The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a Texas federal district court’s vacatur of certain provisions of the No Surprises Act, finding that the provisions were neither arbitrary nor capricious. However, the Court affirmed the district court’s vacatur of a provision of the Act related to insurers’ deadlines. The case is Texas Medical Association et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Read More

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the imposition of a $240,000 civil penalty against Providence Medical Institute in southern California for violating the HIPAA security rule. OCR investigated the covered entity after it reported a series of ransomware attacks that compromised the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 85,000 Read More

LinkedIn, the world's largest professional networking social media site, faces three class action lawsuits brought under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). Individuals who made appointments through the websites of three healthcare companies brought suits, alleging that LinkedIn was violating the CIPA by accessing their private personal and healthcare information. They claim that LinkedIn installed its Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has reversed a Michigan federal district court’s April 2023 dismissal of a 401(k) plan mismanagement class action against Kellogg, finding that an arbitration provision in the plan didn’t preclude the claims. The case is Bradley Fleming v. Kellogg Co. et al., case number 23-1966, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Former Kellogg employee Bradley H. Read More

Employees of Campbell Soup. Co. have filed a class action lawsuit in a New Jersey federal district court, claiming that the company unlawfully charges smokers higher premiums for health insurance in violation of ERISA. According to the employees, tobacco surcharges are permissible under ERISA only if they are part of a wellness program meeting strict criteria. More specifically, the wellness program must promote Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Rev. Proc. 2024-40, which contains inflation-adjusted items for 2025 in over 60 provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. These changes will impact taxpayers filing tax returns in 2026. The following changes are of particular importance to plan sponsors and employers. Health Flexible Spending Cafeteria Plans RP 2024-40 increases the dollar limitation for Read More

The outcome of the current presidential race, along with control of both houses of Congress, will have a significant impact on many healthcare and employee benefits issues, at least for the next four years. These issues include the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare, Medicaid, prescription drug pricing, and transparency in healthcare costs, among other issues. No matter which political party controls the White Read More

Section 301(b) of Division T of the SECURE 2.0 Act added provisions to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to address the requirements of inadvertent overpayments and their treatment as eligible rollover distributions. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2024-77 on October 15, 2024, providing important guidance and clarification on treating inadvertent benefits overpayments. The Notice also contains guidance Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers administrative tax relief in various forms to victims living in areas that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the White House has declared a major disaster area. In August, the IRS extended relief to those affected by Tropical Storm Debby and in September to those affected by Hurricane Helene. An IRS announcement dated October 11, 2024, states that the agency Read More

A Florida federal district court has upheld an independent dispute resolution (IDR) award to an air ambulance provider under the No Surprises Act (NSA) that Congress enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The air ambulance provider transported a patient from the Dominican Republic to Florida. Thereafter, the provider sought reimbursement from a company licensed to cover travel health insurance Read More