ERIC Win: Michigan Governor Approves Surprise Billing Legislation

Governor Whitmer signed HB 4459, which will now ban balance billing for out-of-network services that are delivered at in-network facilities, as well as in emergency rooms, and specifies that providers will be reimbursed based on the average negotiated in-network rate in that region, or 150 percent of Medicare rates.

Employer-Sponsored Health Care More Important Now Than Ever

Large employers, like ERIC member companies, strive to offer the best benefits to their unique, individual workforces. And while this year’s survey shows that premiums rose by 4 percent, providing employees with easy access to high quality health care at a low cost remains a top priority for employers.

ERIC Victory: PBGC Follows ERIC Request to Reconsider Guidance on Premium Relief

Yesterday, the PBGC announced that it is changing previous guidance on delayed contributions to allow greater flexibility for funding contributions delayed under the CARES Act. The restated guidance allows companies to apply payments made through January 1, 2021, to the funding balance for the prior year in calculating the variable rate premium.

ERIC Appeals Seattle Employer Health Care Mandate Decision to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

ERIC is appealing to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn a lower court’s dismissal of ERIC’s challenge to a Seattle ordinance, Municipal Code (SMC) 14.28. The ordinance requires large hotel owners and ancillary hotel business to provide what are essentially City-mandated levels of health benefits through federally regulated employer health plans and, in so doing, runs afoul of federal law.