The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed the decision of a trial court finding that the third-party administrator (TPA) of a self-insured multiemployer health plan was not an ERISA fiduciary. The case is Mass. Laborers’ Health and Welfare Fund v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mass., 2023 WL 3069637 (1st Cir. 2023). Based on its administrative activities, the plan argued that the TPA was an ERISA Read More
NLRB Issues Advice Memo Designating Workplace Discussions of Racism as Protected Activity
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently issued an advice memo confirming its earlier position that workplace discussions about racism are protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). As a result, employers cannot fire, discipline, or take any adverse employment action against employees who publicly raise concerns about racism in the workplace. Section 7 of the NLRA broadly Read More
End of COVID-19 National Emergency Impacts Extended Claims and Appeals Deadlines Under Various Employee Benefit Plans
During the COVID-19 national emergency, the claims and appeals deadlines for various employee benefit plans were extended by disregarding the COVID-19 “outbreak period,” which ends 60 days after the national emergency ends unless federal agencies announce another end date. As of April 10, 2023, the COVID-19 national emergency has ended, putting the outbreak period end date on June 10, 2023. However, the U.S. Read More
Determining Employee Eligibility for Leave Under the FMLA
Employers often misunderstand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regarding when an employee is eligible to take leave. Contrary to what many employers may think, not all employees are automatically entitled to leave time under the FMLA. Only about 50% of U.S. employees have FMLA coverage. Therefore, it is critical to understand what employees are covered under FMLA and when they are eligible to take Read More
Study Finds 2020 No Surprises Act is Working
A 2023 Urban Institutes research report concludes that the 2020 No Surprises Act (NSA) has achieved the goal Congress expressed in passing the legislation: price transparency in medical billing to protect consumers. Researchers creating the report interviewed 32 regulators and stakeholders representing hospitals, payors, billing companies, and consumers. They also analyzed relevant data to measure the effectiveness Read More
HSAs & LSAs: What’s Important to Employers and Employees?
In a recent ALM Benefits Pro article, Lindsay Barnard and Duke Janssen, two Alegeus executives, discussed the disconnect between what employers and employees find most important regarding health savings accounts (HSAs) and lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs). Alegeus is a leading provider of SaaS-based benefit funding and payment solutions. Health Savings Accounts Barnard, who leads product management for HSAs Read More
Pew Research Center Finds Gender Pay Gap Has Barely Budged in Past 20 Years
The Pew Research Center has released a new analysis of the gender pay gap. This analysis reveals that as of 2022, women earned, on average, 82% of what men earned. These results are astonishingly similar to the same pay gap analysis in 2002, when women earned, on average, 80% of what men earned. The takeaway from these figures is that in the past two decades, the gender pay gap has barely decreased and seemingly Read More
Secure 2.0 Offer Employers Improved Employee Financial Wellness Opportunities
Secure 2.0, which Congress passed last year, contains a wide range of retirement provisions that benefit various parties. For example, employees may benefit from this legislation if employers utilize its provisions to provide new financial wellness programs, such as emergency savings accounts and Starter K plans. Emergency Savings Accounts An emergency savings account is fundamental to any financial wellness Read More
How HIPAA Fails: Insurance Companies Acquiring and Using PHI
The purpose of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule was to protect the medical records and protected health information (PHI) of individuals. As a result, insurance companies provide extremely sparse data to employers with less than 250 employees, in the form of large claims data at the end of the year. Insurance companies provide this limited data to prevent HIPAA violations Read More
Employers Await Changes to the Overtime Rule
According to the DOL's most recent regulatory agenda, employers expect to learn the specifics of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed changes to the overtime rule in May 2023. The reasons for delays in releasing the proposed rule are unclear, although some speculate that it is due to anticipated changes in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The delays also may be a function of more pressing matters on the Read More
