Seyfarth Synopsis: As employers consider the rising costs of coverage of semaglutide drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy in their health plans, a recent class action complaint alleging obesity-related discrimination could be a sign of things to come for more legal challenges. As the use of such drugs explodes in popularity across the country, insurers
Seyfarth Synopsis: Access to reproductive health care has been a part of the national debate for years, and even more so since 2022 when the US Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs overturning decades of precedent established under Roe v. Wade. As a result, the topic has become a focal point in the Presidential election with the two main candidates having seemingly very different platforms and catering to their constituencies who have strongly held beliefs and values on the issue. This aspect has been well covered in the media. However, employers also have a vested interest in how the federal and state laws and jurisprudence evolve in this area, which is largely dependent on which party wins the White House and down ticket races this November.
Under Dobbs, the Supreme Court dismantled the federal Constitutional protections around abortion access specifically (and arguably reproductive health care more generally), and in light of the absence of specific federal legislation regarding the right to an abortion, gave the decision on access to each of the states. This triggered fairly immediate action in many of the state legislatures and mobilized citizen initiatives around the country. Continue Reading Reproductive Health Care: A Future in Flux with the Next Administration
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”) offers significant relief for employers sponsoring flexible spending accounts. After much clamoring from the employer community, the IRS finally issued clarifying guidance in the form of Notice 2021-15 (the “Notice”). Check out our full Legal Update for details.
COVID-19 vaccines are finally here! Employers have a lot to think about in how this new tool in the fight against COVID-19 applies in the workplace, and whether it should be a mandatory aspect of employment. Check out the labor and employment considerations about the extent to which an employer should implement a vaccine policy,
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 11, the IRS, DOL and HHS issued a series of FAQs clarifying the scope of the FFCRA/CARES Act mandates relating to COVID-19 testing for group health plans and health insurance issuers. This post highlights the key takeaways from those FAQs.
As highlighted in our earlier blog post, it was only
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 27, 2020, the House of Representatives followed the Senate’s lead in voting overwhelmingly to pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The President signed the legislation into law shortly thereafter. This blog post highlights the health and welfare benefit provisions contained in the law. Click here to review
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 19, Senator McConnell introduced the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. While the Act largely focuses on economic relief for businesses and individuals, it did contain certain provision impacting benefit plans (for more on the potential impact for retirement plans, click here). Notably, the CARES Act replicates and
On Monday, March 23, at 1:00 p.m. Central, Seyfarth partners Diane Dygert, Benjamin Conley, Jennifer Kraft, Kaley Ventura, Jake Downing, and Christina Cerasale are presenting a 1 hour CLE webinar, “Employee Benefits in a Time of COVID-19.”
Keep up with the latest developments and rapidly changing laws and regulations relating to COVID-19 and your benefit
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate voted 90-8 to approve HR 6201 without changes. The law generally takes effect no later than 15 days after HR 6201 is signed (expected soon) and would sunset on December 31, 2020.
In somewhat of a surprise move, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to adopt HR 6201 (described here
Seyfarth Synopsis: Late Monday night, the House passed a technical corrections package to HR 6201. While most of the changes related to the Bill’s paid sick leave, unemployment insurance and tax credits provisions (click here for a summary of those changes), there was one small change to the health insurance section: The package clarified that