16 pages. "High cost and increasing demand for GLP-1s for weight management has many employers considering cost-containment measures for coverage in their employer-sponsored group health plans. Popular measures include strict preauthorization requirements, contemporaneous weight management program participation and other utilization management techniques, cost-sharing adjustments, prescription drug plan steering, and coverage exclusions. This GRIST reviews general compliance considerations for each approach and presents additional considerations."  MORE >>

"No-deductible telehealth coverage now permanent for high deductible health plans (HDHPs) ... Direct primary care arrangements will not make participants ineligible for HSA contributions ... Direct primary care arrangements will be eligible for HSA reimbursement ... Bronze and catastrophic plans available through the health exchange marketplace will be considered HSA eligible HDHPs beginning January 1, 2026."  MORE >>

"[F]or plan years beginning in 2026, the affordability percentage for employer mandate purposes is indexed to 9.96%. This is a significant increase from 2025.... The IRS has also released Rev. Proc. 2025-26, which contains the indexed amounts used to calculate employer shared responsibility payments (ESRP) for 2026."  MORE >>

"[This article] explore[s] an array of financial services laws and regulations that may apply to many ICHRA vendor activities ... Money Services Business (MSB), money transmission ... Anti-money laundering, know your customer, customer identification program ... Payment rules ... Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) ... Lender status ... Increasing expectations from banks for BSA/AML requirements."  MORE >>

"Although it is legally permissible to require employees who want health coverage to pay their share of the premiums on a pre-tax basis, this design may create hardships for your employees ... [P]articipating in the cafeteria plan could restrict their ability to make midyear election changes, decrease their Social Security benefits, and adversely affect benefits under programs that do not treat salary reductions as compensation for benefit calculation purposes."  MORE >>

64 pages. "As of July 2025, 18 states ... along with Washington, DC, have comprehensive laws that mandate paid sick and safe leave (PSSL). A Missouri law, enacted in July 2025, repealed the state's PSSL mandate, effective Aug. 28. Three states ... have laws requiring accrued paid time off that employees can use for any reason. Puerto Rico requires employers to provide both paid vacation and paid sick leave. Now more than ever, the number of laws mandating accrued paid leave creates a compliance imperative for employers, especially those with workplaces in multiple states."  MORE >>

"Under the original EPL statute, employees could accrue up to 40 hours of paid leave annually. However, any unused hours carried over from the prior year would reduce the amount of leave the employee could accrue in the current year because the original statute included a 40-hour overall accrual cap. The amendment increases the maximum overall accrual cap to 80 hours, but the annual accrual and usage limits remain unchanged at 40 hours per year."  MORE >>

"[T]he Act now applies to private employers in Nebraska with 11 or more employees.... The Amendment adds several exceptions to the definition of employee.... [B]usinesses with 11 to 19 employees are still required to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave annually. Businesses with 20 or more employees are required to provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave annually."  MORE >>

"The Ninth Circuit agreed with the district court that the plan's denial was insufficient to meet the regulatory standards of the [DOL], observing that the plan had failed to identify a particular plan provision upon which the denial was based.... The Ninth Circuit also found that the plan's 'denials were conclusory, twice using non-committal phrases such as 'may be' without any further explanation.' " [Solis v. T-Mobile US, Inc., No. 24-2412 (9th Cir. July 15, 2025; unpub.)  MORE >>

"[The Court] enjoined the provision mandating the inclusion of specific contract terms between PBMs and third-party payors, finding it interferes with fiduciary discretion under ERISA.... The provision requiring all beneficiary payments to count toward a participant's deductible was enjoined. The Court held this mandate directly regulates cost-sharing structures, a core element of ERISA plan design ... [T]he court's detailed and methodical opinion ... offers a robust framework for evaluating the intersection of state PBM laws with federal ERISA and First Amendment protections, and may serve as a persuasive guidepost for other courts reviewing similar legislation across the country. " [Iowa Assoc. of Bus. and Ind. v. Ommen, No. 25-0211 (S.D. Iowa Jul. 21, 2025)]  MORE >>

"Hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents will see their premiums increase by 7% to 12% next year. The Division of Insurance approved 2026 rates for six insurers in the merged market, which provides a subset of Bay Staters with health insurance through individual and small business plans."  MORE >>

"Mercer projects the 2026 limits for qualified transportation (parking and transit) benefits and health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) will increase from 2025 levels. These unofficial 2026 limits are determined using the Internal Revenue Code (IRC)'s cost-of-living adjustment methods, the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) values through June and Mercer's projected C-CPI-U for July and August."  MORE >>

"While many of these changes only become effective in 2026, proactive employers should begin planning now to address these changes, communicating these changes to employees and modifying plan documents and pay practices to accommodate these changes.... [A table] summarizes the key compensation and benefits provisions of the OBBBA and provides practical guidance to employers for implementing the OBBBA's mandates."  MORE >>

"What [employers] need to do [1] Determine which changes apply to your employee benefit plan and when they need to be implemented.... [2] Review employee and board of directors communications that discuss affected items ... [3] Consider plan document amendments or written plan requirements and whether policy changes are needed.... [4] Have conversations both internally (i.e., with payroll, accounting) and externally (i.e., with nondiscrimination testing providers, third-party administrators) to discuss administrative practices that these changes may affect."  MORE >>