Title I of Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”), and interim final rules issued by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor (the “Departments”) in July 2021 (see our...more
10/4/2022
/ Arbitrators ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Transparency ,
U.S. Treasury
Section 108, Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 requires the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services and the Treasury (the “Departments”) to issue regulations under Section 2706(a) of the Public...more
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the “Departments”) recently issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions—FAQs About Affordable Act Implementation, Part 50, Health Insurance Portability and...more
10/13/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VI ,
Title VII ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Vaccinations
As we previously reported, on June 13, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) issued a coordinated set of final regulations (“final rules”) permitting employers...more
11/11/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
HRA ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Health Service Act ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
Safe Harbors ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
U.S. Treasury
On June 13, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (collectively, the “Departments”)...more
7/11/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
COBRA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HRA ,
IRS ,
Medicare ,
Public Health Service Act ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
TRICARE ,
U.S. Treasury
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service recently issued comprehensive proposed regulations governing nonqualified plans subject to tax under Internal Revenue Code § 457. Code § 457 prescribes the tax rules...more
7/8/2016
/ Deferred Compensation ,
Forfeiture ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Section 409A ,
Section 457(f) ,
Severance Agreements ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Vesting
On June 10, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (The “Departments”) issued a set of proposed regulations dealing with expatriate health plans, excepted benefits, lifetime and annual limits, and...more
Issued at the end of last year, Notice 2015-87 provided detailed guidance on a host of topics. The notice has been referred to colloquially in some quarters as the “pot luck” notice. Among other things, the notice, in Q&A 4,...more
Under the Affordable Care Act’s reporting requirements that have been the subject of this series, statements to responsible individuals (a/k/a “employees”)—i.e., Forms 1095-B and 1095-C—must be furnished on or before January...more
In an earlier post, we reported on a troubling development in the draft 2015 instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B which, if adopted, would have required sponsors of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (“HRA”) to issue...more
11/3/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Form 1094 ,
Form 1095 ,
HRA ,
IRS ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Medicare Part B ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State Medicaid Programs ,
Supplemental Insurance ,
TRICARE ,
U.S. Treasury
As we noted in a previous post, the recently issued final 2015 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C changed certain of the rules relating to the reporting for offers of COBRA coverage where the COBRA qualifying event...more
10/29/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
COBRA ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Final Rules ,
Form 1094 ,
Form 1095 ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Safe Harbors ,
Self-Funded Health Plans ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Termination ,
U.S. Treasury
Compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility rules requires that applicable large employers identify their full-time employees. A “full-time employee” for this purpose is an employee who...more
10/14/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Disability Leave ,
Employer Mandates ,
Excise Tax ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Large Employer ,
Penalties ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Safe Harbors ,
U.S. Treasury
In Notice 2014-69, the Treasury Department and the IRS clarified that a group health plan that fails to provide substantial coverage for in-patient hospitalization and physician services will not be treated as providing...more
9/30/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Amended Regulation ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance ,
Hospitals ,
IRS ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Minimum Value Plans ,
Physicians ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Tax Credits ,
U.S. Treasury
The IRS recently issued final instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B and Forms 1094-C and 1095-C . The 2015 Instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B implement a suggestion we made in a previous post relating to the...more
9/22/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
COBRA ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Expatriates ,
Final Guidance ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HRA ,
IRS ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Minimum Value Plans ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Self-Funded Health Plans ,
U.S. Treasury
When it comes to mergers and acquisitions involving at least one applicable large employer (ALE), the substantive rules governing employer shared responsibility (under Internal Revenue Code § 4980H) and the corresponding...more
9/1/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Asset Purchaser ,
COBRA ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Large Employer ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Social Security Taxes ,
Stock Deals ,
Successors ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wages
Last year, the Department of Labor and the Treasury Department/IRS (Departments) issued guidance on the application of certain of the Affordable Care Act’s insurance market reforms to health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs),...more
In a previous post, we described an Affordable Care Act compliance strategy—referred to commercially as a “minimum value plan” or “MVP”—that involves an offer of group health plan coverage that, while similar in most respects...more
The Treasury Department and the IRS had a busy week issuing no less than five Affordable Care Act guidance items, consisting of...more
With two seemingly simple and straightforward definitions in the final regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act’s pay-or-play rules—i.e., definitions of “employer” and “employee”— the Treasury Department and IRS have...more
The Employer Shared Responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) generally require “applicable large employers” (i.e., employers who employed at least 50 full-time and full-time equivalent employees on...more
7/16/2014
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Contractors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
IRS ,
Service Contract Act ,
Subcontractors ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wage and Hour
The Departments of the Treasury/IRS, Labor and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) recently issued a final regulation under the 90-day waiting period limitation, which is included among the Affordable Care Act’s...more
6/30/2014
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
PHSA ,
U.S. Treasury
The Affordable Care Act (the “Act”) generally prevents an otherwise eligible employee (or dependent) from having to wait more than 90 days before coverage becomes effective under a group health plan. The regulation of waiting...more
The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service recently issued final regulations implementing the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act. For “applicable large employers” — i.e., those with...more
Breaking with long standing tradition—i.e., issuing important rules on a Friday before a holiday weekend, or (failing that) any Friday (hence the reference to Week 45½ in this post)—the Treasury Department and the IRS today...more
A handful of recent guidance items that the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury have issued make some important changes related to the regulation of “excepted benefits.” These changes are driven in...more