President Biden issued a Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency Concerning the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic on February 18, 2022. In this Notice, President Biden extended the National Emergency scheduled to end on March 1, 2022. The previous administration initially declared the National Emergency on March 13, 2020. The latest extension of the National Emergency is expected to last at Read More

Yale University and its employees asked a federal court to approve a $1.29 million settlement in a disability and genetic information bias lawsuit. The case is Lisa Kwesell et al. v. Yale University, case number 3:19-cv-10980, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Yale workers filed a proposed class action lawsuit in 2019, alleging that the university had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to review a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that upheld the legality of California’s automatic retirement savings program. The case is Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association et al. v. California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program et al., case number 21-558. California created CalSavers in 2012 and required California employers with five Read More

Costco Wholesale Corp. and plaintiff John G. Baja asked a Florida federal district court to approve their $750,000 settlement in a proposed class-action lawsuit, challenging the retail giant’s allegedly deficient COBRA notices. Baja claimed that the defective notices about Costco’s continuing health care options, upon the occurrence of qualifying events, deterred him and thousands of others from choosing the Read More

In Texas Med. Assoc. v. HHS, 2022 WL 542879 (E.D. Tex. 2022), the court upheld a challenge by health care providers to portions of the interim final regulations implementing the No Surprises Act. Congress passed the No Surprises Act in 2021 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, to apply to all plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. The regulations at issue are related to the independent dispute Read More

Kroger asked an Ohio federal court to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit in which workers claim that they paid excessive, unreasonable, and undisclosed annual record-keeping fees to participate in the employer’s retirement savings plan. According to Kroger, employees paid reasonable yearly fees in line with federal law and received annual fee disclosures stating the yearly expense ratios.  Kroger employee Read More

Johnson v. Ballad Health, 2022 WL 214488 (E.D. Tenn. 2022) Johnson's employer automatically enrolled her in an employer-paid long-term disability plan as a benefit of her employment. Johnson also opted to enroll in the plan's employee-paid "buy-up" benefit feature. The employer's summary plan description (SPD) described the employee-paid "buy-up" benefit as “additional coverage” of 60%, while the employee’s Read More

The Home Depot Inc. argued that a Georgia federal district court should dismiss the pending $140 million ERISA class action as per its summary judgment motion, as a better 401(k) plan with lower fees for its employees does not exist. The Home Depot 401(k) plan is the largest of its kind, holding about $9 billion in investments for hundreds of thousands in employees.  In response, plan participants argued that they Read More

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Act, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act and related guidance require group health plans and insurers to cover the costs of COVID-19 diagnostic testing without cost-sharing, prior authorization, or other medical management requirements. If plans do not negotiate a rate for the testing, they must pay for the testing at the cash rate Read More

The Department of Labor (DOL), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have released Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Process (FAQs). This new guidance relates to the No Surprises Act, which Congress enacted in 2021 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA). The three federal agencies issued Federal Read More