On January 1, 2025, the Delaware State Paid Leave program will begin collecting contributions from employers and employees. Delaware employers with 25 or more employees are required to offer Paid Medical Leave (PML), Paid Family Leave (PFL) and Paid Parental Leave (PPL), while employers of 10 to 24 employees are only required to offer PPL. Employees and employers will contribute to these state paid leave benefit programs either directly to the state or through fully insured or self-insured private plans. The state has set up a website called Delaware LaborFirst to assist employers with managing their Delaware leave benefits program.

Beginning January 1, 2025, the state of New Jersey will reintroduce employee contributions for its Temporary Disability Insurance (NJTDI) benefits program after a brief hiatus. For 2025, the employee contribution rate for NJTDI benefits will be 0.23% of the taxable wage base (up from the 0.00% in 2024). For New Jersey Family Leave Insurance (NJFLI), the rate has increased to 0.33% (up from 0.09% in 2024).

Link to NJ Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development Website with NJTDI and NJFLI Rate Information: Here

On December 6, 2024, New York state issued FAQ guidance on its new paid prenatal leave (PPL) benefit. As background, beginning January 1, 2025, the state of New York will require employers to provide 20 hours of PPL to employees in a 52-week period during pregnancy, or related to pregnancy, to attend appointments or receive pregnancy-related healthcare. The new FAQ guidance clarifies, among other things, that this new PPL benefit is a separate and distinct leave entitlement from New York’s other leave entitlements, including its paid sick leave benefits program. Accordingly, eligible employees are entitled to PPL in addition to any other leave options available under New York law.

On December 2, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released the adjusted fee amount for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Institute fee for plan years that end on or after October 1, 2024. As background, the PCORI fee has been in place since September 30, 2012, and is paid annually by self-insured health plan sponsors on a “per covered life” basis. The PCOR fee has been increased to $3.47 per covered life under a plan, up from $3.22 in the previous year, and is due annually on July 31.

On November 22, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated one-term congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican from Oregon, to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Notably, Chavez-DeRemer has historically been touted as pro-union, making her nomination especially surprising to some Republicans. While Chavez-DeRemer has a record of supporting union legislation, she has also supported benefits-related legislation, including introducing bills supporting in vitro fertilization, and was a major factor in passing the Health DATA Act bill, a bill that she introduced.

On November 19, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former surgeon, TV personality and GOP Senate candidate to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Oz received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business, and went on to become the director of the Cardiovascular Institute at New York Presbyterian Hospital, as well as the vice-chairman and professor of surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. As the head of CMS, Oz would be responsible for the administering of Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S., and directing an agency that oversees health coverage for millions of Americans.

On November 14, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to serve as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  If confirmed, Kennedy would control the nation’s top health agency and the agencies under its umbrella, including the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The nomination has been met with immediate opposition from those who believe Kennedy’s views on health policy issues, including vaccination, are not based in science and contrary to public health interests. Kennedy has stated that he will make efforts to take on Big Pharma and the agricultural industry.