The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently filed a reply brief in a lawsuit brought by insurance industry groups seeking to block new regulations that expand the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). In its brief, the DOL asked the Court to deny a motion for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the agency from implementing and enforcing the new regulations. The Read More

A Mississippi federal district court has issued a nationwide injunction and stay on some of the new federal regulations concerning Affordable Care Act (ACA) Section 1557, which prohibits discrimination in specified health programs and activities based on certain protected characteristics. The regulations include a new and expanded definition of sex discrimination. The case is Tennessee v. Becerra, 2024 WL Read More

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit panel appeared skeptical during oral arguments in which conservative states and Texas-based energy interests sought to reverse a district judge’s order upholding an environmental, governance, and social (ESG) rule in an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) case. The states also have asked the Fifth Circuit to remand the case and vacate the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Read More

On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in the case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 2024 WL 3208360 (U.S. 2024), which overturned its 1984 decision in Chevron USA Inc. v. National Resource Defense Council, 467 U.S. 387 (1984). In its decision, the high Court abandoned the so-called “Chevron Doctrine,” its 40-year-old precedent that required courts to defer to federal agencies’ Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that upheld a Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming care for minors and overturned a lower court injunction that had prevented the law from going into effect. The Sixth Circuit decision also addressed a similar ban under Kentucky law, but the high Court did not accept a petition to review the Kentucky law. Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled in favor of Christian-owned businesses and individuals who sued over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) preventive care mandates. The appellate Court agreed with the district court that the federal task force that recommended mandated preventive care services was unconstitutional. However, the Fifth Circuit lifted the district court’s nationwide injunction Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2024-55, which concerns exceptions to the 10% additional tax under section 72(t) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). These exceptions include emergency personal expenses and domestic abuse victim distributions from qualified retirement plans. Section 72(t)(1) imposes an additional 10% tax on a distribution from qualified retirement plans unless the Read More

A federal district court has rejected a bid by healthcare providers to enforce independent dispute resolution (IDR) awards against an insurer under the No Surprises Act (NSA). The case is Guardian Flight LLC v. Health Care Serv. Corp., 2024 WL 2786913 (N.D. Tex. 2024). Guardian Flight LLC, an air ambulance service provider, sued an insurer after it refused to pay a certified IDR entity’s award for disputed Read More

A California federal district court judge has dismissed a novel proposed class action suit against HP involving the company’s alleged misuse of 401(k) funds forfeited by former workers. The judge reasoned that nothing in federal benefits law compelled HP to use the funds for plan expenses rather than to reduce its employer contributions. The case is Hutchins v. HP Inc. et al., case number 5:23-cv-05875, U.S. District Read More

Five pharmacy industry groups have filed an amicus brief supporting the Oklahoma insurance commissioner’s petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court concerning a recent Tenth Circuit decision. That ruling partially invalidated a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The case is Glen Mulready et al. v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, case number 23-1213, U.S. Supreme Read More