"Changes to [HIPAA] will require stakeholders across the health care industry to update their internal policies and procedures -- and in some cases their business associate agreements -- relating to the use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for specific purposes connected to reproductive health. The compliance date for implementing these new requirements under the HIPAA Final Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy is December 23, 2024. Notices of Privacy Practices (NPPs) must also be revised, and that compliance date is February 16, 2026."  MORE >>

"A new rule, which took effect this week, expands the scope of the HBNR, as the FTC ramps up enforcement activity related to disclosures of identifiable health data, and other agencies implement changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Part 2, and Information Blocking rules regulating similar data."  MORE >>

18 pages. "Two states -- Kentucky and South Carolina -- added paid family leave as an optional form of insurance coverage. Idaho and Kentucky passed significant pharmacy benefit manager laws, which may impact self-funded ERISA plans. Prior authorization continued to be a focus in 2024; new Colorado, Oklahoma and Vermont laws restricted the practice for fully insured plans. Alabama will make a childcare tax credit available to employers over the next three years. Mississippi approved a plan to establish a state-based health insurance marketplace."  MORE >>

"Effective August 1, 2024, the state Parenting and Parental Leave Act is amended to make clear that a person taking such leave must remain covered by their employer's health plan while on the leave and that this leave must not be reduced by any period of paid or unpaid leave taken for prenatal care medical appointments"  MORE >>

"As cited in Judge Guirola's decision, the preamble to the May 2024 Final Rule states that HHS 'determined it is not necessary to define "sex" in this rule,' presumably because it believed its interpretation of the underlying statute's meaning was the end of the matter; however, as the plaintiffs noted -- and the court repeated -- the underlying statutory language ... [does] not expressly include gender identity as a protected category." [Texas v. Becerra, No. 24-0211 (E.D. Tex. July 3, 2024); Tennessee v. Becerra, No. 24-0161 (S.D. Miss. July 3, 2024)]  MORE >>

"In its ruling, the Eleventh Circuit wrote that the facts of this case were quite narrow as to whether FMLA provides 'an expectant parent who is neither pregnant nor married to a pregnant spouse with pre-birth leave,' to which the court affirmed the requested leave did not fall under FMLA protection." [Tanner v. Stryker Corp. of Michigan, No. 22-14188 (11th Cir. Jun. 20, 2024)]  MORE >>

"The core of the Minnesota lawsuit revolves around claims that Wells Fargo's health plan pays inflated prices to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).... One striking example cited in the lawsuit involves the cancer medication bexarotene. Wells Fargo's health plan allegedly paid over $69,000 for a tube of bexarotene, which could be purchased for as little as $3,750 at other pharmacies." [Navarro v. Wells Fargo & Co., No. 24-3043 (D. Minn. complaint filed Jul. 30, 2024)]  MORE >>

"The mean prices emerging from IDR were higher than the mean in-network prices paid before the NSA -- and to a greater degree than in the first half of 2023.... Insurers' offers were, on average, slightly above the qualifying payment amount (QPA), the median of the insurer's contracted rates for the relevant service in 2019, adjusted for inflation. Providers submitted much higher offers, on average, and prevailed at least four-fifths of the time."  MORE >>

"[T]he Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) announced its intention to require PFML private plans to furnish data for the period from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The submission form opened online on July 1, 2024, and the deadline for submission is August 31, 2024."  MORE >>

"[I]ndividuals and businesses in Kentucky that were affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, landslides, and mudslides that began on May 21, 2024 ... now have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.... [I]ndividuals and households that reside or have a business in Adair, Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Crittenden, Cumberland, Edmonson, Estill, Fulton, Garrard, Graves, Grayson, Green, Greenup, Hart, Hickman, Hopkins, Jackson, Knox, Larue, Laurel, Lee, Leslie, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McCreary, McLean, Meade, Menifee, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Owsley, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Russell, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Whitley, and Woodford counties qualify for tax relief."  MORE >>

"To the extent DOL conceived in its Fiduciary Rule 4.0 that it was appointed by Congress in ERISA to be a universal financial services regulator ... for example, or the Federal Trade Commission conceived in its non-compete rule that Congress had authorized it to displace state law on that issue, the early returns from the courts hearing challenges to those regulations are pointing in the direction of a greater check on agency power." [Loper Bright Enterprises, Inc. v. Raimondo, Sec. of Comm., No. 22-451 (S. Ct. Jun. 28, 2024)]  MORE >>

"these rulings could affect how stakeholders view the significant rulemaking activities undertaken affecting coverage, including the annual notice of benefit and payment parameters ... The recent Supreme Court decisions are also expected to significantly impact retirement plan operations and administration, particularly in terms of compliance, investment strategies, and participant outcomes." [SEC v. Jarkesy, No. 22-859 (S. Ct. Jun. 27, 2024); Loper Bright Enterprises, Inc. v. Raimondo, Sec. of Comm., No. 22-451 (S. Ct. Jun. 28, 2024); Corner Post v. Bd. of Gov. of the Federal Reserve System, No. 22-1008 (S. Ct. Jul. 1, 2024)]  MORE >>