"Beginning with tax years starting after December 31, 2025, employers may choose between two methods for calculating the credit: a wages-paid method or a newly introduced premium-based method."  MORE >>

"Employers evaluating requests related to an employee’s illness or injury should start with [these] considerations in addition to reviewing other federal, state, and local leave and disability laws."  MORE >>

"The bill would add several new qualifying reasons for leave under ESSTA ... [and would] require employers of all sizes to provide employees with an additional 32 hours of unpaid sick and safe time beyond the paid (or unpaid) leave already available to them under ESSTA. This unpaid leave allotment ... would be immediately available to employees upon hire and at the start of each calendar year.... The bill has been sent to Mayor Eric Adams for consideration and, if enacted, would take effect 120 days after signing."  MORE >>

"The law will provide job protections and partial wage replacement for up to 12 weeks of leave due to serious illness and up to 12 weeks of leave for family care, child bonding, personal safety issues, and military active duty, for a maximum of 20 weeks of leave in a single benefit year.... [E]mployers must notify employees about Paid Leave coverage by December 1, 2025,"  MORE >>

"Access to pharmacy and medical claims data is among the most fundamental needs for evaluating a health plan's costs and the services its members may need. Unfortunately, many entrenched traditional vendors have put employer plan sponsors in a bind by making it difficult, if not nearly impossible, to obtain their data."  MORE >>

"Preventive screenings are one of the most effective tools for improving employee health and reducing long-term costs, yet they’re often underused. This guide explores how HR leaders can make preventive care more accessible through smarter benefits design, clear communication, and year-round education."  MORE >>

"California's AB 432 ... the Menopause Care Equity Act ... would require health plans covering outpatient prescription drugs to provide coverage for evaluation and treatment of perimenopause and menopause symptoms starting January 1, 2026.... [In] June 2025, Rhode Island became the first state to pass a law explicitly requiring workplace accommodations for menopause and related conditions."  MORE >>

"If the enhanced subsidies is reduced because Congress does not extend these enhancements, this will increase the cost of the underlying ACA Exchange plan for the employee/dependent.... This increased cost to the ACA plan could convince an employee/dependent to elect COBRA coverage, even though the employee/dependent is paying 102% of the premiums.... Another consideration here is that if the enhanced premium subsidies are not extended, then an employee or dependent with income above 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will no longer be eligible for a premium subsidy."  MORE >>

"Beginning in the 2023 coverage year, HealthCare.gov reintroduced standardized plan design options, which are labeled 'easy pricing'. These plans are intended to simplify and streamline plan comparison within each metal level (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum) and to potentially simplify the plan selection process in response to the high number of ACA marketplace plans available to people in some parts of the country"  MORE >>