Understanding Employee Benefits
Understanding Employee Benefits and key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. MORE
By: Lisa Rippey and Elena Humphrey
In a landmark decision, a federal district court in Texas struck down nearly all of the 2024 amendments to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, known as the Reproductive Health Privacy Rule (the “Rule”), ruling that the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) exceeded its statutory authority. The ruling, which…
On May 15, 2025, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued a statement of non-enforcement (the “Statement”) announcing that they will not enforce the 2024 Final Rule under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”).
The MHPAEA requires group health plans to provide mental health and substance…
On May 1, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2025-19, which provides the 2026 inflation adjusted limits related to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs).
The following charts summarize the 2026 limits for HSAs and HDHPs. The 2025 limits are provided for reference.
| Annual HSA Contribution Limit |
On December 23, 2024, President Biden signed into law two important pieces of legislation that aim to ease the administrative and reporting burdens on health plan sponsors and insurance providers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Paperwork Burden Reduction Act and the Employer Reporting Improvement Act bring significant changes to the way employers must…
On November 1, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2024-80, which sets forth the 2025 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP) annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense adjustments earlier this year…
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced two settlements with major insurance companies this month that highlight the importance of employers avoiding the collection of group life insurance premiums from employees until the insurer has approved them for coverage, including receipt and approval of required evidence of insurability (EOI). These settlements follow two similar agreements…
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights recently published a final rule (the “Final Rule“) which provides additional privacy protections related to the use and disclosure of reproductive health care information. Covered entities (e.g., health plans) and their business associates must comply with all of the provisions of…
On November 1, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2023-75, which sets forth the 2024 cost-of-living adjustments affecting dollar limits on benefits and contributions for qualified retirement plans. The IRS also announced the health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP) annual deductible and out-of-pocket expense adjustments earlier this year…
As explained in part I of our Preparing for the End of the COVID-19 Emergency Declaration series, the Public Health Emergency (“PHE”) and National Emergency (“NE”) are coming to a close. While the Biden Administration had initially announced its intent to end the NE on May 11, 2023, on April 10, 2023, President Biden signed…
On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced that it intends for the National Emergency (“NE”) relating to the COVID-19 pandemic to end on May 11, 2023. Shortly after, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services announced the intent to end the Public Health Emergency (“PHE”) on the same day. The end…
