Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK), secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), appeared at a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing to review the current administration’s healthcare policy priorities. Although much of the hearing focused on RFK’s efforts to alter medical research priorities and vaccination policies, discussion on PBM reforms also occurred. More specifically, RFK stated that the Read More

Under recent settlements, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is requiring Vanguard Advisors and Empower Advisory Group and Financial Services to pay more than $25 million in fines and disgorgement. The move comes after allegations that they failed to properly disclose compensation for advisors enrolling clients in their managed account programs. The sums include $19.5 million in fines for Vanguard Read More

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a federal district court has ruled that a health plan excluding coverage for certain gender-affirming surgeries for some minors violated Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The court’s ruling, in large part, rests on the health plan’s coverage of mastectomies and breast reductions for minor males with gynecomastia, but not transgender Read More

Colgate-Palmolive and its retirees are asking a federal court to approve a $332 million settlement in a class action lawsuit concerning the payout amounts of the former workers’ pensions. The settlement in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case will bring the almost decade-long suit to a close. The case is McCutcheon et al. v. Colgate-Palmolive Co. et al., Case Number 1:16-cv-04170, U.S. District Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) recently used its regulatory update to announce several new rules, including a new fee disclosure rule concerning pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Characterized as a “high-priority” action for EBSA, the PBM fee disclosure rule would focus on direct and indirect compensation to further an executive order promoting drug price Read More

A federal judge has approved a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement between Blue Cross and Blue Shield carriers (“the Blues”) and healthcare providers. The settlement resolves the plaintiff healthcare providers’ claims that the Blues conspired to decrease provider payments. The final settlement, which the parties reached in October 2024, allows for about $657 million in attorneys’ fees and $102 million in litigation Read More

According to data from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), which has 31,000 member employers, a 10% increase in healthcare costs is forecasted for next year. These figures have risen from the 8% increase that surveyed employers anticipated in 2025. Catastrophic claims, costly specialty and prescription drugs, including GLP-1 injectable weight-loss medications and cancer drugs, and Read More

Attorneys for a former Genentech worker recently argued a district court’s dismissal of a proposed class action before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The former worker alleged that the biotechnology company retained imprudent investment options in its 401(k) plan for several years in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). They also claimed that the Read More