This is a supplement to our January 16, 2022 post on the new requirements related to health plans providing free over-the-counter COVID tests. Last Friday (February 4), the DOL issued additional guidance on this topic, which confirms that a direct to consumer shipping program is required (if a health plan wants to be able to…

Last week, on January 24, the United States Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University (“Hughes”), unanimously holding that retirement plan fiduciaries have a duty to continuously monitor retirement plan investment options and to remove all imprudent ones.  In its opinion, the Supreme Court made it clear that if there are…

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was enacted on March 18, 2020, and generally requires group health plans to provide benefits for certain items and services related to COVID-19 testing when those items or services are furnished on or after March 18, 2020 and during the applicable emergency period.  Plans must provide this coverage…

Ten years ago, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a final regulation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), which required retirement plan service providers to disclose information about the service provider’s compensation and potential conflicts of interest. Under that regulation, covered service providers to retirement plans are required to…

The Internal Revenue Service recently released a host of changes to Form 1095-C reporting required under the Affordable Care Act. This is welcome relief for large employers who struggle to deliver these forms to employees by the old January 31 deadline.  A. Deadline Extension  The IRS issued proposed regulations to permanently delay the deadline to…

Whether an employee’s vaccination status is protected by HIPAA has been (or should be) on the minds of all human resources personnel as of late. This is especially true in the wake of the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) impending rule that will likely require employers with 100+ employees to ensure…