ERISA Litigation: Interference with Protected Rights (Section 510). We updated this resource to address new litigation in which a plaintiff alleged that an employer reduced her hours to avoid compliance costs under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Expert Q&A on Health Insurance Opt-Outs. This new article, with Keith Dropkin of Jackson Lewis P.C., addresses the pitfalls and other complications for employers that offer their employees incentives to "opt-out" of group health plan coverage.

Expert Q&A on Health Plan Reimbursements After the US Supreme Court’s Montanile Decision. This new article addresses the Supreme Court's Montanile decision, which held, in the context of a health plan reimbursement dispute, that a plan could not enforce an equitable lien against a participant's general assets after the participant had obtained a third-party recovery but spent the settlement (see the legal update, Supreme Court Rejects Health Plan Reimbursement Claim). We also updated the standard clause, SPD Language, Subrogation and Reimbursement, to reflect the Montanile decision.

Employer Mandate Under the ACA: Determining Full-Time Employees for Employer Penalties. We substantially updated this resource to reflect IRS Notice 2015-87 (regarding the scope of hours of service and other issues) and IRS guidance addressing employees who are not full-time after the first month of a measurement period. We also added new examples involving the 13-week break-in-service rules, the impact of COBRA coverage, and more.

External Review Under the ACA. This practice note has been substantially revised to reflect the November 2015 final regulations, including changes to the applicable external review procedures, scope of claims eligible for external review, and a 2017 extension of the external review procedure for insured plans.

HIPAA Security Rule. Working with our Intellectual Property and Technology colleagues, we substantially expanded this resource to address an HHS chart that identifies "mappings" between requirements under the HIPAA Security Rule and the voluntary framework for promoting cybersecurity issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (see the related legal update, HHS Issues HIPAA Security Rule Mapping to NIST Cybersecurity Framework).

Lifetime Limits, Annual Limits, and Essential Health Benefits Under the ACA. We substantially updated and expanded this resource to reflect changes under the November 2015 final regulations, IRS guidance involving when HRAs and other account-based plans are considered integrated for purposes of satisfying the lifetime/annual limit prohibitions, transition relief for 2016, guidance involving essential health benefits, and more.

Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities Under the ACA (Section 1557). This entirely new resource addresses an ACA provision that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in certain health programs and activities.

Patient Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Fees Under the ACA. We substantially revised this resource to address applicability of PCOR fees to both insured and self-funded expatriate health plans (under EHCCA and IRS implementing guidance), how PCOR fees apply for short plan years, how to correct Form 720s and fee overpayments from prior years, and more.

Preventive Health Services Under the ACA, Other Than Contraceptives. We expanded this resource to address ACA implementing guidance on the scope of required preventive health services, including colonscopies, lactation counseling, weight management services, and more.