President Trump has been in the news promoting his promise to take steps to protect conscience and religious liberty of individuals and health care entities. He signed an executive order to this effect in May 2017, and 2017 the Department of Justice directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement religious freedom laws. Recently, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a final Read More

In a recent blog, we discussed the court’s ruling regarding Association Health Plans (AHPs). In the month following the court’s ruling on AHPs, the Department of Labor (DOL) decided to appeal the court’s decision and filed a notice of intent to appeal the March ruling that they exceeded their statutory authority based on ERISA. The court also found that the DOL rule that defines “employer” to include associations of Read More

Since regulations and laws change regularly, the IRS keeps an Operational Compliance List (OCL) plan administrators can use to ensure the benefit plans they’re responsible for overseeing are in compliance with the latest rules. Recently, they released the changes that will be in effect this calendar year, which include the following important items:   Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, Sections 41113 and 41114 Read More

COBRA, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, as amended, generally gives employees who are leaving a company that has 20 or more employees the right to continue their health benefits for themselves and their dependents for a period after their departure. A recent court decision, Morehouse v. Steak ‘n Shake, Inc. out of the Southern District of Ohio, highlighted the importance of having a clear Read More

A recent, comprehensive court ruling in the Southern District of New York upheld an anti-assignment clause in a health plan. The court made a point of addressing each of the arguments advanced in Medical Society of the State of New York vs. UnitedHealth Group, (SDNY, March 28, 2019) to ensure clear precedent was set for future cases. While this isn’t the first court to rule in favor of the health plan on this issue, Read More