April 25th – April 29th, 2022
Each week, you’ll find specially curated news articles to keep you up to date on the ever-evolving world of insurance and risk management. The articles are divided out between items relevant to Property & Casualty, Employee Benefits/Human Resources, and Compliance. We’ve included brief summaries of each item as well as a link to the original articles.
PROPERTY & CASUALTY
PFAS, Microplastics, Baby Food: Emerging Casualty Risks Keep Coming
“There is no longer a need to ponder the “next asbestos” because the current litigation environment and the recent pace of additions to the list of emerging risks and trends in casualty insurance is enough to keep the industry on its toes.” Full Article
– Insurance Journal
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, HUMAN RESOURCES, & COMPLIANCE
Employee’s Widow Can Sue Walmart for Life Insurance Benefits – 6th Circ. “The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court erred in dismissing Ruth Mae Chelf’s claims for breach of fiduciary duty based on the ‘ministerial function’ exception to ERISA. That defense was unavailable to Walmart because Walmart was a fiduciary as it indisputably exercised control over the Plan’s assets when it handled Mr. Chelf’s premiums, exercised control over the disposition of the Plan’s assets, and had discretionary authority over the administration of the Plan.” Full Article – Reuters
Qualified Parking Compensation Reductions Unused Due to COVID-19 Cannot Be Transferred to Health FSA “The Code prohibits cafeteria plans from offering qualified transportation fringe benefits, and IRS rules do not permit unused compensation reduction amounts under a qualified transportation plan to be transferred to a health FSA under a cafeteria plan. Because some risk of loss due to changing circumstances is unavoidable, employers should clearly articulate that risk to employees before they make compensation reduction elections.” Full Article – Thomson Reuters / EBIA
Deadline Approaching Under Health Plan Price Transparency Rules – Public Disclosure of Provider Reimbursement Rates Due by July 1, 2022 “To meet the Transparency in Coverage requirements that will be enforced starting on July 1, 2022, plans and issuers must create two files — one to disclose in-network provider rates for covered items and services and another to disclose out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges for covered items and services.” Full Article – Foley & Lardner LLP
Ohio’s Surprise Billing Law – Impact on Health Plans “While the Ohio Surprise Billing Law intends to shield insureds from surprise medical costs, health plans and insurers may end up paying these costs in some instances. These additional costs are expected, at least in large part, to be ultimately borne by employers through increased reimbursement rates and higher premiums.” Full Article – Jackson Lewis P.C.
A Fix for the ACA’s ‘Family Glitch’ “If an employee in a family was offered affordable self-only coverage, the employee would still not be eligible for premium tax credits. The family would thus have to purchase two policies — one for the employee through the employer and one through the marketplace for the remaining family members. The family also may have to meet two deductibles, be subject to two out-of-pocket limits, and might find itself in two different provider networks. Families with more than one employee offered self-only coverage may need to purchase several policies, one for each employee and a marketplace plan for the remaining family members.” Full Article – The Commonwealth Fund
Washington State Retools First-In-the-Nation Long-Term Care Benefit “The WA Cares Fund, which was set to begin collecting money for the program with a mandatory payroll tax on workers in January, has been delayed while lawmakers made adjustments during the current legislative session. Payroll deductions will start in July 2023, and benefits will become available in July 2026. Other states are watching Washington closely as they weigh offering coverage for their own residents.” Full Article – Kaiser Health News
STATE & INTERNATIONAL COMPLIANCE
In addition to the RISQ Review, RISQ Consulting also provides a resource that features changes and updates to State and International Compliance measures. We’ve included brief summaries of each item below, and also provided links to the original articles if you’d like to read further.
Washington
Washington Revises Its Pay Transparency Law to Require Proactive Salary Disclosure
“Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill (SB) 5761, updating Washington’s existing pay transparency law. Previously, after an employer made an initial job offer to an external applicant, the employer was required to provide the minimum wage or salary to the applicant if the applicant requested the information. Under the revised law, an applicant’s request is no longer required.” Full Article
– Jackson Lewis
Massachusetts
Don’t Be Late on Wage Payments To Terminated Employees In Massachusetts
“The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a surprising decision on April 4, holding that an employer is strictly liable for treble damages if it fails to make timely wage payments, regardless of whether the employer remedies the violation prior to the employee asserting a wage claim.” Full Article
– Day Pitney
New York
New York City Issues Guidance on Required Salary Disclosures In Job Postings
“A new “NYC Salary Disclosure Law” will soon require employers to include a good faith salary range for every job, promotion, or transfer opportunity advertised. While the NYC Salary Disclosure Law is scheduled to take effect on May 15, 2022, it may now be pushed out to November 1, 2022 due to a recently introduced bill that would amend the new law, including the effective date.” Full Article
– Goodwin Procter
Ohio
New Ohio Law Revamps the Landscape of Overtime Exemptions and Collective Action Procedures
“On Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 47 (“SB 47”) into law, signaling significant changes to overtime exemptions in the state and restructuring the procedure by which an employee may join a collective action for alleged state overtime violations.” Full Article
– Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP
D.C.
D.C.’s Noncompete Ban Is Delayed Until October 1, 2022
“The District of Columbia passed arguably one of the most sweeping non- compete bans in the country. In order to consider some amendments to address serious concerns from the business community, however, the effective date of this law was previously delayed until April 1, 2022 and, as the amendments are still pending, now has been further delayed until October 1, 2022.” Full Article
– Shawe Rosenthal
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