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Pursuing Wellness: Steps Toward a Supportive Law Firm Culture (PDF)

"One year after the American Bar Association launched its seven-step pledge to improve mental health and well-being in the legal industry, this [article provides an update from one of] the law firms that were among the first to commit to the campaign.... Reed Smith's innovative Wellness Works included an intentional focus on addressing mental health and substance use issues as well as creating and sustaining a supportive workplace culture to help employees recognize and prioritize their personal well-being."

District Court Allows Pharmacy Claims that ESI Violated Arkansas PBM Law to Move Past Motion to Dismiss

"The court determined that ESI's claim that the Act applies only to consumer-oriented acts or practices is a requirement that does not appear in the statute, which was intended to govern the conduct of PBMs, pharmacies, and pharmacists. Additionally, the court found that ESI's interpretation of the statute would render the enforcement mechanism in the Act 'meaningless.' " [Lackie Drug Store, Inc. v. Express Scripts, Inc., No. 23-1669 (E.D. Mo. 2025)]

A Pharmacy Benefit Overhaul in California

"PBMs must move to a 'passthrough pricing model' under which the amounts paid by a plan or insurer for a covered drug are passed through in full to the dispensing pharmacy, inclusive of any contracted professional dispensing fee, without reconciliation offsets. Spread pricing is barred in contracts executed, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026; any preexisting spread-pricing authorizations cannot persist into future amendments or renewals, and such terms become void on and after January 1, 2029."

HHS Issues No Surprises Act FAQs in Response to Fifth Circuit Vacatur of Prior Panel Opinion

"Pending resolution of the Fifth Circuit's en banc review of the case, issuers and plans that are making a good faith effort to calculate their QPAs using the 2021 and 2023 methodologies should be safe from enforcement actions by the Federal agencies. However, once the Fifth Circuit issues its ruling, the QPA calculation methodology could drastically change and the plans and issuers should be ready for that eventuality."

New York City Expands Regs on Paid Prenatal Leave

"[T]hese city-level rules impose additional obligations on employers that exceed those required by New York State law and require immediate action by businesses in the Big Apple.... The new rules ... [require] that NYC employers: [1] Institute and distribute a written policy to employees ... [2] Notify employees of their outstanding prenatal leave balance in writing ... [3] Keep records of each instance of paid prenatal leave used[.]"

District Court Vacates 2024 HIPAA Reproductive Health Privacy Rule

"While the Reproductive Health Privacy Rule did not expressly require updates to BAAs, some HIPAA-regulated entities revised or amended agreements to address specific requirements related to reproductive health information. These BAAs may need to be revised yet again in light of the current state of the HIPAA Privacy Rule." [Purl v. HHS, No. 24-0228 (N.D. Tex. Jun. 18, 2025)]

Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

"[At] present, 27 states have enacted some form of restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors, many of which have been challenged, and those challenges are currently making their way through the court system. To the extent pending federal litigation hinges on whether these laws violate the Equal Protection Clause or states look to federal comparisons to inform interpretations of their own state constitutions, ... some state governments will argue that the Supreme Court has now resolved this question, though these cases may raise additional arguments that will allow them to survive Skrmetti." [U.S. v. Skrmetti, No. 23-477 (S.Ct. Jun. 18, 2025)]

District Court Vacates 2024 Reproductive Health Privacy Rule

"Judge Kacsmaryk concluded ... that HHS exceeded its statutory authority when issuing the Reproductive Health Privacy Rule for three interconnected reasons ... [The] order immediately resets the compliance landscape for HIPAA-regulated entities, removing the additional legal layers HHS imposed on the sharing of reproductive health information." [Purl v. HHS, No. 24-0228 (N.D. Tex. Jun. 18, 2025)]

Fifth Circuit Grants En Banc Rehearing in Challenge to QPA Calculation Rules

"[T]he Fifth Circuit ... granted a request from plaintiffs ... to vacate and conduct an en banc review of an appellate panel's decision to uphold the government's methodology for determining QPAs and, by extension, compensation for out-of-network providers. If the Fifth Circuit rules differently, MCOs could again be thrown into limbo regarding how to appropriately calculate QPA rates." [Texas Medical Association (TMA) v. HHS, No. 23-40605 (5th Cir. Oct. 30, 2024; petition for rehearing granted May 30, 2025)] 

HHS Release Adds Details on Prices Manufacturers Are Expected to Offer Under MFN Drug Pricing Executive Order

"The Order applies to branded products without generic or biosimilar competition (presumably meaning marketed equivalent products).... The countries whose prices will be used to determine the MFN price are those in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) having GDP per capita of at least 60 percent of U.S. GDP per capita ... The target prices that manufacturers will be asked to offer reflect current lowest prices in these countries, rather than prices somewhere between U.S. prices and those lowest prices in the other countries."