"Given the short timeframe between now and the looming reporting due date, employers should work with their insurance carriers, TPAs, PBMs, and other service providers to ensure prescription drug reporting is accurately handled and timely submitted. If local circumstances require that the employer directly report certain information on its own plan's behalf, the employer should familiarize itself with the reporting instructions released by CMS[.]"  MORE >>

"This request gives providers and facilities an opportunity to help the government craft reasonable regulations for one of the No Surprises Act's most labor-intensive requirements.... Already providers and facilities have found issuing [good faith estimates (GFEs)] for self-pay and uninsured individuals to be a significant undertaking.... Creating systems to also issue GFEs for covered patients and securely exchange the data with payers is a Herculean task."  MORE >>

"Plan sponsors shared their thoughts on the primary reason contributing to a rise in health care costs, including ... [1] Catastrophic claims -- 19%; [2] Utilization due to chronic health conditions -- 15%; [3] Utilization due to delayed preventive/elective care during the pandemic -- 12%; [4] Medical provider costs -- 11%; [5] Specialty/costly prescription drugs -- 7%."  MORE >>

"[E]mployers with operations in the states situated in the Fourth Circuit ... may want to note that allowing employees to use alternate methods of providing notice may open the door to subsequent assertions in civil actions based on FMLA interference claims that an 'informal practice or course of dealing' has been accepted in addition to official company attendance and leave procedures." [Roberts v. Gestamp West Virginia, LLC, No. 20-2202 (4th Cir. Aug. 15, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Judge Carl Nichols said in a brief order on Monday that he would deny the government's request to stop the deal, and ordered the companies to go forward with an asset sale that they had proposed." [U.S. v. UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Change Healthcare Inc., No. 22-0481 (D.D.C. Sep. 19, 2022)]  MORE >>

"Amazon has been pursuing the healthcare industry since 2018 but has so far failed to break through. The firm's purchase of One Medical may signify primary care facilities and employer clients as the next steps in Big Tech's infiltration of healthcare, while also highlighting the challenges that led to the termination of Amazon Care."  MORE >>

"The updated interpretative bulletin [IB 2022-01] lets plan administrators hire a qualified public accountant who held the plan sponsor's publicly traded securities during the plan year covered by the audit if the accountant divests those securities before starting the engagement. The updated guidance ... takes effect immediately."  MORE >>

"Benefits centered around life insurance, disability insurance, health and retirement aren't taking up the spotlight to the same extent they used to.... [Employees are] now just as focused on those benefits that have an immediate effect on the quality of their lives.... [W]ellness, mental health and the associated well-being applications are now the ideal ... [E]mployees and their families are looking to employers to make sure they're provided for and protected. So, a sound retirement plan that also reflects the values and culture of the company is high on the list of desirables."  MORE >>

"In its current form, the Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act would allow retirement savers to withdraw up to $2,500 in retirement plan assets each year to cover the cost of long-term care insurance premiums without paying the otherwise applicable early withdrawal penalties.... [ThinkAdvisor] asked two professors and authors of ALM's Tax Facts with opposing political viewpoints to share their opinions about the narrow provision allowing penalty-free withdrawals to cover long-term care insurance."  MORE >>