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: The IRS recently published two notices which describe the tax treatment of amounts paid for condoms and expand the list of preventive care benefits permitted to be provided by a high deductible health plan (HDHP) without payment of a deductible.
Notice 2024-71 – This notice provides that amounts paid for condoms will be
Seyfarth Synopsis: Recently HHS issued a memorandum announcing the maximum annual limitation on cost sharing (a/k/a out-of-pocket maximum) for 2026 and the IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2024-40 announcing the cost-of-living adjustments to certain welfare and fringe benefit plan limits for 2025.
2026 Out-of-Pocket Maximum
On October 8, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services
Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 9, 2024, the Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) released highly anticipated Final Rules under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Instead of providing the guidance hoped for by stakeholders, the new rules may leave employers wondering if they should continue to
On Monday, September 9, 2024, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued their final rule regarding the nonquantitative treatment limitation (NQTL) comparative analysis required under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). (These acronyms roll right off the tongue, don’t they?) The Departments note that final rules
Seyfarth Synopsis: The IRS has announced increases to key limits for certain health and welfare benefit programs, including HSA contributions for 2025.
The IRS recently released 2025 cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for certain employer-sponsored health and welfare plans in Rev. Proc. 2024-25.
The changes in the 2025 cost-of-living adjustments for employer-sponsored health
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following years of back and forth, new final rules were published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 6, 2024 reinstituting the Department’s interpretation that the prohibition on discrimination by health programs and activities “on the basis of sex” includes treatments for gender-affirming care. In this post, we explore
This post was originally published to Seyfarth’s Global Privacy Watch blog.
Seyfarth Synopsis: This past Monday, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its final rule aimed at strengthening the HIPAA Privacy rules as they are applied to reproductive health data.
On the heels of the release of the 2022 US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Biden Administration directed the Federal agencies to examine what they could do to protect women’s health and privacy. Shortly thereafter, HHS released guidance under HIPAA related to reproductive health care services under a health plan, focusing on information required to be disclosed by law, for law enforcement purposes, and to avert a serious threat to health or safety (see our earlier Alert here). Then, in April 2023, HHS issued proposed modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule aimed at these concerns. A year later, the agency finalized those rules on April 22, 2024 – the Final Rule.Continue Reading HHS Strengthens HIPAA Rules to Protect Reproductive Health Privacy
Seyfarth Synopsis: The agencies have finalized a portion of their proposed rules impacting so-called “junk insurance” regarding short-term limited-duration insurance, but deferred finalizing the more significant changes that would have impacted most fixed indemnity policies.
In early April 2024, the Treasury Department, Department of Labor, and Health and Human Services (the “agencies”) issued final rules regarding short-term limited-duration insurance (STLDI). Avid readers of this blog may recall our earlier post on the proposed rules, found here, which impacted STLDI as well as other issues surrounding excepted benefits. The new final rules primarily address the STLDI portion of the proposed rules, and generally adopt them as proposed. Aside from a new notice requirement, the agencies delayed finalizing the rules on fixed indemnity insurance, but warned that the delay should not be an endorsement of the abusive practices that have emerged in this space.Continue Reading Agencies Defer Final Action on Junk Insurance, While Suggesting Caution Against One Last “Binge”
Over the last year, there has been an onslaught of state legislation enacting limits on gender-affirming care for minors. Access to gender-affirming care has become a flashpoint at the forefront of the culture wars, with state legislation largely following party lines. While diagnoses of gender dysphoria for minors aged 6-17 have steady increased, with one