HIPAA Business Associates Agreements – Reminder of September 22 Deadline

Marvin "Bucky" Swift • September 12, 2014

On January 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule under HIPAA making substantial changes to the rules for vendors that provide services to HIPAA-covered plans, such as third-party administrators, pharmacy benefit managers and certain brokers – known in the HIPAA world as “Business Associates.” Under this final rule, Business Associates are required, for the first time, to comply with the HIPAA Security Rule, many provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and are subject to direct enforcement by HHS. As a brief reminder, and as we discussed in our Employee Benefits Update 2013 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List Part 2 – Health and Welfare , existing agreements with Business Associates must be amended to comply with the requirements of this final rule on or before September 22, 2014.

If you have any questions about the final HIPAA rule or its impact on your Business Associates Agreements, please do not hesitate to contact any one of the members of our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group.

This post originally appeared as an article in Snell & Wilmer’s newsletter, the SW Benefits Update.

Employee burnout: what it is and how to prevent it

By Mardy Gould • May 24, 2024
Employee burnout has become an epidemic in today’s modern workplace. So much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognizes it as an “occupational phenomenon.”1 While many used to consider mounting workplace stress an individual employee problem, these days, it’s become an employer’s responsibility to prevent burnout before it hurts productivity and business performance—not to mention your employees’ physical and mental health. Luckily, you can prevent burnout from affecting your workforce in several ways. This article will explore the causes and signs of employee burnout and the steps you can take to create a positive work environment where employees feel safe from toxic stress levels.

Form 720 and PCORI fee FAQs

By Mardy Gould • May 23, 2024
If you're a small business owner, you may have heard of the acronym PCORI and the fees that come with it. But what is PCORI, and how does it apply to your organization? Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sponsors of self-insured health plans must pay a fee to fund the federal Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). PCORI is an independent organization the ACA created to conduct research to help healthcare consumers make better decisions for their specific needs and outcomes. It also performs research related to clinical effectiveness. Employers offering a self-insured medical reimbursement health plan, such as a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), must pay this fee by July 31 each year via Form 7201. This fee was initially set to expire in 2019, but Congress extended it through September 30, 20292, due to the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 20203.
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