"The MTCA will apply to all employers with a single employee in the state. Only employers with 15 or more employees are required to contribute, as are employees.... Generally, eligible employees may receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a 12-month period."  MORE >>

"Health plans and [PBMs] that manage drug costs ... say specialty drugs now account for 50% or greater of the total prescription spending they manage ... [H]ealth plans say they are working closely with their clients, including employers, to carve out options for them to cover not only ongoing prescription needs but gene therapies that will be increasingly prescribed in the future[.]"  MORE >>

"Employee benefits are no longer just table stakes; they're a differentiator. This gives employers an opportunity to put their benefits in the spotlight during benefits enrollment season.... [D]ata trends suggest employers lean into three key themes: [1] provide security, [2] give choice, and [3] make it easy."  MORE >>

"[DOL Secretary Marty Walsh and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra] met with industry leaders in a constructive dialogue, with commitments from attendees to continue to engage on these critical issues. They also raised the importance of contraceptive coverage and the need to do more to ensure women and families get this essential care."  MORE >>

"If the high court overturns the landmark 1973 decision, large employers that operate self-funded health plans ... could add provisions for beneficiaries in states that restrict the procedure to travel to other states to get abortion services.... Employers that provide travel expenses for abortion could run afoul of state laws ... Employers that don't offer self-funded plans need to be aware of changes in state abortion laws because their health plans are covered by state insurance laws rather than ERISA."  MORE >>

"Assembly Bill (AB) 1949 reintroduces the idea of mandatory bereavement leave and expands the allowance from the 2020 proposal. AB 1949 would make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by an eligible employee to take up to 5 days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member, including a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law."  MORE >>

Video of May 5, 2022 hearing. "Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have been described as 'the black box' in the market for prescription drugs. How PBMs operate, and the lack of transparency about how they operate, have contributed to higher drug prices for consumers. This hearing will examine steps Congress can take to increase transparency in drug prices, require PBMs to operate fairly, and ensure the Federal Trade Commission has the authority it needs to stop unfair practices in the prescription drug market."  MORE >>

"PBMs play an oversized role in federal health care programs as large corporate middlemen. The United States is the only country in the world that utilizes PBMs, and drug prices in this country remain exponentially higher compared to other countries. PBMs determine which pharmacies patients may choose by creating provider networks, determine which drugs patients can be prescribed by creating drug formularies, and determine how much patients pay at the pharmacy counter for their medications. Because of their anticompetitive practices and our nation's ever-increasing drug costs, greater scrutiny over PBM business tactics is imperative."  MORE >>

"While the court stopped short of deciding whether Section 502(a)(2) claims could ever fall within the scope of an arbitration clause in an individual employment agreement, it held that plaintiffs' claims did not fall within the arbitration clauses here. The court reasoned that because such claims 'belong' to the Plan, they cannot be forced into arbitration based on agreements that bind only individual participants.... [T]he court found that, in this case, the agreements established only plaintiffs' consent to arbitration, but not the plan's." [Hawkins v. Cintas Corp., No. 21-3156 (6th Cir. Apr. 27, 2022)]  MORE >>