"Certain coverage mandates apply for only the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency, while certain ERISA deadline relief applies only during the COVID-19 outbreak period. This LawFlash provides an overview of these two similar -- but not identical -- legal COVID-19 emergency periods, as well as practical guidance for plan sponsors and administrators anticipating the announced end of the special COVID-19 rules."  MORE >>

"On Tuesday, July 19, 2022, the Michigan Court of Claims determined that the Michigan Legislature violated the Michigan Constitution when it adopted and then amended two ballot petition initiatives in 2018.... The laws as amended by the Legislature were quite different from the original ballot initiatives in a number of ways."  MORE >>

"Bloomington became the fourth Minnesota city to pass a citywide Earned Sick and Safe Leave ordinance, requiring all private employers with one or more employees to provide eligible employees with safe and sick leave. The ordinance becomes effective on July 1, 2023."  MORE >>

"The Opinion concludes that the statutory language effectively limits a part-time employee's right to accrue vacation and sick leave and ultimately requires that the employee meet the minimum 20-hours-worked requirement every week of a given month in order to accrue vacation and sick leave during said month."  MORE >>

"The line between fiduciary and nonfiduciary actions is sometimes unclear, but employers step into a danger zone when assisting employees with enrollment. This court was obviously troubled by the administrative mistakes that deprived the surviving spouse of substantial insurance benefits. Employers should ensure that staff performing enrollment functions are thoroughly familiar with the terms and conditions of coverage." [Gimeno v. NCHMD, Inc., No. 21-11833 (11th Cir. Jun. 28, 2022)]  MORE >>

"On July 20, 2022, HHS-OIG published a new Special Fraud Alert on arrangements with telemedicine companies, setting forth seven characteristics OIG believes could suggest a given arrangement poses a heightened risk of fraud and abuse. The Alert follows dozens of civil and criminal investigations into fraud schemes involving companies that claimed to provide telehealth, telemedicine, or telemarketing services, but allegedly engaged in kickbacks and substandard medical practices to generate medically unnecessary orders and prescriptions."  MORE >>

"3% of workers who have already joined the Great Resignation left because they didn't like their benefits, so employers need to reframe their mindsets around offering the right healthcare benefits to get employees to stick around.... [1] Accept that health care is viewed as an entitlement, not a benefit.... [2] Understand which benefits employees really want.... [3] Embrace the advantages of cross-border telemedicine.... [4] Expand beyond classic healthcare benefits."  MORE >>

"Like health FSAs, HSAs can provide tax-free reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses for medical care as defined in Code Section 213(d). But HSAs also can reimburse certain expenses that health FSAs cannot.... HSAs cannot limit the types of expenses that are reimbursable on either a taxable or tax-free basis because they are individual trusts to which account holders must have unrestricted access, subject only to reasonable restrictions on the frequency or minimum amounts of distributions."  MORE >>

"Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are offered by 90% of employers, 86% of employers provide mental health coverage, and 67% cover substance use disorder benefits. Other common offerings include access to mental health mobile apps (41%) and educational/informational sessions hosted at the workplace (40%). In the past two years, an overwhelming 73% of responding organizations have increased their communication emphasis on mental and behavioral health offerings[.]"  MORE >>

"92 percent of prescription drugs in the United States are distributed through wholesalers, with three -- AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson Corporation -- accounting for more than 90 percent of wholesale drug distribution in the United States.... In 2016, wholesalers reportedly retained $18 billion in revenue, or about 4 percent of retained revenue across the U.S. pharmaceutical sector."  MORE >>