The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Health & Welfare Plans · June 15, 2026
Expert Analysis
As GLP-1 costs climb, more employers weigh dropping coverage in 2027
“Nearly eight in 10 companies say that weight-loss drugs are driving increases in their medical expenses, research by the Business Group on Health found. Of employers that now cover GLP-1s for weight management, only 72% expect to continue doing so in 2027, while 10% expect to drop coverage.”
Employee Benefit News
ICHRA isn't a new product — it's a new role for brokers
“Group health insurance has been the only model in the employer-provided benefits space for 80 years. There are habits that come with that, so ingrained that you don't even realize they won't apply in ICHRA.”
Employee Benefit News
The USPS Postmark Rule: What HR and Benefits Teams Need to Know
“Under the new rule, the postmark date reflects when a mail piece is first processed — not when it was dropped off at the post office or handed to a mail carrier. The postmark date raises compliance concerns for plan sponsors and recordkeepers responsible for timely providing benefits and tax notices to plan participants and beneficiaries.”
Troutman Pepper Locke
3 New Pay Transparency State Laws Raise Compliance Risks
“As of the effective date, covered employers must disclose the hourly or salary compensation range, as well as a description of benefits and compensation in job postings every time they announce a job opportunity. This requirement applies to both external and internal job postings.”
Foley & Lardner
U.S. Department of Labor Issues New FLSA Opinion Letters on Exempt Work, Bonus Calculations, Meal Periods, and Rounding Practices
“The WHD confirmed that an employee may hold both an exempt position and a nonexempt position with the same employer without losing the exemption for the primary role, provided that the salary basis is maintained ... However, when calculating overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek, the employer must include all remuneration—both the salary and the hourly wages—in the regular rate calculation.”
Pierson Ferdinand
Cybersecurity, data privacy and AI may leave employers legally exposed
“Even where federal enforcement has softened, states are often stepping in and pushing litigation forward,” Norton Rose Fulbright’s U.S. head of litigation and disputes said.”
HR Dive
Virginia Is Not For Precise Geolocation Data Lovers
“Press Coverage June 15, 2026 Ashley L. Taylor, Jr. Ashley L. Taylor, Jr., a partner in Troutman Pepper Locke’s Regulatory Investigations, Strategy + Enforcement Practice Group, was interviewed in the June 15, 2026, AdExchanger article, “Virginia Is Not For Precise Geolocation Data Lovers.”
Troutman Pepper Locke
This Week From the Hill (June 8 – 12, 2026)
“Each week while Congress is in session, our Policy team delivers a key update to highlight a topical benefits, health, or retirement news item from the Hill, such as a newly introduced bill, a summary of a committee hearing, or another hot-button matter.”
Groom Law Group
International Compliance and Risk-Mitigation Heat Map (2026 Update)
“In 2022, Foley’s Government Enforcement Defense & Investigations Team first produced a set of interactive international compliance and risk-mitigation heat maps designed to provide an at-a-glance resource for identifying countries around the world that pose potential issues for multinational companies that conduct business in, trade with, or source materials from them.”
Foley & Lardner
Littler Lounge: Orders Received – A USERRA Compliance Briefing
“Podcast The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) doesn’t operate like a typical HR policy or leave law – and treating it that way can create risk.”
Littler
Oh, Baby! Fertility Benefits Remain a Focus for Employers and Regulators
“The proposed rule allows employers to offer fertility benefits as a standalone option that qualifies as a new category of limited excepted benefit, similar in concept to standalone dental and vision coverage. This designation is significant because excepted benefits are generally exempt from many federal market reforms that apply to group health plans, including certain requirements under the Affordable Care Act and HIPAA. As a result, employers could design fertility benefit programs with greater flexibility, potentially reducing administrative burdens and expanding employee access.”
Jackson Lewis (Benefits Law Advisor)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
Request for Information; Comprehensive Review of the Essential Health Benefits Framework and Typical Employer Plan Standard
“This site displays a prototype of a “Web 2.0” version of the daily Federal Register. It is not an official legal edition of the Federal Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official electronic version on GPO’s govinfo.”
Federal Register
Final Rule on Independent Dispute Resolution Operations | Segal
“Compliance News | June 5, 2026 The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final rule regarding the independent dispute resolution (IDR) operations under the No Surprises Act.”
Segal
New Guidance on Expanded IRC Section 4960 Excise Tax: Proposed Regulations Coming Soon
“The OBBBA significantly expanded Section 4960's definition of "covered employee" to potentially cover all of an ATEO's employees – not just the top five highest-compensated. Until the proposed regulations are issued, the Notice provides interim guidance on the expansion of Section 4960's definition of "covered employee" under the OBBBA.”
Groom Law Group
ERISA Litigation
Judge vacates most of controversial 2025 ACA enrollment, eligibility rule
“The agency cannot utilize its general rulemaking authority to override explicit statutory provisions," the judge wrote in his Friday opinion. Along with vacating the $5 automatic re-enrollment penalty and the "failure to reconcile" policy, Hurson vacated the elimination of guaranteed coverage for people who are overdue to pay their premiums; the imposition of higher income verification standards if exchanges find inconsistencies in tax data; a policy requiring stricter eligibility checks ahead of a special enrollment period; and changes to a formula used to sort ACA plans into different coverage tiers.”
Healthcare Dive
Ninth Circuit: An ERISA Administrator Cannot Rescue a Benefits Denial with a Plan Provision It Never Cited
“ERISA requires that a denial notice state the specific reasons for the denial and reference the specific plan provisions on which the determination is based. In each denial letter, Cigna informed Plaintiff that it was denying coverage because there were "not enough studies" showing that two-level ADR is effective or improves health outcomes, citing only its internal Medical Coverage Policy No. 0104 ("MCP"), a non-plan document that categorically excludes two-level ADR as experimental. Cigna never relied on the Summary Plan Description ("SPD"), the undisputedly governing plan document, which defines "experimental, investigational or unproven" services but does not categorically exclude two-le”
Roberts Disability Law
ERISA Life Insurance Denial Upheld on a Reading the Court Called “Low on the Reasonableness Scale”
“The court concluded it was. Reading the eligibility waiting period to require continuous active employment for its entire duration was not unreasonable, the court reasoned, because the waiting period appeared to encompass more days than just the 30 days of continuous active employment needed to reach the Eligible Date. The court was candid that the policy did not expressly require this reading and that the interpretation "may be low on the reasonableness scale.”
Roberts Disability Law
Massachusetts Court Upholds Sun Life’s ERISA Disability Denial Under the Deferential Abuse-of-Discretion Standard
“Because the Plan stated that Sun Life "has discretionary authority to make all final determinations regarding claims for benefits," including the right to determine eligibility and construe the policy's terms, the court found this language unambiguously conferred discretion. Applying Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, the court reviewed the denial for abuse of discretion, a standard it described as "generous" and one under which a decision must be upheld if there is "any reasonable basis for it.”
Roberts Disability Law
Also of Note
- Robert R. SaelingerBricker Graydon
- Michaela Taylor SheppardBricker Graydon
- Data analytics for payers: Improving maternal health outcomes while reducing total cost of careHealthcare Dive
- Summer hiring is becoming a payroll stress test for small businessesHR Dive