The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced an investigation into the nation’s six largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The targeted PBMs include CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, OptumRx, Humana, Prime Therapeutics, and MedImpact Healthcare Systems. PBMs are associated with the largest health insurance companies and mail-order and specialty pharmacies. These highly influential entities in the U.S. Read More

During a recent congressional hearing, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Marty Walsh addressed the DOL's approach to misclassifying workers as independent contractors and employees' freedom to join unions. Walsh appeared before the House Committee on Education and Labor to discuss the DOL's request for a $118 million budget increase to reach a total budget of $303 million for FFY 2023. Much of the increased Read More

President Biden has issued an Executive Order on Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit states from restricting or banning abortion. Biden’s order instructs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Read More

The Biden administration plans to introduce various rules before the end of 2022 that will impact ERISA-regulated benefits plans. Meanwhile, Congress is working to smooth out differences between the Senate and House on a broad retirement policy omnibus bill.  Secure 2.0 The House passed H.R. 2954 in March, which it dubbed "Secure 2.0," as a continuation of the original Secure Act passed in 2019. The overall aim Read More

The Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury have issued a joint letter reminding health plan sponsors and insurers of their obligations to comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions concerning contraceptive coverage. In their letter, the federal agencies note reports of widespread and continuing noncompliance with the ACA mandate and outline actions that plan Read More

The Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act ("the Act") was recently introduced in, both, the Senate and House. This employee benefits bill would create major changes in how ERISA benefit claims currently are adjudicated. Although it remains a draft bill, benefits plan sponsors and fiduciaries should remain aware of this bill and any progress it makes through Congress in the future.  In Firestone Tire and Read More

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, which prohibits abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions. A federal trial court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had found the Act to be unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court’s rulings in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) and Planned Read More

A federal judge in Texas found that the NFL player retirement plan violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when it denied Michael Cloud, a former running back and Super Bowl Champion, placement in a higher benefits classification. The case is Cloud v. The Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, case number 3:20-cv-01277, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The Read More

On May 19, 2022, the IRS issued Notice 2022-28, which provides special tax relief for employers that set up leave-based donation programs to aid victims of the further Russian invasion of Ukraine. Leave-based donation programs involve employees who give up their vacation, sick, or personal leave time in exchange for their employers giving cash donations to a chosen charitable cause.  The typical concerns about Read More

In the unanimous opinion titled Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., No. 21-328 (May 23, 2022), the U.S. Supreme Court refused to send an overtime claim to arbitration when Sundance, Inc., failed to ask the court to compel arbitration until eight months after the lawsuit was filed. The high Court also rejected a finding by the lower courts that there could be no waiver of arbitration unless the plaintiff could show prejudice in Read More