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HSA Changes May Be on the Way
"Key provisions of the [Bipartisan HSA Improvement Act include:] ... [1] Allows HSA-qualified plans to offer pre-deductible coverage of health services at onsite employee clinics and retail health clinics; [2] Permits HSA-qualified plans to offer pre-deductible coverage for services and medications that manage chronic conditions; [3] Permits the use of HSA dollars toward wellness benefits and includes exercise and other expenses associated with physical activity; [4] Clarifies that the employer can offer excepted benefits, like telehealth, and second opinion services to employees with HSA-qualified plans; [5] Allows for spousal FSA benefits to be used simultaneously with HSA-qualified plans."
Hill, Chesson & Woody
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Kraft Heinz Beats Another Lawsuit Over Retiree Health Benefits
"Each relevant bargaining agreement contained an unambiguous 'reservation-of-rights' clause allowing Kraft to modify or terminate its benefit plans at any time ... The retirees therefore had no vested right to lifetime health coverage, and Kraft was within its rights to move them to a less generous benefit plan, the judge said." [Beale v. Kraft Heinz Foods Co., No. 16-119 (S.D. Iowa Mar. 27, 2018)]
Bloomberg BNA
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Personal Liability for COBRA Penalties Extends Only to ERISA Plan Administrators
"The court noted that the company's benefits brochure provided the name of the health insurer and directed employees to contact the employer's human resources department to provide notice of a COBRA qualifying event. The brochure did not list the owners as contacts, and the employee presented no evidence that the owners were designated as ERISA plan administrators. The court concluded, therefore, that the owners could not be held personally liable for any failure to notify the employee of his COBRA rights." [Abdelmassih v. Mitra QSR KNE LLC, No. 16-4941 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 28, 2018)]
Thomson Reuters / EBIA
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Coalition of State Attorneys General Opposes DOL's AHP Expansion Proposal
"A coalition of 17 Attorneys General have registered their opposition to the [DOL's] proposed rule that would expand the criteria for forming association health plans (AHPs), in what they see as a move to evade the consumer protections enshrined in the [ACA] ... Projections forecast that the proposal, if finalized, would lead to several million enrollees shifting out of the ACA's individual and small group markets into AHPs with far fewer health benefits, the AGs cautioned. Similar predictions indicate that proposed rule would increase premiums for those remaining in the individual ACA market."
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
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2017 Health Care Spending Trends
"The estimated total spending growth of 4.6 percent for [2017] represents a slight increase over 2016, but once these figures are adjusted for prescription drug rebates, we may well find that 2017 was a year of declining health care spending growth.... The recent growth in health care spending has been largely driven by the coverage expansion created by the [ACA], and the signs of slowing spending growth are accompanied by clear evidence that the increase in coverage has started to go into reverse."
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Your Employee Is Absent More Often Than Indicated on His FMLA Medical Certification. Now What?
"[The DOL] argues that the certification is just an estimate, and one absence over frequency does not trigger the recert process.... [We] arguably have the right to reach out the employee's physician.... If [the] FMLA regulation at Section 308(e) (which allows you to contact the doctor regarding Johnny's pattern) is to have ANY meaning, it must mean that an employer has the right to discipline the employee for absences that exceed the physician's now updated medical opinion."
FMLA Insights
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State Regulation of Coverage Options Outside the ACA
"No state's regulatory framework fully protects the individual market from adverse selection by the alternative coverage arrangements studied. However, states have the authority to ensure a level playing field among coverage options to promote market stability."
The Commonwealth Fund
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Benefits in General
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[Guidance Overview]
Expanded Disability Claims Procedure Rules Become Effective in Three Days
"Plan sponsors need to review their plans to determine whether such plans provide disability benefits and, if so, whether the rule applies. This review should encompass not only short- and long-term disability plans, but also ERISA-governed retirement, severance and 'top hat' plans that provide disability benefits.... [A]ppropriate steps should be taken to amend plan documents, prepare necessary participant communications and confirm proper administration of any disability claims filed on or after April 1."
McGuireWoods
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David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor and Publisher
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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9595. Copyright 2018 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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