70 pages; Mar. 3, 2023. "Section 204 requires group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage to submit information about prescription drugs and health care spending to [HHS], [DOL], and the Department of the Treasury.... The RxDC report also collects information on total spending on health care services, including health care premium, enrollment, and spending broken down by hospital costs, provider and clinical service costs for primary and specialty care (separately), and other medical costs, including wellness services.... The deadline for the 2022 reference year report is June 1, 2023."  MORE >>

"The end of the [national emergency (NE)] and the [public health emergency (PHE)] will require modifications to group health plans' and health insurance issuers' MHPAEA testing as it relates to financial requirements and quantitative treatment limits. The NE and the PHE also affect the design and operation of some employee assistance plans (EAPs). The NE and the PHE allowed plan sponsors to expand coverage under excepted benefit EAPs in certain respects without risking their status as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-excepted benefits."  MORE >>

"These Sec. 213 FAQs clarify what medical services and products qualify for deduction or reimbursement. Overall, a physician's prescription or recommendation for a particular medical service or product will be a significant factor in determining whether an employee may deduct or reimburse an expense using tax savings accounts. The same applies to medical services or products treating a physician-diagnosed disease."  MORE >>

"While the [Memorandum GC 23-05] answered some questions, it raised many more.... [T]here are several, practical steps that an employer can take now. [1] Review confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions in severance agreements to ensure that they are narrowly-tailored to protect the employer's business needs.... [2] Include a severability clause in severance agreements. [3] Consider adding a 'savings' clause to severance agreements."  MORE >>

"Employers covered by the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance must submit their Annual Reporting Form to the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) on or before May 1, 2023. Covered Employers should also be aware that effective January 1, 2023, OLSE released a new poster to be posted in all workplaces with Covered Employees (and to be distributed to remote Covered Employees), as well as issued new 2023 required Health Care Expenditure rates."  MORE >>

"The Ninth Circuit ... viewed the plaintiffs' framing of the class remedy as 'reprocessing' as an end run around the commonality requirement of Rule 23, because 'reprocessing' is 'the means to the remedy that [the plaintiffs] seek,' not the remedy itself.... Wit reflects the increasing potency of the predominance requirement of Rule 23 for defendants: highlighting how the plaintiffs' requested remedy will actually play out in reality can be a compelling tool in dismantling plaintiffs' fiction of class remedy." [Wit v. United Behav. Health, No. 20-17363 (9th Cir. Jan. 26, 2023; petition for rehearing filed Mar. 10, 2023)]  MORE >>

"Ohio on Monday filed a lawsuit accusing Cigna Group (CI.N), Humana Inc (HUM.N) and others of colluding to drive up prescription drug prices by charging exorbitant fees for pharmacy benefit management services. The lawsuit ... comes amid growing scrutiny by state and federal regulators of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) like Cigna's Express Scripts unit, which is named as a defendant." [Yost v. Ascent Health Serv. Inc. Express Scripts, Inc. and Cigna Group, No. 23 CV H 03 0179 (Del. Cty. Ohio complaint filed Mar. 27, 2023)]  MORE >>

"Employers are projecting a 5.4% average increase in health benefit costs per employee in 2023 ... Per-employee health benefit costs topped $15,000 in 2022, with smaller employers -- those with fewer than 500 employees -- spending more per capita than large employer ... [E]mployees' satisfaction with their overall benefits fell to 61% in 2023, down from 64% in 2022. The 2023 satisfaction level is the lowest point in the past decade."  MORE >>

"Generally, employer-provided surrogacy/gestational carrier benefits are taxable to the employee. They are not typically provided through the employer's group health plan but rather through a written policy outside of the group health plan. Certain state laws may limit or prohibit surrogacy/gestation carrier contracts."  MORE >>

"Although privately run Medicare and Medicaid plans are still highly regulated and funded by the government, the commercialization has complicated efforts to rein in medical spending and unleashed fierce partisan fights like the ongoing one over Medicare Advantage."  MORE >>

"Victims of severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes in Mississippi from March 24, 2023, to March 25, 2023, now have until July 31, 2023, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.... [I]ndividuals and households affected by severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes that reside or have a business in Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe, and Sharkey counties qualify for tax relief."  MORE >>