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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
December 15, 2021
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8 New Job Opportunities
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[Guidance Overview]
Upcoming ACA Deadlines to Mark on Your Calendar
"February 28, 2022: Paper filing deadline.... March 2, 2022: New annual furnishing deadline for 1095-C forms to ACA full-time employees.... March 31, 2022: File the 1094-C and 1095-C information electronically to IRS.... Deadline for mailing forms to California and
Vermont residents currently remains January 31, 2022." MORE >>
Tango Health
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[Guidance Overview]
COVID-19 Health and Welfare Plan Relief: What's Still Effective? What's Expiring?
"In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the President, Congress and federal agencies began producing rules aimed at protecting Americans from the disease, mitigating potential financial loss and maintaining access to healthcare. Many of these protections will continue into the
foreseeable future, while a few are going away on or before 2022." MORE >>
HUB International
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[Guidance Overview]
Oklahoma! Where the Wind of Prescription Drug Regs Comes Sweepin' Down the Plans
"[E]ffective November 1, 2021 ... plans must count amounts paid on behalf of an enrollee, such as by a manufacturer assistance program, as being paid by the enrollee for purposes of their deductible, coinsurance and out of pocket maximum ... [T]his law poses
significant challenges for High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs).... Oklahoma HB 1019, also effective November 1, 2021, sets cost sharing limits for insulin prescriptions under health plans.... [T]he plan itself is responsible for the difference between the consumer cost and price paid by the plan." MORE >>
HUB International
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[Guidance Overview]
What Employers Need to Know About Allegheny County's Paid Sick Leave Ordinance
"[A]ny employer with 26 or more employees that is situated or doing business in Allegheny County must provide employees with at least one hour of paid sick time for every 35 hours worked within Allegheny County.... By December 15, employers must post a sign notifying
employees of their rights to paid sick time under the ordinance.... [If] you are already complying with the City of Pittsburgh Paid Sick Leave Act, then you're also likely meeting the primary criteria for the Allegheny County ordinance.... Even if an employer's company is not based in Allegheny County, if employees work from home within the County, the County's ordinance applies to them." MORE >>
Dentons
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[Guidance Overview]
New York City Council Passes COVID Child Vaccination Leave Law
"When signed by Mayor de Blasio, the legislation will immediately become effective retroactive to November 2 ... The new amendment to the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act requires private employers to provide an employee with up to four hours of paid leave per injection
for the child's COVID vaccination." MORE >>
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP
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A New Year for Drug Pricing and Price Reporting: What's Happening Now and What's New for 2022
"Multiple best price value-based price reporting must wait.... Payor drug price transparency still happening.... Another pause on PBM and pass-through rebate reforms ... Uncertain fate of Medicare price negotiation and inflationary rebates ... The covered
entity-manufacturer 340B litigation continues." MORE >>
Ropes & Gray LLP
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Effects of the Drug Inflation Rebate Provision of the Build Back Better Act on Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Premiums (PDF)
"[Assuming that] the change in premiums equals the [projected] change in wages, premium reductions [would be] $3 billion in 2023 and $21 billion in 2031, and premiums would be $111 billion lower in total over that period.... [The authors] estimate premiums would
fall by 1.0 percent in 2026 and by 1.7 percent in 2031. The average annual reduction in premiums relative to baseline premiums would be 1.1 percent between 2022 and 2031." MORE >>
Urban Institute
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Americans Are Challenged by Health Care Costs
"Half of U.S. adults say they put off or skipped some sort of health care or dental care in the past year because of the cost. Three in ten (29%) also report not taking their medicines as prescribed at some point in the past year because of the cost.... Nearly half (46%) of
insured adults report difficulty affording their out-of-pocket costs, and one in four (27%) report difficulty affording their deductible." MORE >>
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
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Humana Sues Slate of Drugmakers, Alleges Anticompetitive Practices to Protect HIV Drug Monopoly
"Humana alleges the companies conspired to impede and delay competition for their HIV drugs, allowing Gilead to retain a monopoly for years past when generics should have been introduced in the market. That resulted in Humana (and other payers) shelling out more for HIV drugs
than they otherwise would have, with the payer alleging it has sustained and continues to sustain damages due to the overcharges." MORE >>
HealthcareDIVE
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Employer Pain Points Associated with Leave Management
"Since the pandemic and the resulting increase in remote work, a growing number of employers are newly minted 'multi-state' employers.... Employers need help understanding how these changes impact them and how they can find the path of least
resistance." MORE >>
Voya
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Florida Man Faces 100 Years in Prison for Health Insurance Scam
"While the vast majority of healthcare fraud cases in South Florida involve false claims filed with the federal insurance program, Medicare, a rising number of them entail fraudulent bills submitted to private insurers such as United and Blue Cross. For years, the region has been
recognized as the nation's capital of healthcare fraud." MORE >>
InsuranceNewsNet.com
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Benefits in General |
[Guidance Overview]
New Auditing Standard: SAS 136 Will Impact Employee Benefit Plan Audits
"The auditing standard requires new performance requirement for auditors and changes the audit opinion for employee benefit plan audits. The standard was issued to improve audit quality and also enhance the communicative value and transparency of the auditor's report. The
auditors will see new requirements as it relates to engagement acceptance, risk assessment, specific procedures related to ERISA plan audits, communicating reportable findings and a new opinion. Plan management can also expect to see expanded responsibilities as well." MORE >>
Meaden & Moore
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Employee Benefits Jobs |
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Press Releases |
HBL Makes Splash with Orange County, California Hire
Hall Benefits Law
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Upping the Game on Fitness and Wellbeing, Wellbeats Launches New Member Experience to Deliver a Fully Personalized Wellbeing Journey
Wellbeats
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Christopher H. Suh Listed Among Boston's Top Lawyers of 2021
Wagner Law Group P.C.
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OneDigital Acquires Ventris
OneDigital
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Cincinnati Businessman Ordered to Prison for Defrauding Workers of Retirement Benefits, Earning Contract with Falsified Documents
Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor
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Webcasts and Conferences (Health & Welfare Plans) |
2022 Tools & Tactics Webinar: Results of the 11th Annual Leave Management Survey
March 2, 2022 WEBCAST
Disability Management Employer Coalition [DMEC]
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Last Issue's Most Popular Items |
2020 FSA Runout Dates Extended Into 2022
HealthEquity
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Summary of 2022 Benefits-Related Cost-of-Living Adjustments (PDF)
Mercer
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Costs for Employer-Sponsored Health Plans Rose Sharply in 2021, Outlook for 2022 Is Uncertain
Mercer
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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.
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