"Senate Bill 848 ... requires employers with 5 or more employees to provide reproductive-related loss leave of absence. This leave allows employees to take up to 5 days of leave following a reproductive loss event. This law went into effect on January 1, 2024."  MORE >>

"Medical trend was favorable in 2022 primarily because there were fewer claims related to COVID-19 ... Treatment of mental health ... was still a major cost driver in 2022, increasing at more than twice the rate of general medical trend.... [By] 2022, cancer trend was almost four times higher than general medical trend.... Double-digit prescription drug trend in 2022 was mainly attributable to high utilization of [GLP-1] drugs used to treat diabetes and for weight loss."  MORE >>

Video of Jan. 11 hearing, including testimony by [1] Michele Beehler, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories; [2] Laura Josh, California Schools VEBA; [3] Andrea Ducas, Center for American Progress; and [4] Dr. Christopher Whaley, RAND Corporation.  MORE >>

"The lawsuit ... claims that Express Scripts used its dominant market position to push rival PBMs to impose excessive back-end fees on pharmacies and then share the revenue with Express Scripts." [Osterhaus Pharmacy, Inc. v. Express Scripts Inc., No. 24-0039 (W.D. Wash. complaint filed Jan. 9, 2024)]  MORE >>

"While glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists (GLP-1) have been identified as an effective weight-loss drug, they should only be part of the solution.... Employers should take a longitudinal approach, shifting the focus from the one-off, high-cost weight-loss solutions to a sustained, affordable, comprehensive health and care strategy."  MORE >>

"[I]nstead of addressing the need to improve employers' and employees' access to essential coverage, Congress is contemplating policies that could severely disrupt small businesses' ability to offer reasonably priced health care benefits to employees. The proposed policies would eliminate market-based incentives for pharmacy benefit companies ... Research ... revealed that such 'delinking' policies would likely cost patients and payers billions of dollars annually and drive up premiums in the Medicare Part D program alone by $4 billion to $13 billion."  MORE >>

"[T]he final regulations' higher penalty amounts apply for penalties assessed after January 15, 2024, whose associated violations occurred after November 2, 2015.... [A] table reflects the DOL's 2024 annual inflation adjustments to the civil money penalties for violations of certain requirements under ERISA, effective January 15, 2024."  MORE >>

Rev. Jan. 2024. "This fact sheet provides general information on how to determine if a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the FLSA.... What Is the Economic Reality Test? ... Economic Reality Test Factors: [1] Opportunity for profit or loss depending on managerial skill.... [2] Investments by the worker and the employer.... [3] Degree of permanence of the work relationship.... [4] Nature and degree of control.... [5] Extent to which the work performed is an integral part of the employer's business.... [6] Skill and initiative."  MORE >>

"[T]he rule fails to provide a realistic solution for the frequent scenario where workers who desire to be independent contractors choose themselves to be 'economically dependent' on work made available to them by one company, such as an ongoing business relationship between a vendor and its customer. As such, the rule is likely to create more uncertainty for companies that utilize legitimate independent contractor relationships to carry out their business functions."  MORE >>

"[1] GLP-1 drug coverage decisions ... [2] More financial health offerings ... [3] Pay increases will meet or exceed inflation ... [4] Mental health focus ... [5] Controlling health care costs ... [6] More pay transparency ... [7] Pensions may make a comeback."  MORE >>

"As plans face potential vulnerabilities and threats, their strategies around data protection will vary based on factors such as size, scope and unique risks at play, but here are nine myths and misconceptions surrounding cybersecurity that every plan stakeholder should be aware of to ensure a more accurate understanding of a plan's risk posture."  MORE >>