"[M]ost employers with one or more employees in Illinois must permit full-time employees to accrue and use a minimum of up to 40 hours of paid leave in a designated 12-month period for any reason. This amount is prorated for employees who work less than 40 hours a week.... Many employers may ... use their current policies to comply with the new law ... [S]ome employers exclude part-time employees from their current policies.... [T]hose employers may need to implement a separate paid leave policy to comply with Illinois law as of January 1, 2024."  MORE >>

"Until July 1, 2024, Chicago's existing paid sick leave ordinance will remain in effect. Chicago will remain excluded from compliance with the separate Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA), which goes into effect on January 1, 2024. The amendment also modifies other notable provisions of the Ordinance, including the definition of a Covered Employee."  MORE >>

"Although the court held that the 'default arbitrary-and-capricious review standard should remain' in cases raising substantial compliance issues, the court noted that it would withhold such deference when 'administrators fail to show a "valid exercise" of their discretion.' This aspect of the court's decision provides some insight on the division between the circuit courts concerning the appropriate standard of review and highlights the Tenth Circuit's perspective as compared with the Second Circuit's 'strict adherence' standard ... where that court allowed de novo review unless the plan establishes that non-compliance was 'inadvertent and harmless.' " [C. v. UnitedHealthcare Ins. Co., No. 22-4082 (10th Cir. Dec. 5, 2023)]  MORE >>

"A plaintiff proving that a request for or use of FMLA leave at least partly 'motivated' an employer's decision is no longer enough [in the Eleventh Circuit]. Now, a plaintiff must show that, but for the plaintiff's request for, or use of, FMLA leave, the company would not have taken an adverse employment action against them." [Lapham v. Walgreen Co., No. 21-10491 (11th Cir. Dec. 13, 2023)]  MORE >>

"Among the 10 most commonly used health services, 8 had ESI reimbursement that was more than double Medicare reimbursement. These included general laboratory tests, x-rays, and ultrasounds. Among the 10 services that that make up the most ESI spending, 5 had ESI reimbursement that was more than double Medicare reimbursement.... Total ESI outpatient spending would have been $76 billion lower in 2021 if outpatient services were reimbursed at average Medicare rates."  MORE >>

"Claims processing is complicated, and third-party administrators don't have a financial incentive to control costs.... [A]dministrators make errors on 1% to 3% of total claims processed.... The most common error category involves benefit determination.... The second most common error category involves miscalculating the contracted provider reimbursement arrangements.... To assess administrative performance, employers should consider conducting healthcare claim audits."  MORE >>

"Third quarter 2023 workplace life insurance new premium was $588 million, down 12%, compared with third quarter 2022. However, year-to-date (YTD) new premium remained 3% ahead of the sales in the same period a year ago ... Total workplace disability insurance new premium for the third quarter was $628 million, 6% higher than prior year results ... [S]upplemental health products ... totaled $501 million in the third quarter, up 5%."  MORE >>

"The actuaries' observation that health care spending growth has returned to prepandemic rates doesn't discuss which prepandemic rate.... Relative to the rate of growth that had persisted for decades, annual medical spending increases fell markedly sometime in the late 2000s and had remained low up to the pandemic. Is there evidence that this slower growth is returning, or will spending instead converge back to the long-run average?"  MORE >>

"A recent report found that health savings accounts (HSAs) can have a substantial impact on retirement income adequacy. The report found that the cumulative baseline deficit decreases by 6.2 percent to $3.44 trillion when status quo HSA utilization is considered."  MORE >>