"Employers should adopt a written military leave policy that covers eligibility, benefits, and procedures for employees in the uniformed services that aligns with USERRA. Employers should also incorporate USERRA into anti-discrimination policies and training programs."   MORE >>

"California's amended paid sick leave law will require employers to provide employees at least forty hours or five days of paid sick leave per year beginning January 1, 2024. New guidance from DIR clarifies that employers that use a sick leave accrual method may need to adjust the accrual beginning January 1, 2024, to comply with the new forty-hour or five-day minimum. Employers that frontload paid sick leave may need to provide additional frontloaded sick leave on January 1, 2024."   MORE >>

"LINA eventually approved Plaintiff's claim for STD benefits, but denied her LTD claim ... [T]he Court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff ... Plaintiff sought interest on unpaid benefits at a rate of 5.46% ... [T]he Court found that the interest rate was appropriate.... [T]he Court agreed that Plaintiff had achieved 'some success on the merits' ... [and awarded] Plaintiff reasonable fees and costs with a reduction in the fee award. " [ Reynolds v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am. [LINA] , No. C21-1424 (W.D. Wash. Dec. 18, 2023)]   MORE >>

"As the range of specialty care services continues to increase, so has the risk of fragmentation, with a large proportion of referrals never resulting in follow-ups. Current accountable care programs have not solved this problem ... [T]his article [offers] concrete steps toward a comprehensive vision of how accountable care models can achieve effective specialty care engagement."   MORE >>

"Patient-consumers are growing increasingly exasperated with healthcare delivery as we know it and are demanding better. Meanwhile, retail disruptors are capitalizing on mounting frustrations by continuing to dismantle a broken and failing fee-for-service (FFS) payment model. And, the federal government ... is now ramping up efforts to try and make good on past reforms. As the winds of disruption pick up speed, these stakeholders have signaled they have no interest in extending a lifeline."   MORE >>

"Groups representing companies with self-insured health plans say the states' attempts to fill the void on PBM legislation threaten preemption protections under [ERISA].... Employers are advocating for reforms to PBMs similar to what some states are doing, but they say change needs to happen instead at the federal level to ensure uniform standards."   MORE >>

"Details from the [ GAO report ] reveal the majority of claims by medical providers are still unresolved, and those lucky enough to have their claim arbitrated are subject to a lopsided dispute resolution process that is far from what Congress wrote into law. "   MORE >>

560 pages. JCT General Explanation of Tax Legislation enacted during the 117th Congress, including explanations of over 170 tax provisions across eight different Acts, starting with the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and ending with the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, including including SECURE 2.0. MORE >>

"The plaintiffs alleged that management provided the appraiser with highly unrealistic projections about significant increases in revenues and profits, which they alleged were accepted to provide a higher than fair value.... [T]he court said the plaintiffs had failed to exhaust their legal remedies under the plan first by filing a complaint with the plan committee. The plaintiffs argued that would be futile given the composition of the committee and that the plan language, in any event, gave them the option to sue." [ Bolton v. Inland Fresh Seafood Employee Stock Ownership Plan , No. 22-4602 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 5, 2023)]   MORE >>