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Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

December 9, 2022

3 New Job Opportunities 3 New Job Opportunities

 

[Guidance Overview]

Upcoming Deadline icon The Time Has Come for New Prescription Drug Reporting Mandate

"It is unclear whether the relevant departments intend to provide general relief for plans and issuers that make 'good-faith efforts' to comply with the new law, so while plans' third-party service providers will in most cases be preparing and submitting the information, plans are still ultimately responsible for the content of the report[.]"  MORE >>

Mayer Brown

[Guidance Overview]

Mobile Health App Interactive Tool

"Privacy and security are important considerations for any app -- and especially apps that collect and share consumers' health information. As you design, market, and distribute your mobile health app, ... this interactive tool [can] help you navigate laws and rules that may apply to you or your app.... This tool is for anyone developing a mobile app that will access, collect, share, use, or maintain information related to an individual consumer's health, such as information related to diagnosis, treatment, fitness, wellness, or addiction."  MORE >>

Federal Trade Commission [FTC]

[Guidance Overview]

Best Practices for Mobile Health App Developers

"Start with Security: A Guide for Business offers tips for any business wanting to implement sound data security. For health app developers, here's tailored advice and additional questions to ask. [1] Minimize data.... [2] Limit access and permissions.... [3] Keep authentication in mind.... [4] Consider the mobile ecosystem.... [5] Implement security by design.... [6] Don't reinvent the wheel.... [7] Innovate how you communicate with users.... [8] Don't forget about other applicable laws."  MORE >>

Federal Trade Commission [FTC]

Telemedicine and Its Relationship with Other Health Care Services, Enrollee Health, and Costs

"[P]atients who used telemedicine tended to spend more on both inpatient and outpatient services as well as prescription drugs. Patients who used telemedicine spent an average of $2,346 in 2020, compared with $1,310 for patients who did not use telemedicine."  MORE >>

Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI]

Senators Murray, Baldwin Introduce Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act

"The Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act [HR 8452] would set up a grant program, authorized at $350 million per year for FY23 through FY27 ... [T]he bill would allow the Treasury Secretary to award grants to eligible entities to pay for travel-related expenses and logistical support for individuals accessing abortion services. Funds ... could be used for round-trip travel, lodging, meals, childcare, translation services, doula care, and patient education and information services."  MORE >>

Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, U.S. Senate

More Legal Pressure on HHS to Modify No Surprises Act IDR Rule

"Pressure continues to mount on [HHS] to reconsider and revise its August 2022 final rule modifying the No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution (IDR) process.... Recently, the chairman and ranking member of the House Ways & Means Committee jointly issued a letter adding their concerns about the rule and encouraging the agency to implement the unambiguous statutory text."  MORE >>

Morgan Lewis

Implementing the Family Glitch Fix on ACA Marketplaces

"The Biden administration's new rule, effective for the 2023 plan year, gives dependents with an offer of unaffordable employer-based family coverage access to marketplace subsidies. But a successful family glitch fix will require marketplaces to implement new infrastructure, conduct significant outreach, and ensure consumers have sufficient enrollment assistance and ample time to sign up for more affordable coverage."  MORE >>

The Commonwealth Fund

Self-Funded Plans Sue Anthem, Alleging Overcharging and Other ERISA Violations

"Employers claim that the health care company, now known as Elevance Health, breached its fiduciary duties under ERISA because they were denied access to plan claims due to mismanagement of funds." [Trustees of International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 Connecticut Health Fund v. Elevance, Inc., No. 22-1541 (D. Conn. complaint filed Dec. 5, 2022)]  MORE >>

BenefitsPro; free registration required

Benefits in General

[Guidance Overview]

Comprehensive Summary of 2023 Benefit-Related Cost-of-Living Adjustments (PDF)

22 pages. "The IRS, [PBGC], Social Security Administration, and [CMS] have issued 2023 cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirement, health and fringe benefit plans; Medicare; and Social Security and Supplemental Security income (SSI). Puerto Rico's Treasury Department has not yet announced 2023 limits for retirement plans qualified in Puerto Rico, but those figures are tied to US lim"  MORE >>

Mercer

The Current State of Financial Wellbeing Programs (PDF)

"The 2022 EBRI Financial Wellbeing Employer Survey reveals that employers continue to expand their financial wellness programs. Rankings of current goals, success measures, and challenges are reviewed [in this infographic]."  MORE >>

Employee Benefit Research Institute [EBRI]

Health, Retirement Legislation in Limbo as Government Funding Talks Stall

"If Congress doesn't act, high-deductible plans wouldn't be able to cover telehealth visits before patients hit their deductibles after Dec. 31.... Less likely to make the cut are bills that would cap consumers' out-of-pocket costs for insulin in the commercial market, require employer plans to cover kidney dialysis benefits on par with benefits for other chronic medical conditions, and create new civil monetary penalties for mental health parity violations."  MORE >>

Mercer

Employee Benefits Jobs

View job as Retirement Plan Consultant
            for July Business Services

Retirement Plan Consultant

July Business Services

Remote

View job as Retirement Plan Consultant for July Business Services

View job as Retirement Plan Relationship Manager
            for ERISA Services, Inc.

Retirement Plan Relationship Manager

ERISA Services, Inc.

Remote

View job as Retirement Plan Relationship Manager for ERISA Services, Inc.

View job as Lead Compliance Analyst - Retirement Plans
            for Ameritas

Lead Compliance Analyst - Retirement Plans

Ameritas

Remote

View job as Lead Compliance Analyst - Retirement Plans for Ameritas

Press Releases

Pirrello Promoted to President, Publisher of Pensions and Investments

Crain Communications

Webcasts and Conferences
(Health & Welfare Plans)

Fiduciary Oversight in Light of Mental Health Access Challenges

December 16, 2022 WEBCAST

Leapfrog Group

Last Issue's Most Popular Items

Anticipating 2023 Employee Benefit Plan Compliance Issues

MZQ Consulting, LLC

CRS in Focus: Regulating Reproductive Health Services After Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

Congressional Research Service [CRS]

DOL Releases Informational Copies of 2022 Form 5500 Series Annual Return/Report

Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]

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BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, ISSN no. 1536-9587.

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