The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Health & Welfare Plans
September 17, 2026
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7 items · ~2 min read
Top of the Brief
What Happens When an ERISA Plan Administrator Ignores Your Request for Documents?“66 Franklin Street, Suite 300 Oakland, CA 94607 In Haldeman v. Mass General Brigham Inc., No. 25-cv-10331-ADB, 2026 WL 2687259 (D. Mass. Sept.”
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (3) · Health & Welfare Plans (2) · Litigation (1) · General Benefits (1)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
3 items“In a new Field Assistance Bulletin (the FAB) published on September 8, 2026, the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) repeated its intention to treat MHPAEA compliance as an enforcement priority. While the FAB confirms the non-enforcement policy of the Final Rule, EBSA emphasizes that the MHPAEA’s statutory requirements continue to apply. In the FAB, EBSA outlines three categories of compliance issues that it will prioritize in its MHPAEA non-quantitative treatment limitation (NQTL) comparative analysis enforcement: While these three areas have been identified as EBSA’s priorities, EBSA is clear that it will investigate broader MHPAEA compliance concerns as issues arise.” MORE >>
Source: natlawreview.com
“The federal government certified Physio Solutions, which does business as Medlitix, as the 17th arbiter in the No Surprise Act’s independent dispute resolution process. The No Surprises Act went into effect in 2022 to protect patients from unexpected out-of-network medical bills. To do so, the law set up an arbitration process to resolve payment disputes when payers and providers can’t agree on reimbursement, which includes companies authorized by the federal government to settle payment disputes. But the federal IDR process has faced a much higher volume of disputes than the government expected.” MORE >>
Source: Healthcare Dive
[Health & Welfare Plans]
Developing Mental Health Parity Compliance Traps — Department of Labor (DOL) Guidance Warns What to Watch Out For“As discussed in our prior article, available here, the DOL, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of the Treasury (the Departments) have taken a position of non-enforcement related to the final Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) regulations published in the fall of 2024 (the Final Rule). However, employers and health plans should not forget about Mental Health Parity compliance, because the Departments certainly have not. In a new Field Assistance Bulletin (the FAB) published on September 8, 2026, the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) repeated its intention to treat MHPAEA compliance as an enforcement priority.” MORE >>
Source: Foley & Lardner
Health & Welfare Plans
2 items“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is reportedly considering a moratorium on new HealthCare.gov agent and broker registrations for Plan Year 2027, as part of its anti-fraud campaign in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Although no final policy has been issued, agent organizations are mobilizing against it before open enrollment begins on Nov. 1. CMS reported that during the 2026 Open Enrollment Period, 78% of enrollments in the federally facilitated Marketplace states were assisted by a broker or agent.” MORE >>
Source: InsuranceNewsNet
“Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review Lee joined the EBN team in 2022, and covers areas including caregiving, employee health and wellness, healthcare innovation, and company culture.” MORE >>
Source: Employee Benefit News
Litigation
1 item“66 Franklin Street, Suite 300 Oakland, CA 94607 In Haldeman v. Mass General Brigham Inc., No. 25-cv-10331-ADB, 2026 WL 2687259 (D. Mass. Sept.” MORE >>
Source: Roberts Disability Law
General Benefits
1 item[Health & Welfare Plans]
Health Coverage Alternatives for Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)“Small and medium sized businesses are facing a trend of rising health plan costs. Medical benefits are an important employee benefits offering and a key tool for employee recruitment and retention.” MORE >>
Source: Foley & Lardner
Also of Note
- Employer-Sponsored Health Plans Could Receive Trillions in Federal Tax Subsidies Over Next Decade — “The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently reported that under current federal income tax rules, employer-sponsored health plans could receive trillions in subsidies over the next decade.” (Hall Benefits Law)