Mental health is a growing concern in the workplace. Over the past few years, many employees have experienced mental health issues, such as burnout, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

Employers have responded by expanding mental health benefits, including adding mental health programs, increasing schedule flexibility, offering telemedicine options for mental health, and providing more mental health education.

Despite the amplified focus on mental health, employees’ mental health issues are still commonly overlooked, especially since they may not be as readily apparent as physical ailments. However, in reality, employees may sometimes be unable to work because of their mental health issues.
 
While employers pursue various ways to support employees struggling with mental health issues, it’s also important to be aware of and offer appropriate leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued a fact sheet relating to an employee’s ability to use FMLA leave for their own or a family member’s mental health condition.

Today we'll provide an overview of the FMLA, the DOL’s guidance, FMLA assistance for employees struggling with mental health issues, and ways employers can support their employees.

Among the various transparency rules contained within the Consolidated Appropriations Act is a requirement for employers to provide certain plan information about prescription drugs. The deadline for that reporting is December 27 of this year, but preparations are beginning now.

Employers, particularly those with self-funded plans, should start working with their health and prescription drug providers now, if they haven't already, to ensure their program’s reporting readiness capability.

Background
As we previously reported, interim final rules released last year provided initial detail about the reporting requirements. More recently, and specifically regarding prescription drugs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has provided additional detail on what information must be included.

Deciding to terminate an employee is never easy, and it only becomes more difficult and complex when companies need to eliminate multiple employees in their workforce.

Organizations downsize for many reasons, but mass layoffs are most common during times of market volatility or poor financial performance. Whatever the reason, successfully downsizing can be challenging and is rarely risk-free. It can have a lasting impact on an organization and its reputation. However, a strategic and careful approach to downsizing can mitigate potential damage and put a struggling organization on the road to success.
 
Today we'll explore organizational downsizing, including why organizations downsize, strategic approaches and considerations when downsizing, possible alternatives, and potential legal issues.

While physical exercise is known to be good for the body, it's now irrefutable that it's also good for the mind. When exercise is included as part of an everyday routine, participants reap both physical and mental well-being benefits.

Research continues to validate that exercise can improve mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and a negative mood. And to underscore what's now obvious, the sustained prevalence of mental health issues brought on by the pandemic makes exercise all the more important these days.

Today we'll explore the connection between the body and mind, the mental health benefits of physical activity, and the importance of workplace wellness programs focused on both.

To keep rising group medical premiums as low as possible, employers have, for years, aggressively promoted preventive medical care. This strategy has been and continues to be one of the best cost containment strategies for taming the alarming and seemingly never-ending increases in health care premiums.

Not only does the early detection of health issues result in better patient outcomes, but it also helps prevent a medical claim from becoming catastrophic in terms of cost. High-cost claims not only create a financial burden for the patient but also contribute to year-over-year increases in medical premiums for the employer, which inevitably trickles down to the entire workforce enrolled in the health plan.

The pandemic, however, changed how individuals accessed health care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 41% of people deferred care during 2020 and 2021 due to concerns related to the pandemic.

Many individuals who postponed elective or in-person care to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 are now starting to address their deferred care. Accordingly, employers are struggling to respond to this surge in employee health care usage in a cost-effective manner.

Furthermore this deferred care is contributing to an already tight labor market since absences from work for medical appointments and recovery is on the rise. 

By implementing strategies to address deferred medical care, employers can better prepare for increased future health care costs and workforce absences. Here are strategies to help employers with these issues. 

Often occurring at workplaces, an active shooter incident entails an individual or group of individuals entering a populated area to kill or attempt to kill their victims, generally through the use of firearms. These incidents—sometimes called active shootings—have become increasingly common in the United States.

According to the FBI, the number of active shooter incidents jumped by 96.8% between 2017 (31 incidents) and 2021 (61 incidents). These incidents have also grown in severity, with 3 out of the 5 deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history occurring in the past decade.

Active shooter incidents can carry various consequences. These incidents often result in fatalities, serious injuries and prolonged trauma among those involved. Additionally, such incidents can leave lasting impacts on the locations where they occur, such as workplaces. Organizations that encounter active shooter incidents could face substantial recovery expenses, regulatory penalties and liability concerns, along with lasting effects on the work environment.

With this in mind, it’s vital for organizations to better understand active shooter incidents and how to protect against them. Today’s blog post outlines commonly targeted locations, explains how these incidents impact organizations, and highlights workplace considerations for prevention and response measures.

As has been widely reported, the Supreme Court has overturned the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court concluded there is no directly embedded Constitutional right to an abortion. Instead, the Court ruled that individual states can now regulate abortion.

So what will this mean for medical plan sponsors?

STATE REGULATION

Some states have already passed laws restricting abortion, while others have enacted “trigger laws” that ban or restrict abortion when Roe is overturned. (Laws regarding abortion vary by state and a complete rundown of these laws is beyond the scope of this initial write-up.) Additionally, it is likely that further legislative changes at the state level will be made in response to this decision, so this is a highly fluid situation.

That said, the immediate impact for a state like Arizona can be summed up in one word - uncertainty. Experts predict an immediate challenge to Arizona's anti-abortion laws as well as a fight to determine which of two anti-abortion laws will take precedence. One law was written 158 years ago while one is practically brand new.

The old law, created in Arizona’s territorial days, is a strict ban on providing or helping to provide an abortion, except to save the mother's life. It calls for a mandatory prison sentence of two to five years for violators.

Republicans in the state Legislature passed the new anti-abortion law this year; Gov. Doug Ducey signed it into law in March. Scheduled to take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns its current session (which may happen by the end of June), it bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy except if necessary to save the mother’s life. Violating physicians face potential felony charges and loss of their professional licenses.

The state court system, likely the Arizona Supreme Court, will need to settle the issue as women seeking abortions and abortion service providers wait for guidance. Since this question remains unanswered, Planned Parenthood of Arizona has paused all abortions, both medical and surgical, and seven of nine licensed providers in the state have immediately halted abortions.

FEDERAL REGULATION OF HEALTH PLANS

Notably, in the employee benefits context this decision indirectly affects group health plans, especially insured plans issued in states that ban or limit abortion. Self-insured plans are also impacted, because though exempted from complying with state-mandated health care services, they must comply with state laws whenever reimbursing medical expenses incurred by plan participants.

Shown below is a list of key issues employers should consider in response to this decision. Note, however, that just as state laws are likely to be enacted in response to this decision, new federal rules may be introduced to modify the treatment of certain healthcare services, which would impact some of the considerations noted below.

If you’re an employer who has not yet made public your in-network negotiated rates, out-of-network billed charges, and historically allowed amounts, you have less than two weeks to complete this task.

This rule came into being through a series of overlapping transparency rules passed by congress in 2020 and 2021. Some were a part of a rulemaking from 2020 (the “Transparency in Coverage Rules” or “TiC Rules”), while others were enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the year-end 2020 COVID relief bill or the “CAA”)).

Most fully-funded employers are conforming to this rule by simply ensuring that their carrier partners are making this information publicly accessible. Other employers, especially those who are self-funded, are conforming to this rule by accessing and posting links on their websites, which are being provided by insurance carriers or third-party administrators (TPAs) who are hosting these rates and historical payments on their own websites. Still, other employers are publishing this information directly on their own websites. 

That said, employers and group health plans must familiarize themselves with this disclosure requirement as insurance carriers and TPAs expect group health plan sponsors to assist them with posting the machine-readable files.

Here’s a recap of what the Transparency Rules entail;

The growing complexities of managing employee leave programs have led many employers to consider outsourcing their workforce absence management programs.
 
As we discussed in our last blog and on-demand webinar “Designing a Compliant PTO Program”, the pace of change in this area of employee benefits is somewhat unprecedented, due mostly, though not entirely, to growing legal requirements set forth at state and local levels.
 
A successful absent management program assists your employees with taking the time away from work when needed, as well as returning them to productive and contributing members of your organization. Elements of an absence management program include FMLA, short and long-term disability, paid time off, worker’s compensation, as well as other paid/unpaid leave programs, such as paid parental, sabbaticals, or other personal time.
 
To better prepare employers for this growingly complex area of employee benefits, we’ve put together this second webinar, which should help employers determine whether insourcing or outsourcing is the best strategy for their organization.

Designing a compliant Paid Time Off (PTO) program is a delicate balance between meeting the evolving needs of your employees and the growing legal requirements set forth at state and local levels.

Case in point - mandatory paid sick leave. Laws requiring paid sick leave have grown exponentially during the past eight years. And because paid sick leave laws are based on where an employee works, not on where they get their work assignments, multi-site employers and those with remote workforces are having a challenging time getting their arms around all of this.

To better prepare employers in this quickly evolving sector of employee benefits, we’ve put together this webinar, one of two thus far in our workforce absence management series.

This particular webinar is divided into three sections. The first section addresses the exponential growth of paid sick leave across the United States, while the second section discusses what’s currently being offered in the marketplace. The third and final section lays out options for keeping your paid time off program in compliance. You can watch this on-demand webinar simply by clicking here.

To learn more about workforce absence management and leave administration, contact us.