The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Health & Welfare Plans
July 10, 2026
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11 items · ~4 min read
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (1) · Health & Welfare Plans (5) · Litigation (2) · General Benefits (3)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
1 item“Insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 14% for 2027, suggesting another year of double-digit premium hikes as policy upheaval and rising costs continue to roil the marketplaces. Insurers have until July 15 to submit proposed premiums for 2027 ACA plans. So far, most payers are seeking increases between 10% and 20%, according to the latest analysis of proposed rates from 77 marketplace insurers. Twenty insurers requested hikes of more than 20%. None suggested decreasing premiums.” MORE >>
Source: Healthcare Dive
Health & Welfare Plans
5 items“On June 23, 2026, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) quietly adopted its final rule regulating the amended NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act ... The final rule takes effect on July 23, 2026. ... the City adopted significant amendments to the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act that added, among other things, a requirement that employers provide all employees with 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick leave at the time of hire and annually, and added new covered uses for safe and sick time.” MORE >>
Source: Littler
“Maryland's Department of Labor (MDOL) published its final regulations of the state's paid family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) law. The regulations establish how the FAMLI program will operate, with payroll contributions beginning Jan. 1, 2027, and benefits to be payable starting January 2028.” MORE >>
Source: JD Supra
“Most conversations about AI in HR are focused on recruiting and productivity. However, the area where AI is needed the most is leave management. On any given day, HR teams managing leave of absence (LOA), accommodations and return-to-work coordination are operating in a constant state of volume and variability.” MORE >>
Source: Employee Benefit News
“Some clients might be better off stocking a health savings account to the gills and leaving it relatively untouched — not even using it to buy so much as a box of Band-Aids — according to some financial advisors.” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
[Regulatory Action and Guidance]
Health Care Costs Keep Rising … Why and Who Pays?“Total Run Time: 2:02 Total Run Time: 1:58 Narrated by: Published: The U.S. spends more on health care than other large, wealthy countries. Concerns about rising costs aren’t new, yet somehow we keep paying the bill.” MORE >>
Source: KFF
Litigation
2 items“Recent litigation alleging the breach of fiduciary duties under ERISA for failure to prudently monitor prescription drug costs has created a new impetus for employers to consider a fiduciary committee to oversee the plan. While a health and welfare plan committee offers some risk-mitigation advantages over the default approach, maintaining a fiduciary committee demands significant resources to operate properly and therefore may not be the most efficient way to manage the plan or operate the business.” MORE >>
Source: newfront.com
“The answer from the New York Court of Appeals was yes to the former and no to the latter. As to the first question, the court held that Labor Law § 220 requires that all public work contracts contain a provision that a worker shall be paid "not less than the prevailing rate for a day's work in the same trade or occupation in the [relevant] locality within the state." Thus, the "the statute's promise to pay prevailing wages is inserted into every covered public works contract by operation of law for covered workers' benefit," regardless of the actual language contained in the contract. ... any agreement to shorten the three-year statute of limitation governing third-party prevailing wage clai” MORE >>
Source: Ogletree Deakins
General Benefits
3 items“The Eleventh Circuit rejected the defendants' position, holding that ERISA's requirement that a JSA be the "actuarial equivalent" of an SLA requires the use of assumptions a reasonable actuary would employ. ... plans must use reasonable mortality and interest rate assumptions at the time benefits are calculated, while still retaining flexibility within a range of reasonable choices. Applying that framework, the court held that the plaintiffs' allegations regarding outdated mortality tables and resulting reductions in annuity value were sufficient to state a claim under ERISA § 1055.” MORE >>
Source: Miller & Chevalier
“Bloomberg Law recently published “DOL Retirement Exemption Changes Signal Innovation, Risks Ahead,” examining the Department of Labor’s plans to simplify the prohibited transaction exemption process and what those changes could mean for retirement plan asset managers and fiduciaries.” MORE >>
Source: Groom Law Group
“participation in workplace-based financial education is correlated with "critical markers of financial capability," including with individuals achieving high literacy assessment scores, spending less money than earned, being satisfied with their finances and expressing confidence in the ability to achieve a financial goal. ... program participants were slightly more likely than nonparticipants to report spending less than they earned (45% vs. 38%), being more satisfied with their current personal finances (55% versus 36%), and being more likely to feel confident they could achieve a financial goal (87% vs. 73%).” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER