"Group health plan sponsors and health insurance issuers are required to submit an annual prescription drug data collection report to [CMS], detailing certain prescription drug benefits and other health care spending data respective of the group health plans they sponsor. [For] the 2023 calendar year reporting cycle, these informational disclosures must be provided to CMS on or before Saturday, June 1, 2024."  MORE >>

"This is the third season of RxDC reporting, which is due annually each year by June 1 ... Employers will typically be responsible for collecting and providing to their reporting vendor certain information referred to as the 'P2' plan information and 'D1' average monthly premium information. This year, CMS has simplified the D1 average monthly premium calculation."  MORE >>

"[B]ased on the examples given by HHS in the Bulletin, if the tracking technologies are accessing information regarding an individual seeking health care services (e.g., looking at oncology services to seek treatment options, scheduling an appointment, or using a symptom tracker tool even without entering credentials), that tracking technology has access to PHI. This would mean the HIPAA regulated entity needs a business associate agreement with the third party or a HIPAA compliant authorization for the sharing."  MORE >>

"The former employees filed a class action lawsuit against the employer, claiming that in its COBRA notice, the employer attempted to intimidate them into not electing COBRA coverage by warning them that submitting incomplete information could result in civil and criminal penalties. The notice allegedly also referred to a $50 IRS penalty for each failure to provide a correct tax identification number for a covered individual." [Blessinger v. Wells Fargo & Co., No. 22-1029 (M.D. Fla. Dec.5, 2023)]  MORE >>

"ERISA is turning 50 this year and lawmakers are curious to hear about how the law could be updated to increase coverage affordability and care access. Payers and providers, it turns out, have very different ideas on where Congress should focus its efforts."  MORE >>

33 pages; employee benefits items begin on page 4.  MORE >>

"[P]articipants and beneficiaries are not entitled to any and all plan-related documents; rather, they are generally entitled to those documents that inform participants and beneficiaries about their eligibility for and entitlement to benefits under an ERISA-covered benefit plan. Employers should review such requests closely to fully understand the parameters of the request and determine exactly what documents may be responsive." [Zavislak v. Netflix, Inc., No. 21-1811 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2024)]  MORE >>

"[T]he court ruled that the administrative services agreements related 'only to the manner in which the plan is operated,' as they govern the relationships between Netflix and its service providers, and not the relationship with plan participants, and therefore did not need to be disclosed." [Zavislak v. Netflix, Inc., No. 21-1811 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2024)]  MORE >>

"401(k) contributions: severance doesn't Count, but post-termination payments could ... Make sure to read, and maybe follow, any employment or other contract ... Watch out for 409A ... COBRA & other post-termination welfare [benefits]: be careful with your promises."  MORE >>