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
Tech Startups in US, France, Germany Help in Fight Against Wildfires “This year has been a challenging one for Phil Schneider, who hasn’t seen wildfire behavior like this in his 47-year firefighting career. Blazes raged through more than 2,000 acres of wildland in recent months in his county deep in the woods of Oregon, where a wet climate once made forest fires unthinkable. That’s an increasingly common scene around the world — from Canada to Greece, global warming has helped fuel larger and more destructive blazes, pushing firefighting services to the brink. But Schneider has a new recruit to help manage the growing risks: artificial intelligence.” Full Article – Insurance Journal
US Home Insurance ‘Bubble’ Closer to Popping as Climate Risks Mount: Report “Home insurance costs that have soared in much of the US may get even higher. Tens of millions of properties around the country are insured at prices that haven’t caught up with the danger of hurricanes, wildfires and floods, according to a new report from the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit that works to define and communicate risks posed by climate change. First Street estimates that 39 million US homes are insured at artificially suppressed prices compared with the risk they actually face. Of those, nearly 6.8 million homes are covered by state-backed “insurer of last resort” policies.” Full Article – Insurance Journal
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, HUMAN RESOURCES, & COMPLIANCE
Save Billions or Stick with Humira? Drug Brokers Steer Americans to the More Costly Choice “For real competition to take hold, the big pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, the companies that negotiate prices and set the prescription drug menu for 80% of insured patients in the United States, would have to position the new drugs favorably in health plans. They haven’t, though the logic for doing so seems plain.” Full Article – KFF Health News
COBRA Notice Litigation Update: Recent Decision Signals Some Skepticism of Plaintiff’s Claims “Despite the sheer volume of COBRA notice cases, courts have issued relatively little guidance on the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims. Based on the decisions and proceedings to date, this article describes some trends indicating that, although COBRA notice litigation may present a risk for plan sponsors, there are also multiple potential merits and class-based defenses available to defendants.” Full Article – Groom Law Group
Managing Increasing Health and Welfare Fiduciary Risks “Take action now to stave off the pending surge in class action litigation against health and welfare plan sponsors and fiduciaries. Plaintiffs’ firms are actively looking for potential employee plaintiffs who participate in group health plans. Manage risks by establishing a health and welfare plan fiduciary committee to conduct formal, well- documented processes to monitor health plan activities and service provider performance and fees.” Full Article – Nixon Peabody
Gag Clause Attestations Due December 31, 2023 “Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA), group health plans and health insurance issuers are prohibited from entering into agreements with service providers restricting certain information that the plan may make available to another party. This information includes [1] provider- specific cost or quality information sharing with plan members or [2] claims data (including individual claims pricing) sharing with plan sponsors (and their service providers).” Full Article – Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP
One Year Later, Where Are the ‘Transparency in Coverage’ Compliance Studies “The authors posit that the lack of compliance monitoring is not for lack of interest but rather because of the complexity of the landscape to which the regulation applies. As such, in this piece, we lay the groundwork for compliance studies by outlining the agencies responsible for enforcing compliance with the TiC rule, delineating the universe of entities that are required to comply with it, and discussing how compliance might be assessed.” Full Article – Health Affairs Forefront
Action Steps Health Parity Should Take Now in Response to New DOL Guidance on Mental Health Parity “The Departments have consistently highlighted certain types of plan exclusions or limitations as problematic or out of compliance and addressed these areas again in both the 2023 MHPAEA Report to Congress and the Proposed Rules. Plan sponsors should review their plans carefully for these red flags and should also consider performing a more general MHPAEA compliance review of their group health plans, with an emphasis on the Department’s six areas of focus.” Full Article – Foley & Lardner LLP
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.
TEXAS
Employee E-Signatures in Arbitration Agreements Under Scrutiny
“Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the AutoNation case, one thing is clear—employers should have e-signature systems that leave little room for doubt about the efficacy of the security procedures, and the resulting authenticity of an employee’s e-signature.” Full Article
– Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
NEW YORK
New York Enacts Laws on Captive Audience Meetings, Wage Theft, and Gender Identity
“During a busy term at the New York Legislature, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation prohibiting captive audience meetings, categorizing wage theft as larceny, and expanding protection of “gender identity or expression” to interns.” Full Article
– Jackson Lewis P.C.
CALIFORNIA
New California Non-Compete Law Furthers the State’s Employee Mobility Protections and Seeks to Void Out of State Employee Non-Compete Agreements
“On September 1, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that furthers the state’s protections for employee mobility and seeks to void out of state employee non-compete agreements. Specifically, the new law provides that any contract that is void under California law is unenforceable regardless of where and when the employee signed the contract.” Full Article
– Seyfarth Shaw LLP
WISCONSIN
Worker’s Compensation in the Work-from-Home Era
“At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many employees around Wisconsin transitioned from a traditional office setting to working remotely from home. Since then, new questions have been raised by workers regarding which at-home injuries might be covered under the Worker’s Compensation Act.” Full Article
– State Bar of Wisconsin
NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire Adopts Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers
“New Hampshire will guarantee the right of nursing mothers to an unpaid break of 30 minutes to pump for every three hours of work beginning July 1, 2025. This new state law comes in the wake of the 2022 federal PUMP Act, which requires employers nationwide to provide employees with reasonable break time to express breast milk for one year after a child’s birth.” Full Article
– Jackson Lewis P.C.
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