"Failure to timely file annual report Form 5500 subjects a plan sponsor to a penalty of $2,586 per day, starting on the date of the failure.... EBSA offers ... the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program for late filers that voluntarily submit tardy Forms 5500. Penalty amounts under the program are significantly reduced to as little as $10 per day, but the filing under the amnesty program must be initiated by the late filer, not by federal enforcement."  MORE >>

"The 2023 CAA telehealth relief is optional. Employers may, but do not have to, provide telehealth and other remote care services on a pre-deductible basis. However, employers that choose not to provide telehealth on a pre-deductible basis still must comply with FFCRA which ... requires group health plans to cover ... certain COVID-19 diagnostic tests and related services provided during telehealth visits until the end of the Public Health Emergency."  MORE >>

65 pages. "[This report] provides a table with abbreviated summaries of each health provision in P.L. 117-169. Following the table, the report provides a detailed summary of each provision. Appendix A contains commonly used prescription drug and health insurance terms referenced throughout the report. Appendix B includes a table with a list of the abbreviations used in this report." [R47396 Jan. 24, 2023]  MORE >>

"[A table outlines] updates to the state-mandated STD and PFML rates and model posters/notices available at the time of this article."  MORE >>

"New York's Department of Health (DOH) has posted the 2023 regional covered-lives assessment (CLA) rates and percentage surcharges for graduate medical education (GME) under the state's Health Care Reform Act (HCRA). The HCRA imposes on 'electing' health claim payors -- including self-funded plans -- an annual CLA, which is based on the number of covered individuals (and families) who live in New York.... The GME CLA rates and percentage surcharges vary among eight regions, and the applicable rate depends on where the covered individual resides or receives in-state hospital care."  MORE >>

"[T]he court rejected Standard's argument that applying the 2018 regulations to Mr. Zall's claim would violate general principles disfavoring retroactivity ... [T]hese rules disfavoring retroactivity apply only to substantive rules, and changes in procedural rules do not raise concerns about retroactivity. The court concluded that the 'Claims procedure' regulations at issue were 'purely procedural' and could therefore be applied to disputes arising before their enactment." [Zall v. Standard Ins. Co., No. 22-1096 (7th Cir. Jan. 19, 2023)]  MORE >>

"Plan sponsors are required to disclose to [CMS] whether their prescription drug coverage is creditable. The disclosure must be made to CMS on an annual basis or upon any change that affects whether the coverage is creditable.... The deadlines for all plan years beginning in 2023 are set forth in [a] table. For plan sponsors with calendar year plans, the deadline to comply with the annual disclosure requirement is March 1, 2023."  MORE >>

"[F]rom April 15 to September 30, 2022, 90,078 disputes were submitted to the Federal IDR portal. The Departments originally estimated that 17,333 claims would be submitted as part of the Federal IDR process each year.... Some 71,513 disputes involved emergency services, which accounts for 82% of all disputes initiated for emergency or non-emergency services in this period. And over half of these disputes (70,071 disputes) involved services provided in a hospital emergency room."  MORE >>

"In this economic evaluation of 162 million non-Medicare eligible enrollees with employer-sponsored health insurance in 2018, 2.3 million had an SUD diagnosis. The annual attributable medical expenditure was $15 640 per affected enrollee and $35.3 billion in the population; alcohol-related disorders ($10.2 billion) and opioid-related disorders ($7.3 billion) were the most costly."  MORE >>

"This paper analyzes the impact of paid family leave (PFL) policies in California, New Jersey, and New York on the labor market and mental health outcomes of individuals whose spouses or children experience health shocks.... PFL access leads to a 7.0 percentage point decline in the likelihood that the (healthy) wives of individuals with medical conditions or limitations who experience a hospitalization or surgery report 'leaving a job to care for home or family' in the post-health-shock rounds."  MORE >>

"Victims of severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides beginning December 27, 2022, now have until May 15, 2023, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments ... [I]ndividuals and households affected by severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides that reside or have a business in Calaveras, Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz counties qualify for tax relief."  MORE >>