Best Lawyers article, McDermott Partner Ted Becker highlights the major types of pandemic-related litigation, including out-of-network provider litigation, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and antitrust claims, and COVID-19-related litigation against ERISA health plans.
How Employers, Insurers Are Coping with Abortion After Dobbs
The US Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade has created more complexity to the country’s patchwork of abortion laws. In this Managed Healthcare Executive article, McDermott’s Sarah Raaii offers perspective about how insurers are navigating healthcare plans state-by-state.
Texas Abortion-related Litigation ‘just getting started’
It was a busy end of August for abortion-related litigation in Texas. Multiple pro-reproductive justice nonprofit groups sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other prosecutors to protect the ability of pregnant Texans to obtain abortions in outside states, and Texas’ new trigger ban law went into effect. In this MedCity News article, McDermott Partner Caroline Reignley notes how the US Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision “did not end the debate over abortion or limit court intervention.”
Want to Provide Abortion Travel Benefits at Your Company? Here’s How to Protect Employees
How can companies provide abortion travel benefits to their workers without disclosing sensitive medical information? In this Corporate Counsel article, McDermott’s Sarah Raaii provides insight into how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) offer protections for workers seeking reproductive healthcare services.
“The most common way that we’ve seen employers offering these abortion benefits is to include them in their existing ERISA health plans, in which case they [the plans] would be subject to HIPAA,” Raaii said.
What Should GCs Know About the Abortion Landscape?
What should company general counsels (GCs) know about abortion trigger bans, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and how not to break the law in light of the new abortion landscape in the United States? In this MedCity News article, McDermott’s Sarah Raaii offers insight into how companies can protect abortion access for workers.
“One thing that GCs and employers should do is closely track any new state developments in a state you have business interests in,” Raaii said. “And if you have employees all over, unfortunately that could mean keeping track of 50 different states laws because it’s as simple as ‘this state does or doesn’t prohibit abortion,’ there’s different levels of protection.”
How Can Employers Protect Workers Who Seek Abortion Care?
As US states seek to reduce abortion access in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, how can employers protect workers who seek abortion care? In this Fortune article, McDermott’s David Gacioch, Sarah Raaii and Ellen Bronchetti offer insight into what the US Supreme Court’s decision means for employee healthcare data, employee benefits and Title VII.
“Any employer who doesn’t already have an assessment of what the end of Roe means for its operations and workforce…needs to get in front of this,” Gacioch said.
