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[Guidance Overview]
It's Time to Prepare for Participant Requests under New Mental Health Parity Guidance
"Plans may consider reviewing the draft model request form to ensure that they are prepared to respond to any document requests. The guidance also provides a good excuse for plans to revisit their claims and appeals documents and procedures to ensure that they satisfy ERISA, which requires that some of this MHPAEA-required information be provided automatically in connection with a claim denial. Using an ERISA-compliant claim denial form may reduce the number of participant requests on the proposed forms. In addition, plans should examine any limits they impose on eating disorder treatment for compliance with the parity requirements."
Morgan Lewis
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[Advert.]
Join EBRI on July 12 to hear the latest on HSA plans!
![Sponsored by Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI]](https://benefitslink.com/bnrs/2017/EBRI_HSAJuly_top.png "Sponsored by Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI]")
Hear perspectives from expert panelists, and learn about the latest EBRI and other research on health savings accounts (HSAs) and HSA-eligible health plans. Learn more and register here for the July 12 Policy Forum (attendance is free of charge).
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[Guidance Overview]
Indiana Reverses Course on Telemedicine Prescribing and Controlled Substances Laws
"HB 1337, signed by Governor Eric Holcomb and effective July 1, 2017, will allow providers to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine without an in-person examination, albeit with some notable limitations and restrictions. The law reverses Indiana's 2016 telehealth law that prevented providers from prescribing controlled substances via telehealth technologies."
Foley & Lardner LLP
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Discussion Draft: Senate Republican Health Care Bill
"The discussion draft will: [1] Help stabilize collapsing insurance markets that have left millions of Americans with no options. [2] Free the American people from the onerous Obamacare mandates that require them to purchase insurance they don't want or can't afford. [3] Improve the affordability of health insurance, which keeps getting more expensive under Obamacare. [4] Preserve access to care for Americans with pre-existing conditions, and allow children to stay on their parents' health insurance through age 26. [5] Strengthen Medicaid for those who need it most by giving states more flexibility while ensuring that those who rely on this program won't have the rug pulled out from under them."
U.S. Senate Committee On The Budget
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Senate Healthcare Draft Relies on Subsidies GOP Has Faulted
"Senate Republicans' proposal to replace Obamacare would provide an additional $50 billion over four years to stabilize insurance exchanges ... The plan, ... includes $15 billion a year in market-stabilizing funds over the next two years and $10 billion a year in 2020 and 2021. These payments would come in addition to cost-sharing subsidy payments, which would be extended through 2019.... The draft bill also would provide $62 billion allocated over eight years to a state innovation fund, which can be used for coverage for high-risk patients, reinsurance and other items. The draft bill would phase out Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid over three years, starting in 2021."
Bloomberg
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Witness Statements to ERISA Advisory Council: 'Reducing the Burden and Increasing the Effectiveness of Mandated Disclosures with Respect to Employment-Based Health Plans in the Private Sector'
Testimony submitted for June 6, 2017 meeting: - Mark Buckberg, Bond Beebe
- Terry Dailey, Mercer
- Linda Duvall, Associated Administrators
- Brennan McCarthy, Willis Towers Watson
- Elizabeth Queen, Central Data Services
- Kevin Schlotman, Benovation
- Mary Ellen Signorille, AARP
- Anthony Sorrentino, SilverStone Group
- Michelle Varnhagen, AARP
- Sandford Walters, Kelly & Associates Insurance Group
- Peter Wiedenbeck, Washington University School of Law
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]
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[Advert.]
Online Learning Course: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
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This course identifies coverage and eligibility requirements of employees and responsibilities of employers, and describes how to avoid common administration mistakes, implement best practices and be aware of interactions with other laws.
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New York Governor Moves to Guarantee ACA Protections
"On June 5, [New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo] directed the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) to promulgate new emergency regulations mandating that health insurance providers may not discriminate against New Yorkers with preexisting conditions or based on age or gender, in addition to safeguarding the 10 categories of protections guaranteed under the ACA."
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
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Cigna Stays in Obamacare for Now; Anthem Reduces Participation
"U.S. healthcare insurer Cigna Corp said on [June 21] it will continue to offer individual coverage under Obamacare for now while rival Anthem announced it was shrinking its participation, amid uncertainty over the fate of the government-subsidized program. [June 21] was the deadline for insurers to submit to the government their 2018 rates for individual plans sold on the HealthCare.gov website[.]"
Reuters
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Access to Coverage and Care for People with Preexisting Conditions: How Has It Changed Under the ACA?
"Between 2013 and 2015, 16.5 million nonelderly adults gained coverage following full ACA implementation.... Coverage and access gains for people with preexisting conditions were unrelated to the size or existence of the state high-risk pools ... [P]roposals to replace current protections for people with preexisting conditions with high-risk pools are unlikely to be sufficient to maintain the ACA's gains."
The Commonwealth Fund
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CalPERS Moves to Adopt 2018 Health Plan Premiums
"The California Public Employees' Retirement System Board of Administration today approved health care rate and plan changes for 2018 that include an average 2.33 percent overall premium increase. Individual plan increases may vary, but the overall Medicare and Basic (non-Medicare) increase is the lowest in 20 years."
CalPERS
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Father's EEOC Charge Challenges Disparity in J.P. Morgan's Paid Parental Leave Policy
"The complainant is the father of two young children, including a two-year old and a newborn just nine days old ... [He] contends that J.P. Morgan discriminates against men by designating biological mothers as the default primary caregivers, eligible for 16 weeks of paid parental leave, while presumptively considering fathers to be non-primary caretakers, who are eligible for just two weeks of paid parental leave."
Wolters Kluwer
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Benefits in General
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[Official Guidance]
IRS Now Accepting Renewal Applications for ITINs Set to Expire by End of 2017
"The agency urges taxpayers affected by changes to the [Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)] program to submit their renewal applications as soon as possible to avoid the rush. In the second year of the renewal program, the IRS has made changes to make the process smoother for taxpayers. The renewal process for 2018 is beginning now, more than three months earlier than last year." [Also available: 2017 Form W-12, Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) Application and Renewal]
Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
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Executive Compensation
and Nonqualified Plans
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Intricate Mix of Restricted Stock, Performance Shares, and Stock Options in LTI Vehicles
"While the rise of restricted stock/RSUs and performance shares, along with the relative decline of stock options, has been well documented for many years, ... stock options have not disappeared but are often being granted to supplement full-value awards such as restricted stock and performance shares, especially in long-term incentives (LTIs) designed for executives."
myStockOptions.com
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Press Releases
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Lois Baker, J.D., President
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
Holly Horton, Business Manager
BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9595. Copyright 2017 BenefitsLink.com, Inc. All materials contained in this newsletter are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of BenefitsLink.com, Inc., or in the case of third party materials, the owner of those materials. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notices from copies of the content.
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