Insights

On April 2, 2024, the DOL announced that it amended a rule that provides an exemption for qualified professional asset managers (QPAMs). A QPAM is defined as a bank, savings and loan association, insurance company, or registered investment adviser that assists retirement plans in making financial investments. QPAMS are particularly useful in that they can facilitate transactions that would otherwise not be allowed under ERISA, through the exemption granted by the DOL. The amendment clarifies la

In short, it depends on what the qualifying life event is. As a reminder, when an employer offers pre-tax coverage through a Section 125 cafeteria plan, employee elections are generally irrevocable and cannot be changed midyear without a qualifying life event. There are two types of qualifying life events: HIPAA Special Enrollment Rights (SER) and optional, or permissible, Section 125 events. The HIPAA SER events are: Birth Adoption Marriage Loss of eligibility for other group coverage Loss of

Effective January 1, 2024, fully insured group health plans issued in Maine that provide abortion coverage are not allowed to impose any deductible, copayment, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing requirement for the costs of abortion services. Notably, this new requirement does not apply to qualified HDHPs. As background, a health plan issued in Maine that provides coverage for maternity services has been required to provide coverage for abortion services unless sponsored by a religious employer

WINT Water Intelligence has joined NFP’s Construction and Infrastructure (C&I) Technology Alliance to mitigate client project risk by pairing WINT’s AI-based leak mitigation solution with NFP’s expertise in providing risk advisory solutions.

The WellCents^® Show hosts explore key financial topics, including financial planning and Indexed Universal Life (IUL) insurance.

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