On this episode of the Empowering Plans Podcast, attorneys Jon Jablon and Cindy Merrell explore the changing landscape of several state and federal laws that affect coverage of gender-affirming care. 

Attorneys Brady Bizarro and Andrew Silverio discuss today’s senate committee hearing on GLP-1 drug pricing and strategies that self-funded employers are using to manage the extreme costs of these drugs while we wait and hope for congressional action. 

Regulators finally announced the long-awaited MHPAEA Final Rules on September 9, 2024. Many of these changes will directly affect group health plan design and modify the NQTL comparative analysis testing requirements - many of which will be significant for plans as they prepare for 2025. Join attorneys Jennifer McCormick and Bryan Dunton for their discussion on several critical considerations for plans as renewal season approaches.

Dr. Marty Makary is a New York Times bestselling author, renowned Johns Hopkins surgeon, and globally recognized expert on medical research. In its most recent edition of the Empowering Plans podcast series (“Recognizing Our Blind Spots”), Dr. Makary was a special guest as he engaged in conversation with CEO Adam V. Russo about his new book, Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health, https://geni.us/blindspots. This is an episode jampacked with enlightening and engaging anecdotes that will leave you with new insight into commonly held assumptions about healthcare. After all, in order to fix the healthcare industry, people need to have access to correct information about modern medicine. 

The regulators rush to finalize a suite of marquee regulations as the clock gradually runs out on the Biden administration. Even when finalized, these regulations may be vulnerable in the post-Chevron landscape. Attorneys Kelly Dempsey and Nick Bonds pick apart some of the big rules we’re looking forward to and the challenges they may face. 

Nick Bonds and Corey Crigger are hosting this political edition of the Empowering Plans Podcast series. With an election looming in November, Nick and Corey take a look at the policies and agendas from the Harris/Walz and Trump/Vance tickets. They discuss the impact that each administration could have on the self-funded industry and the country, in the most civil political discourse you can find. Tune in to hear what each nominee has to say about: Medical Debt, the Opioid Crisis, Public Healthcare options, and more!

In this episode of the Empowering Plans podcast, attorneys Jon Jablon and Kendall Jackson break down the consequences of PBM steerage. Join us in the discussion of the Federal Trade Commission’s inquiry into PBM practices and the push for legislation to increase transparency in the market and hold PBMs accountable.

On this episode of the Empowering Plans Podcast, attorneys Andrew Silverio and Cindy Merrell delve into the pros and cons of the pay and chase versus pend and pay models of claims processing. They provide an in-depth discussion on the coordination of benefits and the timing of claims processing when another party may be responsible for payment.

In this episode of the Empowering Plans podcast, attorneys Brady Bizarro and Corey Crigger break down two of the most significant Supreme Court cases just decided this term – the Harrington case (rejecting the largest opioid settlement in the country) and the Loper case (in which the Supreme Court ended Chevron deference). How will these cases impact the healthcare landscape? What should self-funded plans and their partners know moving forward? Tune in to hear our expert analysis.

Just like the development of a child, regulations evolve in their ability to walk and talk over time. Join Jen McCormick and Kelly Dempsey as they go through the evolution of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act – from passage in late 2022 to the final rules that took effect on June 18, 2024. They also discuss current court challenges where two courts have reached opposite conclusions and, of course, what this all means for self-funded health plans. It’s hard to keep up as this one went from crawling to running in fewer than two months!