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There were several recent court decisions that have addressed the right of medical providers, acting under assignments of ERISA plan benefits from patients, to seek plan documents and summary plan descriptions, and to sue plan fiduciaries.

In one case, the district court dismissed the action, holding that the patients had not assigned their rights to sue the plan for statutory penalties. The provider attempted to obtain a retroactive assignment, but the Eleventh Circuit court of appeals held that the provider was not a participant nor a beneficiary in the plan and thus had no standing to bring a claim.
Continue Reading Recent Case Law Regarding Health Plan Assignment of Benefits

This is the second article in our series on Association Health Plans (AHP). This week’s discussion focuses on the potential impact of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) decision to relax some AHP requirements.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently expanded the ability of small groups and the self-employed to obtain health coverage through AHPs. A final rule published June 21 eases certain AHP requirements and restrictions.
Continue Reading DOL Rule Relaxes Some AHP Requirements, Points to Other Protections

A new federal rule gives small employers and the self-employed an additional avenue for obtaining group health coverage.

The final rule, released by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) June 19 and published June 21, broadens the definition of “employer” for purposes of determining who can establish multiple employer group health plans under section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
Continue Reading New Labor Department Rule Expands Group Health Coverage Option

flag_160540827On Monday, March 6, 2017, House Republicans released the long awaited proposed legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The GOP bill, the “American Health Care Act” (AHCA), repeals or significantly changes major portions of the ACA involving the individual and employer mandates, subsidies, and Medicaid expansion, among others. The AHCA, which is already facing political headwinds and healthcare industry objections, has not yet been scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), so the economic effect and the potential change to the number of people covered by health insurance have not been officially quantified. However, the AHCA’s overall philosophy and goals are clear, and it signals areas of concern for healthcare providers and Medicaid expansion States. In this article in our series on the effect of a “slow repeal” of the ACA, this week’s discussion focuses on the significant aspects of the proposed AHCA, potential concerns for healthcare providers, and likely next steps.Continue Reading Slow Repeal of the ACA – Proposed Replacement Legislation Released

Texas_157051216In addition to H.B. 307 (discussed in a prior post), H.B. 1566 and its companion bill, S.B. 507, propose to expand the requirement for mediation of balance bills.

Currently, Chapter 1467 of the Texas Insurance Code requires a facility-based physician to mediate balance bills upon the request of the patient if the patient is responsible to a facility-based physician, after copayments, deductibles, and coinsurance, including the amount unpaid by the administrator or insurer, for an amount greater than $500 and either (i) the facility-based physician fails to disclose projected amounts for which the patient may be responsible and the circumstances under which the enrollee would be responsible for those amounts; or (ii) the facility-based physician makes the disclosures but the amount billed is greater than the maximum amount projected in the disclosure.
Continue Reading Texas 85th Legislature (2017) Legislation Update: Out-of-network billing limitations

flag_160540827This is the fourth article in our series on the effect of the “slow repeal” of the ACA. This week’s article starts a three-part discussion on the potential impact of the slow repeal of the ACA on the health insurance industry, with this week’s focus on the individual health insurance market.

On February 2, 2017, an important House Subcommittee – the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee – began addressing four bills that address portions of the ACA. Although three of the four bills were introduced in previous years, all four measures come at a time when lawmakers are grappling with the impact of “repeal and replace” – or just “repeal” – on the increasingly fragile individual health insurance markets.
Continue Reading Slow Repeal of the ACA and Its Impact on the Individual Health Insurance Industry

Exercising Office WorkerHusch Blackwell was recently named a finalist for the St. Louis Business Journal’s Healthiest Employers 2016 competition. The Business Journal’s profile of Husch Blackwell highlights the firm’s effective use of wellness challenges in the workplace and praises Chris Smith, a partner in our St. Louis office, for his dedicated participation in the wellness initiatives.

Given our firm’s success with health and wellness initiatives, we decided to take this opportunity to discuss and reflect on just a few (of the many) legal requirements relevant to employer wellness programs.
Continue Reading EEOC’s targeting of wellness programs and what that means for your company