"The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 restores the exception for telehealth and other remote services, but only for the period from April 1 through December 31, 2022. This means that if a plan's year started at any time from January 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022, and the plan did not impose the minimum deductible for telehealth or other remote services from the start of the plan year through March 31, 2022, the plan would not be a high-deductible health plan for that period. Consequently, participants covered by the plan would be ineligible to make or receive HSA contributions for that period."  MORE >>

"Recently enacted legislation has restricted surprise medical billing for health plan participants who receive services at out-of-network (OON) health provider facilities in emergency contexts. The legislation also restricts surprise medical billing for services provided by health providers at in-network facilities and includes protections involving air ambulance services. Effective beginning in 2022, the legislation imposes significant compliance requirements for group health plans and insurers."  MORE >>

"The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) rules require most employer-based group health plans and health insurance issuers to disclose up front their cost-sharing information, including deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance amounts, to individuals. The effective dates of these transparency rules will be phased in over the next three years."  MORE >>

14 pages; First Quarter 2022. "Paid Family Leave (PFL) legislation has grown in popularity, and states continue to propose, fund, and launch their own programs. Each jurisdiction's plan eases employees' financial burden when they need to take time from work to act as a caregiver, but the pressure is on for employers to keep on top of the rapidly changing landscape of laws. Every jurisdiction has adopted plans that vary in terms of length of leave, amount of payment, and funding mechanism."  MORE >>

"[U]sing plan assets to help defray the cost of ACA Reporting would violate the exclusive benefit rule.... Plan fiduciaries who fail to adequately review service providers before making selections risk paying fees that may not be considered to defray reasonable plan expenses.... Plan fiduciaries can also run afoul of this rule when ineligible individuals are allowed to knowingly participate in the plan."  MORE >>

Article includes summaries of 5 bills pending in Congress, 7 in Wisconsin, and one in Illinois.  MORE >>

"Though the pandemic greatly accelerated the use of telehealth, use of pure-play virtual care has waned as COVID-19 cases drop off across the U.S. But telehealth is increasingly being woven into hospitals' digital roadmaps, and some are even upping their investments in the modality despite moderating visits ... That's giving hope to proponents of hybrid care models, who point to the value of meeting patients where they are to lower costs and improve outcomes."  MORE >>

"While PEOs respond to long-standing challenges faced by smaller employers and have the potential to increase access to workplace benefits, this Article argues that they also introduce new and significant governance concerns that are not adequately addressed by the existing regulatory framework."  MORE >>

"Although some circuits have not taken a position on this issue, as it currently stands, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Second and Seventh Circuits allow a fiduciary to seek contribution and indemnification from co-fiduciaries under ERISA, while the Eighth and Ninth Circuits do not. [This alert examines one] case and provides key considerations for ERISA fiduciaries in its aftermath." [First Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co. v. Giorgio Armani Corp., Nos. 20-55314, 20-55581 (9th Cir. Jul. 9, 2021; cert. pet. denied Feb. 22, 2022)]  MORE >>