Jul. 12, 2022. "You are receiving this Form 1095-C because your employer is an Applicable Large Employer subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions in the [ACA]. This Form 1095-C includes information about the health insurance coverage offered to you by your employer. Form 1095-C, Part II, includes information about the coverage, if any, your employer offered to you and your spouse and dependent(s)." [Also available: Draft 2022 IRS Form 1094-C: Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns (Jul. 12, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Both the Wage and Hour Division of the [DOL], which enforces the [FMLA], and the [EEOC], which enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act ... have signaled, since the start of the pandemic, their interest in enforcing compliance ... [E]mployers are well-advised to understand their legal obligations to employees when it comes to mental health."  MORE >>

"The HHS guidance outlines the types of non-healthcare disclosures of PHI that are permitted without an individual's authorization. The guidance also describes how the Privacy Rule applies to such disclosures in the context of PHI that contains abortion and other sexual and reproductive healthcare information. For each such disclosure, HHS emphasizes that covered entities are permitted, but not required, to disclose the PHI."  MORE >>

"[E]mployers can count the amount of unused sick leave that is carried over to a subsequent year toward the employee's entitlement to accrue sick leave hours in the subsequent year.... INFO #6B also clarifies the amount of Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL) that employees are entitled to in Colorado. [A]ny accrued but unused sick leave in an employee's sick leave bank when a PHEL request is made may be counted toward the 80-hour entitlement as a 'credit.' "  MORE >>

"Accepting the dependent's argument, the court concluded that -- for parity analysis purposes -- skilled nursing facilities were the medical/surgical analog to residential treatment centers for MH/SUD conditions. Next, the court noted that there was no evidence that the administrator would deny benefits in a skilled nursing facility (on the medical/surgical side) merely because the care occurred in a wilderness setting. According to the court, this tended to support the dependent's argument that the administrator had created a wilderness treatment exclusion that applied only to behavioral health programs -- in violation of MHPAEA." [Jonathan Z. v. Oxford Health Plans, No. 18-383 (D. Utah July 7, 2022)]  MORE >>

"The CalPERS Board of Administration [on July 12] approved health plan premiums for calendar year 2023, at an overall premium increase of 6.75%.... Members enrolled in CalPERS' Basic (non-Medicare) Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans will see an average premium increase of 4.35%. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Basic plan members will see an overall increase of 15.76%."  MORE >>

"[H]ealth costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum care average a total of $18,865 and the average out-of-pocket payments total $2,854 for women enrolled in large group plans. [The authors[ also examine how pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum health spending among large group enrollees varies by the type of delivery[.]"  MORE >>

"As they seek to support their staff, self-insured employers are turning to innovative programs to balance evidence based programs with the need to manage healthcare costs."  MORE >>

"A recent LIMRA and EY joint study ... predicts nonmedical and nontraditional workplace benefits will grow 20% by 2026 due to heightened competition for workers and greater employee expectations.... Six in 10 employers believe employees will have greater influence over their company's benefit decisions in the next five years. According to the research, three-quarters of employers plan to modify their benefits packages in response to shifting employee demographics."  MORE >>