News & Resources

Below is an excerpt:

Have a Conversation With Your TPA

The first thing employers should do is determine whether their third-party administrator engages in cross-plan offsetting — information that Quarles & Brady LLP partner John L. Barlament said isn't always intuitive or well-known.

"I think employers as a practical matter have to ask their TPAs about it," Barlament said. "It's not one of those things that you would necessarily know off the top of your head without asking."

And Barlament said that his experience has been that while some allow employers to opt out, others don't have the feature built into their software.

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Get Protection Where You Can

In fact, many employers who decide to move forward with cross-plan offsetting might try to push for protective language in their service agreements, according to Barlament, who added that those unable to opt out would have a stronger case for such provisions.