"Self-funded employers are expected to retain flexibility to cover the COVID-19 vaccines at no cost to members. Health plans and pharmacy benefit managers are awaiting confirmation. Fully insured employers, on the other hand, may face more limitations. ... [as they] are subject to the carrier's interpretation of federal and state guidance. If the vaccine is not broadly recommended for healthy individuals under 65, carriers may limit coverage to only those with a medical indication or a provider's prescription." MORE >>
"[B]eginning July 31, 2025, New York's COVID-19 Paid Emergency Leave will expire, and employers will no longer be required to provide separate leave for COVID-19 quarantines and isolations.... [E]mployees who need time off to manage care for COVID-19 can continue to use other paid leave options, including New York State's Paid Sick Leave, New York City's Earned Sick and Safe Time, or New York Paid Family Leave." MORE >>
"[1] Are HDHPs required to cover COVID vaccines with no cost-sharing? ... [2] If the ACIP's recommendation changes, can HDHPs continue to cover COVID-19 vaccines pre-deductible? ... [3] Can an HDHP cover other COVID testing and treatment pre-deductible?" MORE >>
"Beginning July 31, 2025, New York employers will no longer be required to provide separate leave for COVID-19 quarantines and isolations.... PEL is limited exclusively to COVID-19, and its paid leave benefits are separate from and additional to other paid sick and safe leave benefits ... [W]hile numerous other jurisdictions passed similar COVID-19 leave laws, New York's PEL is the last such statute remaining in effect." MORE >>
"The at-home testing distribution program launched in January 2022. Since then, it has been significantly expanded but also had been suspended a few times over the years. The program last returned on Sept. 26 and took orders through [March 9]. It was not immediately known if the program could return in the future." MORE >>
"This study aimed to estimate the net effects of pandemic-induced excess deaths on OASDI liabilities, utilizing dynamic microsimulation models, and examined how these effects vary across different socioeconomic and racial-ethnic groups.... The pandemic resulted in approximately 1.7 million excess deaths among individuals aged 25 and older between 2020 and 2023. These premature deaths reduced future retirement payments, which increased the Social Security fund by $294 billion. However, this gain was offset by reductions in future payroll tax flows ($58 billion) and increased payments to surviving spouses and children ($32 billion), resulting in a net impact of $205 billion." MORE >>
"Unum denied the claim opining based on the file reviews of two 'on-site' physicians ... that Plaintiff would not be restricted from working as a physician since Plaintiff had the ability to reduce the risks associated with COVID-19 exposure ... Unum ... characterized Plaintiff's concerns about returning to work as a simple 'decision' she undertook due to her 'fear of COVID-19,' rather than a prophylactic measure taken to protect herself. The Court disagreed, finding that Plaintiff's concerns were not so trivial." [Downs v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am., No. 23-1643 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 19, 2024)] MORE >>
"After July 31, 2025, employees who need time off to manage care or isolate for COVID-19 will need to use existing paid leave regimes, including New York State's Paid Sick Leave and New York City's Earned Sick and Safe Time."
"The ruling offers a lesson to claimants on how to prove a disability claim involving long COVID, but also teaches insurers what not to do.... Although the court ... acknowledged that Unum may have had some basis for questioning Abrams' claim due to the absence of definitive objective test results, the court was convinced by the consistency of the medical findings presented." [Whitehouse v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of America, No. 22-1736 (D. Minn. Mar. 21, 2024)] MORE >>
"While the new guidance provides some clarity on when employees with COVID and other respiratory viruses can return to work, employers will continue to grapple with ... COVID-related issues ... [such as] managing employees' requests for time off when experiencing active symptoms of a respiratory virus ... Employers must also be aware of other federal and state-specific guidance related to COVID-19.... In New York State, the COVID-19 Sick Leave Law that went into effect in 2020, [has yet] to be rolled back or modified." MORE >>
"[M]ost federal contractors know that it can be challenging to recover increased costs for paid leave stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic under Section 3610 of the [CARES] Act.... A recent Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) decision provides claimants with some reason for hope by confirming that the ASBCA has Contract Disputes Act (CDA) jurisdiction over appeals from a contracting officer's denial of Section 3610 claims.... [E]stablishing jurisdiction is only the first step, and the path to recovering paid leave costs remains narrow and highly dependent on the facts of each case."
23 pages; Rev. Jan. 5, 2024. "For use in preparing 2023 returns.... What's New: ... Notice 2023-37 addresses the announced end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and the National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic ... Notice 2023-37 also clarifies whether certain items and services are treated as preventive care under section 223(c)(2)(C)."
24 pages; Feb. 6, 2024. "For use in preparing 2023 returns.... What's New: ... Notice 2023-37 addresses the announced end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and the National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic ... Notice 2023-37 also clarifies whether certain items and services are treated as preventive care under section 223(c)(2)(C)."MORE >>
"In determining whether ERISA penalties should be awarded, the district court grouped the claimant's requested documents by category, which it analyzed in turn.... In a ruling that was largely favorable to the employer/plan sponsor, the district court in this case expressly referenced the [DOL's] COVID-related 'outbreak period' rules -- which suspended the deadlines for some plan compliance obligations." [Zavislak v. Netflix, Inc., No. 21-1811 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2024)]
"The COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Ordinance, which requires [businesses with 25 or more employees] to provide up to 40 hours of additional paid sick leave to eligible employees when they are unable to work for certain COVID-19 reasons, will expire on December 31, 2023. However, covered employers will still be required to keep all compliance records for this law for two years (through December 31, 2025)."
"For use in preparing 2023 returns.... What's New: ... Notice 2023-37 addresses the announced end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and the National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic ... Notice 2023-37 also clarifies whether certain items and services are treated as preventive care under section 223(c)(2)(C). S"
"After 2024, covering COVID-19 testing and treatment under an HDHP without participant cost-sharing, could impact a participant's Health Savings Account (HSA) eligibility. Notice 2023-37 also provides that COVID-19 testing will not be considered preventative care for purposes of HSA eligibility as of the Notice's publication date (June 23, 2023)."
"[F]or plan years ending after December 31, 2024, a high-deductible health plan will no longer be permitted to provide coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment under the HDHP before the minimum HDHP deductible is met without jeopardizing a participant's HSA eligibility.... Notice 2023-37 ... clarified that the preventive care safe harbor does not include screening (i.e., testing) for COVID-19, effective as of June 23, 2023 ... [T]his clarification will not be relevant for HDHPs/HSAs until the first plan year ending after December 31, 2024."
"IRS Notice 2023-37 [provides] that COVID testing and treatment are not preventive care. This means they can only be provided under a high deductible health plan ('HDHP') on a first dollar basis by plans which plan years end no later than December 31, 2024. HDHPs that continue to cover these services on a first dollar basis will cause their participants to be ineligible to contribute to health savings accounts (HSAs)." MORE >>
"Employer plan sponsors of HSA-qualifying HDHPs that currently cover COVID-19 testing and/or treatment prior to the satisfaction of the minimum annual HDHP deductible should amend the terms of the plan to no longer do so for plan years ending after December 31, 2024."
"If a participant experiences a qualifying event and is provided a COBRA election notice on or before July 10, 2023, the individual's 60-day period to elect COBRA begins to run on July 10, 2023 (making the deadline September 8, 2023).... Although not expressly addressed, it appears that if a qualifying event occurs on or before July 10, 2023, and the COBRA election notice is provided after that date, the COBRA election deadline would be measured from the provision of the notice."
"Today's workers are navigating the extended hangover of the pandemic as well as new disruptions that pose a threat to their lifestyles and livelihoods. Many workers are confronting short-term employment and financial challenges that have implications for their ability to save and invest for their future retirement. A concerted effort is needed among policymakers, employers, and workers themselves to put them back on the road towards a financially secure retirement."
"[C]alendar year HDHPs must subject COVID-19 testing and treatment to the deductible beginning with the 2025 plan year. This gives HDHPs more than a year to transition to applying the deductible to these services. However, non-calendar year HDHPs will have less time since the relief will only apply until the end of the 2023 plan year. This is because a 2024 non-calendar year plan year will end after December 31, 2024."
14 pages. "This updated slide deck describes agency guidance on which COVID-19 coverage mandates expired once the public health emergency ended on May 11, and how to calculate key plan and participant deadlines before and after the outbreak period ends on July 10. The slides also describe employer actions that the agencies encourage but do not require, such as steps to lessen the impact of Medicaid redeterminations on employees and their families."
