The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Health & Welfare Plans
August 25, 2026
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7 items · ~2 min read
In this issue
Litigation (1) · General Benefits (4) · Health & Welfare Plans (2)
Litigation
1 item“The decision offers a practical illustration of how courts in the Second Circuit decide what an ERISA claimant can obtain outside the record when a structural conflict of interest is in play.” MORE >>
Source: Roberts Disability Law
General Benefits
4 items“Cyber incidents now carry consequences that extend well beyond technical disruption. They create fiduciary exposure, reputational risk, benefit-continuity threats and erosion of member trust — all squarely within the oversight responsibilities of pension boards. The evolution of cyber risk from an operational concern to a fiduciary one is not theoretical. It is already playing out across the public pension landscape. That urgency is increasing as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation lower the time, skill and marginal cost required for malicious actors to launch phishing, credential-harvesting, social-engineering and reconnaissance campaigns at scale.” MORE >>
Source: Segal
[Health & Welfare Plans]
New HHS OIG Audits Expose Failures in Parity Enforcement, Compliance“Only one of the Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) that the federal government’s health policy watchdog has reviewed in a series of audits complies with national parity laws.” MORE >>
Source: bhbusiness.com
[Health & Welfare Plans]
No More Six-Month Baby Steps: San Francisco Cuts PPLO Eligibility Period in Half“The city reduced the employment tenure requirement under its Paid Parental Leave Ordinance from 180 days to 90 days, meaning eligible employees can start accessing employer-paid supplemental compensation benefits faster. Covered employers may want to start baby-proofing their policies now, ahead of phased-in compliance beginning January 1, 2027.” MORE >>
Source: JD Supra
“The report suggested that the value employees obtain from their offerings are threatened by benefit costs, complexity, and misalignment with employees’ life pressures. Benefits can help employees meet their life challenges or fall short, and retention may be at stake in the latter case.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
Health & Welfare Plans
2 items[Regulatory Action and Guidance]
White House Issues Executive Order on Childhood Vaccine Recommendations“The Executive Order states executive branch policy but does not itself revise the CDC immunization schedule adopted based on ACIP recommendations. Under the Affordable Care Act, non-grandfathered group health plans and issuers generally must cover ACIP-recommended immunizations without cost-sharing. Because the Executive Order does not independently change ACIP recommendations or the CDC-adopted schedule, current coverage requirements remain unchanged.” MORE >>
Source: Groom Law Group
[General Benefits]
Forging stronger broker-TPA partnerships“In this intensifying climate, rising healthcare costs and limited internal HR capacity are driving demand for stronger partnerships between brokers and TPAs to deliver actionable insights, strategic guidance, and administrative support, according to a recent report by Nova Healthcare Administrators Inc., a leading TPA. Collaboration between employers, brokers and TPAs will be essential to developing customized, cost-effective and employee-friendly solutions, noted the report, which serves as a benchmarking tool to compare strategies, identify emerging trends, and better understand where the market is headed.” MORE >>
Source: Employee Benefit News
Also of Note
- Inspector General Notes DOL’s Lack of Controls in Information Sharing Agreements — “The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S.” (Hall Benefits Law)