Legal and practical healthcare information.
With two COVID-19 vaccines set to receive federal approval in the United States in the upcoming weeks, the next question is whether employers can make employees receive the vaccine. The short answer is…yes. And while the typical lawyer answer to any question is “it depends,” that concise “yes” does come with a few caveats. So, …
Continue reading “Can Employers Make Employees Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?”
On June 19, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released its final rule[i] (the “Final Rule”) revising its enforcement of Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”).[ii] In this rule, HHS reversed many of the requirements of the prior rule issued in 2016 (the “2016 Rule”).[iii] For example, the Final Rule …
Continue reading “Summary of Key Changes to Rules Implementing ACA Nondiscrimination Provisions”
A high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) is not permitted to pay for medical expenses until the plan’s deductible has been satisfied, with the exception of medical expenses incurred for preventive care. Preventive care did not generally include expenses for any service or benefit intended to treat an existing illness, injury or condition. In a welcome …
Earlier this month, on March 5, 2019, the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California filed a 106-page Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in the class action Wit v. United Behavioral Health (“UBH”). Here are the highlights: Under ERISA, Plaintiffs asserted two claims against UBH based on UBH’s Level of Care …
Continue reading “Court Rules UBH Coverage Guidelines a Monumental Fixer-Upper”
March and April will be critical months for employers who sponsor ERISA-governed employee benefit plans that provide benefits subject to the disability claim procedures. Any claims filed after April 1, 2018 will be subject to a new final rule issued by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) in December of 2016. Plans subject to these rules …
By: Kimberly J. Ruppel Member, Troy Office Phone: 248.433.7291 kruppel@dickinsonwright.com Advocate Health Care Network et al v. Stapleton et al, 581 U.S. __ (2017) In one of the recent opinions rendered by the United States Supreme Court, it was found that pension plans maintained by religiously affiliated pension plan committees were exempt from certain provisions …
Federal lawmakers need to focus on what’s driving health care costs in America that in turn contributes to the rising cost of health coverage. That’s according to a group of health care industry executives who gathered for a recent roundtable conversation organized by MiBiz. They also said that health care needs more cost transparency and …
Sure, you’ve been feeling well (except for those few holiday pounds that you’re working on). Sure, you’ve been taking the stairs, well, mostly. But, are your employment policies keeping up with your fitness regimen? Are your first-line managers trained in the latest policy pitfalls? Sometimes, handbook or training “makeover” resolutions suffer the same fate as …
Continue reading “Is it Time to Give Your Employee Handbook a Check-Up?”
By: Rose Willis Recently the Wall Street Journal stated the New England Journal of Medicine published an op-ed by President Obama in which he critiqued the Republicans’ strategy to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and then replace it at a future date. Obama stated, “This approach of ‘repeal first and replace later’ is, simply put, …
By Wendy Hulton & Kim Ruppel In April 2013, Glens Falls Hospital admitted that the medical records for more than 2,300 of its patients were stored for several months on an unprotected computer server. The hospital’s outside records contractor, Portal Healthcare Solutions LLC (“Portal”), confirmed that it stored thousands of notes from doctors on the …