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A prescription drug’s ability to prolong life is a top factor health plans are using when fixing benchmark prices for drug reimbursement, followed by the drug’s ability to improve the patient’s quality of life, health care stakeholders said at an April 15 briefing hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform. Steven Pearson, MD, MSc, president […]
by Tammy Binford The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its proposed regulations implementing President Barack Obama’s Executive Order requiring paid sick leave for employees of federal contractors. Executive Order 13706, signed on September 7, 2015, will apply to new contracts and replacements for expiring contracts that result from solicitations issued on or after […]
by Gregory J. Wartman In November, we reported that Pittsburgh had enacted a paid sick time ordinance for employees working in the city that was scheduled to take effect January 11, 2016 (see “Pittsburgh passes ordinance requiring paid sick time”). On December 21, 2015, a Pennsylvania judge struck down the ordinance, ruling that it is […]
An employer may require its workers to participate in a wellness program in order to receive health insurance benefits, a federal district court has ruled, dismissing a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Granting summary judgment for the employer, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin said it disagreed […]
The Colorado Division of Labor has taken a new position on enforcing wage claims based on an employer’s vacation policy, and the position is leaving employers with questions about whether use-it-or-lose-it vacation policies are lawful in the state. In response to inquiries about whether policies that prohibit employees from rolling over some or all earned […]
The U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote affirmed that subsidies may go to individuals in states with exchanges established by the federal government, and the statute did not restrict subsidies to only states that themselves ran exchanges. Such a reading of the statute was not in line with the intent of the Affordable Care […]
Hiring an auditor with limited experience auditing benefit plans, or experience auditing only small plans … may cost plan sponsors. That conclusion can be drawn from a new assessment by DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration of audit quality after reviewing annual reports from 400 sample retirement plans of various sizes. The agency found a nearly […]
by Kimberly A. Klimczuk Employers with operations in Massachusetts can finally get a look at proposed regulations concerning the earned sick time law that goes into effect July 1. The new law requires employers with at least 11 employees to provide paid sick leave. Employees will accrue paid sick leave at the rate of one […]
The U.S. Department of Labor on April 14 previewed proposed changes to the 40-year-old definition of “fiduciary” that the agency says will increase consumer protection for those seeking advice on retirement investments and 401(k) rollovers. The long-awaited changes will include a new contract for broker-dealers to sign that pledges they will “formally commit to their […]
IRS on March 27 released a series of changes to its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System that it said would improve the correction programs. Among the modifications to Revenue Procedure 2013-12 announced are new options for correction methods to recoup participant overpayments and lower compliance fees for participant plan loan errors. The 17-page Rev. Proc. […]