Health Care Reform Dashboard

Health Care Reform Dashboard

Charting Developments with the
Affordable Care Act and Beyond

Labor and Employment

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11/11/2024

Surprise, Surprise! No Surprise Billing Regulations Upheld

Summary The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld regulations defining the qualifying payment amount (QPA). The QPA is a key factor in determining how much individuals and health plans must pay out-of-network providers in certain situations, where the individual does not have a choice to receive services in-network. The Upshot The Bottom Line The [&hellip… Continue Reading »
11/08/2024

IRS Guidance Expands List of Preventive Care Benefits Under HDHPs

Summary The IRS recently issued Notices 2024-71 and 2024-75, which expand the list of “preventive care” benefits permitted to be provided by a high deductible health plan (HDHP) without a deductible and the list of benefits considered “medical care expenses” under group health plans. The Upshot The Bottom Line Employers that offer health benefits, and particularly those that [&hellip… Continue Reading »
10/14/2024

Practical Pointers for Compliance With New MHPAEA Regulations

Summary The Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services have published final regulations under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act that prohibit group health plans and health insurers from imposing nonquantitative treatment limitations that place greater restrictions on benefits for mental health and substance use disorders than for medical and [&hellip… Continue Reading »
09/05/2024

Health Plan Compliance Deadlines Draw Near 

Regulations under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and HIPAA will require health plans and health care providers to take action in the coming months to meet new requirements. Health plan sponsors and providers that have not started to prepare for these new requirements should begin to take measures now. Section 1557. Final regulations under the [&hellip… Continue Reading »
08/29/2024

Fifth Circuit Affirms Invalidity of No Surprises Regulations

Summary The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the invalidity of regulations governing the independent review process under the No Surprise Billing Rules. The Upshot The Bottom Line As a result of the ruling, health plans may pay more in out-of-network claims. Health plan sponsors should pay attention to the fees that vendors charge [&hellip… Continue Reading »
06/18/2024

Final Section 1557 Rules: Highlights for Health Plan Sponsors

Summary The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued final regulations on the nondiscrimination rules set forth in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The new rules apply to certain group health plans, as well as many health care providers. The Upshot The Bottom Line Plan sponsors need to evaluate whether the new [&hellip… Continue Reading »
08/09/2022

Back and Forth to the Future: HHS Issues Proposed Rules on Nondiscrimination

Summary The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued proposed regulations under the nondiscrimination provisions of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The proposed rules restore and augment a number of the nondiscrimination requirements in regulations that were published in 2016, but later stripped away in rules published in 2020. The [&hellip… Continue Reading »
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