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DOL Issues Final Rule Expanding Opportunities for 'Bona Fide' Association Health Plans Under ERISA

"[T]he final rule's preamble states that the new rule is not intended to replace or supplant the Department's existing 'sub-regulatory' guidance regarding 'bona fide' AHPs. Instead, the final rule provides an additional basis for groups or associations to meet the definition of 'employer' under ERISA section 3(5). Thus, only those arrangements established pursuant to the new rule are subject to the new rule's standards.... It is widely expected that multiple states and some insurers will challenge the legality of the new rule. Such challenges may delay (or even eliminate) implementation of AHPs pursuant to the new rule."
ERISA Law Practice, LLC

Develop a Strong Parental Leave Policy

July 25 webinar will address the changes taking place in parental leave policies and how to develop a policy which is legally compliant, and which is best suited to help employers recruit and retain employees. Discount for BenefitsLink readers .

DOL Issues Final Rule on Association Health Plans

"The new rule does not supplant existing guidance, so association health plans that existed prior will not be required to comply with the new rule unless they choose to expand the membership of the plan as permitted under the new rule. Additionally, association health plans can choose between satisfying the new rule or following the old requirements. The old requirements are more restrictive with respect to qualifying as a bona fide association, but more flexible on permitting experience rating for employer groups within the plan." Stinson Leonard Street

Association Health Plans: How Do You Solve a Problem Like a MEWA?

"[T]he DOL included a specific provision that participation in an AHP will not subject employers to joint employer liability under any other federal or state law, rule or regulation. It also clarified that businesses will not be considered an employer of its independent contractors merely by its participation in an AHP with those independent contractors that participate in the same AHP as working owners.... [T]he regulations expressly state that the new guidance does not modify existing state authority to regulate MEWAs." Littler

Employer Wellness Planning for 2019

"Employers could elect to use the full 30% incentive notwithstanding the court's order. Employers who adopt this approach may be challenged although arguments can be made as to why this amount would not render the program involuntary or is otherwise permitted. This challenge is not likely to come from the EEOC ... The risk of challenge is less with a lower percentage.... Employers who want to avoid any risk on this issue could elect to limit the use of incentives with respect to health screenings ... and disability-related inquiries." Kilpatrick Townsend

Opioid Abuse in America: Can Your Employer Health Plan Be Part of the Solution?

"What does an employer health plan cover for opioid addicts?.... What aspects of a health plan could keep employees from seeking treatment? ... Do employees have access to a treatment provider? ... Are there alternative therapies employers can consider covering? ... How can a health plan do more to prevent opioid addiction before it occurs? ... Does the employer know the extent of the problem in its employee population? " Ogletree Deakins

Employee Health, Benefits, & Well-Being Congress | July 30-31

Who is moving the needle on employee health care? This event convenes HR, benefits, and wellness executives, TPAs, Brokers, Payers, and Providers to learn and discuss strategies to enhance employee health and improve outcomes while reducing costs.

Should Your Health Plan Include Alternative Medicine?

"Statistics indicate roughly 40% of the American population report using alternative therapies. Many have turned to this type of treatment when prescribed medications proved to be ineffective.... [D]espite those convincing numbers, most of these services are currently not covered by the majority of health insurers." Hill, Chesson & Woody

Tackling Health Care Costs in the Era of Abundance

"The only way to validate your decision making is to have enough of a grasp on your data to show you whether or not your benefit strategy is working, health plans are optimized, and member behaviors and outcomes are improving." Benefitfocus

Privacy Please: HIPAA and Artificial Intelligence

"A critical threshold question is at what point does an AI vendor become subject to HIPAA? The answer has significant ramifications for both the AI vendor and the covered customer, which may be a health care provider, health plan, clearinghouse, or business associate. The AI functionality could fall along a continuum ranging from falling outside of HIPAA to triggering the business associate obligations subject to HIPAA." Artificial Intelligence Law Advisor, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

'Holy Cow' Moment Changes How Montana's State Health Plan Does Business

"60 hospitals ... accounted for 43% of employee healthcare costs.... [T]he state decided it would pay an average of 234% of Medicare rates -- a level of payment that hospitals indicated they would accept and an amount the state calculated would allow an efficient hospital to deliver high-quality care and still profit.... Two years in, the state calls the effort a success, saving $15.6 million this year over the estimate of what it would have paid without the change." FierceHealthcare

Reasons Why Employers -- And New Ventures -- Won't 'Disrupt' U.S. Healthcare

"Employer Sponsored Insurance (ESI) isn't the product of intelligent system design. In fact, there's no clinical, fiscal or moral argument to support this unique financing model at all.... Whatever the business of private industry ... unless they are literally in the business of healthcare, the vast majority have no specific healthcare domain expertise ... Unlike Medicare or Medicaid, ESI ... supports inelastic healthcare pricing because it is literally whatever the market will bear based on group purchasing dynamics.... ESI -- and the employment process known as open-enrollment -- is arbitrarily tied to our annual tax calendar, but that has no correlation or applicability to how healthcare actually works." Dan Munro, in Forbes

Five New Members Appointed to 2018 ERISA Advisory Council

"Current members Cynthia Levering and Srinivas Dharam Reddy will serve as the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the council.... The newly appointed members and the expertise they represent are: [1] Employers: David J. Kritz is General Attorney for Norfolk Southern Corporation ... [2] Corporate Trust: Linda M. Kerschner is a Senior Vice President of CAPTRUST Financial Advisors ... [3] General Public: David Blanchett is Head of Retirement Research at Morningstar Investment Management ... [4] Investment Management: Jason Bortz is Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel at Capital Group ... [5] Employee organizations: Bridget O'Connor is General Counsel of the International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers (BAC)." Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]

Administration Proposal Rolls Out Proposal to Combine DOL and DOE

"The White House unveiled a proposal to combine the Labor and Education departments into a single agency with four subgroups, blending everything from enforcement to workforce development. The June 21 reorganization report calls for the two departments' sprawling assortment of subdivisions to be folded into agencies called K-12; the American Workforce and Higher Education Administration (AWHE); Enforcement; and the Research, Evaluation, and Administration agency. The new Cabinet agency would be called the Department of Education and the Workforce."
Bloomberg BNA

Press Releases

DataPath Wins 2018 Digital Health Gold Award DataPath, Inc.

ICMA-RC Hires Industry Veteran Bruce Corcoran ICMA-RC

Participant-Focused RTI Surgical Earns Prestigious Signature Award OneAmerica

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