"Employers should carefully review and prepare for 2022 compliance modifications and new requirements ... In particular, the IRS may start more aggressively pursuing ACA penalties and taxes against employers if the good faith transitional relief for ACA reporting requirements is officially removed. Additionally, plans should prepare for DOL audits involving NQTL and other requirements under the MHPAEA."  MORE >>

"CMS has issued a memorandum immediately withdrawing guidance documents that refer to invalidated portions of the rule ... This means that until further regulations are issued, other cases are decided or the judgment of the Texas district court is reversed on appeal, the NSA's statutory provisions will govern this key aspect of the IDR process. The government has not yet said whether it intends to appeal." [Texas Medical Assoc. v. HHS, No. 21-0425 (E.D. Tex. Feb. 23, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Starting on July 1, these maximums will increase to: 12 workweeks of parental leave; 12 workweeks of family leave; 12 workweeks of medical leave; and 2 workweeks of pre-natal leave. Once these new maximums take effect, there will be an overall cap of 12 weeks of Universal Paid Leave Act leave available to each eligible D.C. employee per year."  MORE >>

"The Philadelphia City Council recently passed a third iteration of the Public Health Emergency Leave law that will guarantee up to forty hours of paid sick leave for Philadelphia employees to recover from COVID-19 or avoid exposing others, to care for a family member with COVID-19 or who exhibits symptoms that might jeopardize the health of others, to care for a child whose school or place of care has closed due to COVID-19, or to take time off to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot."  MORE >>

"If your organization has decided to prioritize mental health but pricey, benefit-rich insurance plans are out of the question, voluntary benefits might be just what the doctor ordered.... As an employer, you can choose how much of these benefits you'd like to subsidize, allowing you more control of the budget.... [N]early 70% of workers in a recent survey found supplemental benefits as important as traditional health insurance and retirement benefits."  MORE >>

"Integrating this discount card pricing into the shopping experience lets eligible customers compare their co-pay or discount price upfront and then apply purchases for eligible medications to the out-of-pocket maximums and deductibles associated with their insurance plan[.]"  MORE >>