Shareholder John Barlament to Present at BHCG Symposium

Milwaukee – Shareholder John Barlament will present, "Hot Topics in Benefits Law – Roe v. Wade Overturned – Implications for Employers," at a symposium hosted by the Business Health Care Group (BHCG). The symposium will take place on Wednesday, August 31, from 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m., and will examine a number of questions that employers and their group health plans face since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, including:

• Can employers be considered to have illegally “aided or abetted” an abortion if they pay for the abortion? Or pay for travel expenses for the abortion?
• Will state abortion laws be preempted by ERISA?
• If an employer pays for an employee’s travel for abortion care in another state, is this benefit taxable or nontaxable?
• How can an employer (and its TPA and PBM) verify whether this coverage is illegal? Must they look at it on a state-by-state basis?
• Will certain plan designs avoid dealing with these state-by-state issues?
• Will prescription drug plans now need to limit their coverage of abortion-inducing drugs?

This symposium will take place via Zoom, is open to anyone and free to attend.

John Barlament is a shareholder in Reinhart’s Employee Benefits Practice, where he counsels plan fiduciaries, employers, multiemployer plans, pharmacy benefit managers, insurers, insurance brokers, third-party administrators and other plan service providers on a range of employee benefit matters. He has a particular focus on health and welfare plan matters. John is also a frequent speaker on an array of employee benefits topics and is recognized as a national leader in these emerging and constantly changing areas of law. He has been quoted in leading publications, including The Wall Street Journal, and interviewed by national media including National Public Radio, about privacy, data breach and cybersecurity matters.