Insights

Subcontractor defaults are on the rise in the construction sector in North America and financial insolvency is the leading primary cause of this increase.

On February 29, 2024, in Black v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted in part the motion for summary judgment by Black (the plaintiff), determining that Unum (the defendant) failed to provide a full and fair review of plaintiff’s long-term disability claim. The court remanded the matter back to the defendant to review the claim in line with ERISA requirements. The plaintiff received long-term disability claims through her

On March 18, 2024, HHS’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued an updated bulletin modifying its previous guidance issued in December of 2022 on the use of third-party online tracking technologies by HIPAA-regulated entities, which include covered entities (such as group health plans) and business associates. OCR generally defines tracking technology as a script or code on a website or mobile app used to gather information about users or their actions as they interact with a website or mobile app.

In February 2024, HHS and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released an updated cybersecurity resource guide to help HIPAA-regulated entities, which include group health plans and their business associates, comply with the HIPAA Security Rule (the Security Rule). This practical guide is organized into five main sections, followed by a wide variety of related resources in the appendices. Section 1, the introduction, explains the purpose of the guide and outlines its conte

On January 31, 2024, the US District Court for the Northern District of California (the court) filed a ruling on motions for summary judgement in Zavislak v. Netflix, Inc., determining, among other issues, that an ERISA health plan beneficiary is not entitled to receive copies of all plan documents under ERISA Section 104. In this case, Zavislak (the plaintiff), as a covered beneficiary (the spouse of an employee/participant) of the self-funded ERISA health plan sponsored by Netflix, Inc. (the

On February 29, 2024, the Federal District Court of Northern District of California denied Aetna Inc. and Aetna Life Insurance (collectively, Aetna)’s motion to dismiss a case alleging that Aetna health insurance plans discriminate against LGBTQ members seeking fertility treatment coverage by placing additional burdens on couples in same-sex partnerships. As background, in April 2023, a participant (plaintiff) of a self-insured health plan filed a class action complaint against the plan’s admin

Yes. At the beginning of a COBRA continuation period, employers must offer qualified beneficiaries the opportunity to continue the same coverage in place on the day before the qualifying event. Following the initial COBRA election, when an open enrollment period is available for similarly situated employees under the plan, or when a qualified beneficiary experiences a HIPAA special enrollment event, the qualified beneficiary may make coverage changes. This means that qualified beneficiaries can

In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made major changes to broker-dealer recordkeeping rules.

To achieve the best construction finance rates in a higher interest rate economy, stakeholders must find the ideal balance when it comes to performance security.