The U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued proposed regulations addressing how individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRAs) can comply with the Employer Shared Responsibility Payments (ESRP) requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the nondiscrimination rules for self-funded medical plans under section 105(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. The proposed regulations follow a [&hellip… Continue Reading »
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has set aside the most significant portions of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulations on Association Health Plans (AHPs). The court’s ruling invalidates regulatory provisions that sought to broaden the groups of employers that could be treated as if they were a single employer, allowing [&hellip… Continue Reading »
Following a brief shutdown of the federal government, on February 9, Congress passed and President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Budget Act), which provides Congress until March 23 to enact appropriation and certain other funding measures and establishes a general agreement on spending that will last into 2019. [&hellip… Continue Reading »
The Congressional agreement that reopened the federal government for three weeks quietly addressed—at least temporarily—several high-profile issues affecting public and private health benefits. Most significantly, the new appropriations act: Delays the effective date of the so-called Cadillac Tax by two years to 2022. This Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision imposes a 40 percent tax on [&hellip… Continue Reading »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released proposed rules designed to create a single, streamlined application process for several government health insurance programs. The application process is being developed in preparation for the Health Exchange Programs that begin on January 1, 2014, under the Affordable Care Act. The proposed rules summarize changes [&hellip… Continue Reading »
The U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services have issued additional guidance on the Affordable Care Act. The guidance primarily takes the form of a new set of frequently asked questions(FAQs). The new FAQs address a variety of subjects, including: Postponement of the March 1, 2013, effective date to begin distributing [&hellip… Continue Reading »
In its highly anticipated decision in National Federation of Independent Business et al. v. Sebelius, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning that the “individual mandate” set forth in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is constitutional. As a result, almost every individual in the United States must either obtain health coverage—through an employer, [&hellip… Continue Reading »
Following up on guidance issued last month, the Department of Health and Human Services has proposed two new sets of regulations and the Department of the Treasury has proposed one on the state-based health insurance marketplaces known as Affordable Insurance Exchanges. (To view our alert on the earlier guidance, click here.) The Patient Protection and [&hellip… Continue Reading »
