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Supreme Court Ruling – Contraceptive Exemption

After several years of debate, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the HHS final rules allowing for an exemption for employers with a religious or moral objection to providing coverage for contraceptive coverage. The exemption, at least for now, is available to most non-governmental organizations who would prefer not to provide group health plan coverage for contraceptives.

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Is Your Doctor Wasting Your Money?
The science behind analyzing healthcare waste

With four years’ worth of data, the Washington Health Alliance’s Community Checkup has confirmed again that, across 47 measures, 51% of the healthcare received and paid for in Washington state was determined to be wasteful.

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COVID-19 Update: June 26, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our lives and organizations, and is evolving quickly each and every day.

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Improving Patient Access Through Ride-sharing Services

The CDC defines social determinants of health (SDOH) as the “conditions in the places where people, live, learn, work, and play [that] affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes.”

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Agency Update

In the last couple weeks, the government agencies (the EEOC, IRS, DOL and HHS) have held public meetings, released proposed and final rules, and updated forms and fees affecting employee benefit offerings.

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Effects of COVID-19 on Health Care Consumption

Now that shelter-in-place orders are beginning to ease, we can reflect on how virtual care and emergency departments have changed. Parker, Smith & Feek Vice President Sally Borte shares the effects of COVID-19 on healthcare consumption in Portland Business Journal.

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COVID-19 Update: June 12, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our lives and organizations, and is evolving quickly each and every day. Parker, Smith & Feek is dedicated to keeping you informed on the latest information.

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Updated PCORI Fees Released

In Notice 2020-44, the IRS provided the adjusted PCORI fees for plan years ending in October 2019 through September 2020. The guidance does not provide for an extension of the July 31st deadline to report and pay the PCORI fee, but there is a bit of relief provided for certain plans in the method used to count covered lives.

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REMINDER: PCORI Fees

Employers who sponsored self-funded medical plans ending sometime during 2019 are required to report and pay the ACA Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fees no later than July 31, 2020.

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The Changing Property Insurance Market – What this means for the builder’s risk in Alaska

The property insurance marketplace as a whole is currently in the midst of transition.

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Update 06/2020 – New Changes on COVID-19 as an OSHA Recordable Illness

As of May 26, OSHA has once again implemented a different set of guidelines for recording COVID-19 cases on OSHA 300 injury and illness logs.

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4 Considerations on Reopening Businesses Safely after COVID-19

How and when we are reopening our economy has been on the minds of business owners across Washington state. Businesses have been instrumental in helping slow the spread of COVID-19, and will be essential in repairing the economy.

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