Mental Health Parity Rules and Requirements for Plan Sponsors and Administrators

Ms. Watson focuses on ERISA and employee benefits. She concentrates on a wide array of areas including, pension and profit sharing plans, health and welfare benefit plans, including COBRA, HIPAA and the Affordable Care Act, ERISA fiduciary decision-making, Employee Stock Ownership Plans, benefits litigation backup, benefits aspects of mergers and acquisitions, employee benefits aspects of family law, labor laws affecting employee benefits, other employee benefits and deferred Compensation, and employee benefit disputes and employee benefits claims.

Managed care organizations trust Mr. Malone to help them understand and navigate their most difficult legal, compliance, and strategic risks and opportunities. He draws on more than a decade of experience working at the highest levels of healthcarehealthcare financing policy and law to help managed care organizations navigate the web of federal and state regulations and program policies governing the health care financing system. Mr. Malone is a go-to lawyer on issues concerning the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (the federal parity law), delivery systems for Medicare-Medicaid dually eligible beneficiaries (such as special needs plans and the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)), and demonstration models for Medicare and Medicaid. He also advises providers ranging in size from large hospital systems to start-up health and telehealth companies on legal and strategic matters involving corporate formation, licensing, and third-party payment and coverage with a particular focus on value-based payment strategies. Provider organizations rely on his experience with managed care organizations and government regulators to develop successful strategies for market entry and growth.

Ms. Summers practice focuses on all aspects of labor, employment, and employee benefit matters. She has in-depth knowledge of state and federal labor and employment laws and experience representing employers in a wide variety of employment-related matters including discharge and discrimination issues, contract and grievance administration, personnel policies and handbooks, affirmative action compliance, employee discipline, wage and hour issues, disability and reasonable accommodation, family and medical leave unemployment, employment contracts, severance and separation agreements, individual terminations, and reductions in force. Ms. Summers also supports the firm's highly recognized Employee Benefits and ERISA practice. Her practice concentrates on health and welfare plans, including, but not limited to, health care reform compliance, cafeteria plans, COBRA, flexible benefits, health reimbursement arrangements, dependent care, voluntary benefits, and wellness programs. Ms. Summers has also successfully represented numerous clients, ranging from individual plan participants to large corporations, in both state and federal courts regarding a range of issues including pension and welfare benefit plan disputes, fiduciary duty violations, and claims of benefits denial.