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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter September 2, 2020 |
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Newly Posted Leave of Absence Trends and Pitfalls During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Total Compensation Strategies Attracting and Retaining Employees
Annual Benefits Forum - Charting a Course for Recovery for Employers and Employees
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Discussions |
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This Newsletter:
BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter:
Message Boards Digest:
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[Guidance Overview]
"The federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008 is the law that most people think of when it comes to parity. However, that's only ONE of the many state and federal laws that address health insurance coverage of mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) treatment services." (Part 1 of 2.) MZQ Consulting, LLC |
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[Guidance Overview]
"[E]mployers should seek sufficient information from an employee requesting leave due to a school 'closure' to understand if the school is [1] fully closed to the employee's child, [2] operating in a hybrid model and if so on which days, or [3] operating with a fully remote learning program. If the employee's child is in a fully remote learning program, the employer should also seek to understand if an in-person learning program was an option at the child's school so that the employer can properly determine whether or not the employee has a right to paid leave under FFCRA." Armstrong Teasdale |
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[Guidance Overview]
"The key fact in determining whether an employee can use leave under the FFCRA is whether the child's school or child care provider is 'unavailable' for COVID-19 related reasons.... [E]mployers will need to conduct an individualized assessment of whether an employee can take leave for child care purposes. This will be different for each employee depending on the county, school district, school or child care provider, and student." Liebert Cassidy Whitmore |
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[Guidance Overview]
"According to the DOL, the FMLA forms were revised 'to make them easier to understand' for employers, health care providers, and employees seeking leave.... While the vast majority of the changes have little effect on employers, there are some updates that will require employers to provide additional information to employees and, in some cases, to supply employees with multiple Designation Notices." Epstein Becker Green |
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[Guidance Overview]
"New York's general paid sick leave (PSL) mandate, expanding beyond the statewide COVID-19 Emergency Leave Law, is scheduled to go into effect on September 30, 2020. While employers need not permit the use of PSL until January 1, 2021, all other obligations will be in effect come month's end.... [This article discusses the] PSL law's key provisions, ambiguities and potential problem areas for employers to monitor for the remainder of the year." Seyfarth Shaw LLP |
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[Guidance Overview]
"While employers may choose to front-load all of the required sick leave, if they do not, employees accrue 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, beginning on the later of the first day of employment or the effective date of the sick leave law (September 30, 2020). However, employers may choose to restrict the use of any accrued sick leave until January 1, 2021." FordHarrison |
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"[A recent Eighth Circuit] decision ... clarified that when circumstances demand 'less deferential review,' this cannot mean de novo review.... [The panel ruled that] when faced with conflicting panel opinions, the law dictated the earliest opinion controlled. Thus, because 'all of our precedents' mischaracterized the [1998 holding in Woo v. Deluxe Corp.], it was Woo rather than the subsequent cases misstating (or misapplying) the holding in Woo that controlled. The review could not be de novo, but an abuse of discretion standard analysis that took into consideration the procedural irregularity." [McIntyre v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., No. 19-2367 (8th Cir. Aug. 25, 2020)] Kantor & Kantor |
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"This week, California's legislature passed one of the nation's strictest mental health parity bills. It aims to increase mental health insurance coverage to include far more conditions -- including, notably, addiction -- as well as redefining the criteria for insurance denials." National Public Radio [NPR] |
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"Consistent with the Bostock decision, the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) issued Bulletin 2020-34-INS on August 11, 2020 confirming that it interprets 'sex' in all statutes and rules under its administration to include sexual orientation and gender identity." Miller Johnson |
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[Sponsored]
An Easy HIPAA Solution for Employer-Sponsored Health Plans Benefit Comply's HIPAA Shield is an online compliance tool that allows employers to create HIPAA policies, conduct a risk analysis, train employees and more. Learn more or request a demo here.
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Benefits in General |
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[Official Guidance]
The IRS is soliciting comments concerning proposed changes to the 2021 Form 5500 and Instructions, to implement requirements of the SECURE Act. Comment deadline is 60 days after publication in the Federal Register (scheduled for September 3, 2020). Internal Revenue Service [IRS] |
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Press Releases |
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Security Health Plan Introduces New Plan Option for Wisconsin Employers
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DWC - The 401(k) Experts Announces Jamelle Moody as Principal
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FINRA Sanctions Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC More Than $2 Million for Supervisory Violations Related to Variable Annuity Switches
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Most Popular Items in the Previous Issue |
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DOL Issues FFCRA Guidance Regarding School Reopening Plans
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2021 Employer-Provided Health Plan Design Survey
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What Does the NJ Health Insurance Tax Mean for Employers?
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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9595. Copyright 2020 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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