Ever since the Affordable Care Act was enacted, critics of the law have said that employers would cut staff or reduce workers' hours to avoid coming under the employer mandate requiring them to provide coverage for their staff. But employers that decided to go that...
The newly enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 contains a number of provisions that will affect group health plans, with most changes aimed at helping insured workers with flexible spending accounts (FSAs), cost transparency and surprise billing. Some of the...
There are new Summary of Benefits and Coverage notice requirements for health plans starting with the 2021 coverage year. The requirements, released by the Department of Labor, have new model templates, new instructions and new information that affects the coverage...
As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and many Americans see unmet needs outside of their health insurance, more and more workers are increasingly signing up for the voluntary benefits their employers offer. While many workers in the past had skipped on voluntary...
The $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, passed by Congress and signed into law on Dec. 27, includes a number of provisions that affect employers and their workers in terms of paid sick leave and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act provisions. The legislation also...
With the COVID-19 pandemic weighing on employers and employees alike, businesses can help their staff by leveraging health savings accounts to pay for out-of-pocket expenses. Congress in 2020 untethered HSAs and flexible spending accounts by changing the rules that...
Part of the COVID-19 relief package that Congress passed in late December includes a notable provision that bans surprise medical bills when out-of-network doctors work on insureds at in-network hospitals. This so-called “balance billing” occurs when an out-of-network...
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted businesses and other organizations in multiple ways. Lost revenue and the overnight change to remote workforces, among other things, have caused significant changes to operations and finances. A new report shows that there will be...
The Trump administration has issued new interim final rules that set out accelerated coverage requirements for COVID-19 preventative services and covering out-of-network testing for the coronavirus. There are two parts to the interim final rules: One requires...
The Trump Administration has issued a new rule that will require greater price transparency on the part of health insurers, including the rates charged by in-network physicians and copays and costs of drugs. The final rule requires health plans and health insurers to...