“Didn’t we just do this?” might be the first question asked by many health plan sponsors and administrators when gearing up to complete 2022 prescription drug reporting by June 1, 2023. The answer to that question is both “yes” and “no.” Yes, because group health plans were required to complete prescription drug reporting for the 2020 and 2021 reference years by January 31, 2023. No, because the agencies released revised instructions for reporting 2022 year data—meaning the reporting exercise for 2022 may be a little different than the last go-around.
Preventive Care in a Post-Braidwood World: Agencies Release Guidance on Preventive Services Coverage Requirements
The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) recently released guidance for group health plans on required preventive services coverage. The guidance was issued in response to a federal district court decision in a case called Braidwood Management, Inc. v. Becerra that enjoined enforcement of the preventive services mandate for items and services with an “A” or “B” rating from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (“USPSTF”) on or after March 23, 2010. The Departments issued this guidance to clarify the current scope of the preventive services mandate in light of the court’s decision.
[Podcast]: DOL’s 2022 Final ESG Rules
In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Proskauer partners Ira Bogner and Adam Scoll and law clerk Tanusha
Yarlagadda discuss the Department of Labor’s final ESG rules issued on November 22, 2022, and how those rules affect the consideration by ERISA fiduciaries of environmental, social, and governance or “ESG” factors when making investment decisions and exercising shareholder rights, such as voting proxies. Although these final rules generally became effective on January 30, 2023, they are currently being challenged both in the courts and in Congress.
PBGC (Slightly) Opens Door to Exceptions From Special Withdrawal Liability Rules for SFA Multiemployer Pension Plans
As previously discussed, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) issued final regulations in July 2022 for plans that receive special financial assistance (“SFA”) under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”). Among other things, the regulations imposed special withdrawal liability rules on plans that receive SFA – including a phase-in period for