The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury have issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers that, among other things, implement certain of the recommendations included in a report...more
11/7/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Data Collection ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
Opioid ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Tobacco ,
Tobacco-Cessation
The IRS has issued proposed regulations on the individual mandate reporting requirements under section 6055 of the Internal Revenue Code. To a significant degree, the new regulations reflect guidance previously published by...more
8/4/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Individual Mandate ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Section 6055 ,
Section 6056
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has published final regulations and a set of questions and answers on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employer-sponsored wellness programs that offer...more
ERISA does not allow a state to compel a self-insured group health plan to compile and report medical claims data for inclusion in a state-wide all-payer health care database, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a landmark...more
The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new notice addressing issues relating to future rules governing the calculation and payment of the so-called “Cadillac tax” under the Affordable Care Act. Beginning in 2018, the ACA...more
After much silence, some litigation, and recent congressional hearings, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has at long last proposed regulations (together with a fact sheet and set of frequently asked...more
In a recent notice, the Internal Revenue Service has tempered prior guidance that closed the door on employer arrangements for paying the cost of individual health insurance for employees. The IRS still views these premium...more
2/26/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Medical Reimbursement Plans ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part A ,
Medicare Part B ,
TRICARE ,
Waivers
In M&G Polymers v. Tackett, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that ordinary contract principles govern whether a collective bargaining agreement vests retirees in health coverage (and the contributions they are required to pay for...more
In the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act (the recently enacted federal budget bill often known as the “CRomnibus” legislation), Congress has exempted health plans designed to cover expatriates from most...more
Late on October 31, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of E-Health Standards and Services announced that it was suspending the program that required all health plans to register for a health plan ID...more
If you sponsor or administer a group health plan, you are almost certainly taking steps to prepare for legal requirements that will become effective on or before January 1, 2015. New rules under HIPAA, the Affordable Care Act...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued an updated version of IRS Form 720 and the instructions. Self-funded group health plan sponsors and health insurers must use this form to report and pay the fee required to fund...more
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a set of frequently asked questions, together with a new template, for the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) that applies to group health plans and individual health insurance. The...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the clear terms of an employer's group health plan override an employee's equitable defenses in determining the plan's right to recover amounts from a third party. This decision points...more
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury have released a joint set of proposed regulations implementing the requirement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that group health plans...more
The Internal Revenue Service has released proposed regulations and FAQs on the shared responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These rules require large employers to offer full-time employees and their...more
In regulations and other pronouncements issued toward the end of 2012, the government has provided further details on new taxes and fees introduced by the Affordable Care Act (ACA)....more