On October 18, the IRS issued Notice 2023-70, which increased the PCORI fee from $3 per covered life to $3.22 per covered life for policy and plan years that end on or after October 1, 2023 and before October 1, 2024....more
On September 29, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the 2021 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (“2021 NBPP”) amendments to Affordable Care Act regulations. The amendments permitted (but...more
In 2019, California passed a law that created the Long Term Care Insurance Task Force (“Task Force”) to examine how to design and implement a long-term care insurance program. The Task Force recommended a payroll tax to fund...more
On July 7, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the “Tri-Agencies”) published a long-anticipated proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) that...more
On July 7, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services published a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) regarding, among other things, the requirements for fixed and hospital indemnity insurance to be...more
On June 23, 2023, the IRS issued Notice 2023-37 (the “2023 Notice”) regarding COVID-19-related coverage for HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans (“HDHPs”) and preventive care for HDHP purposes in light of the district...more
On June 8, 2023, the IRS released Chief Counsel Advice 202323006 (the “CCA”) addressing the tax treatment of wellness indemnity payments made by employer-funded fixed indemnity insurance policies. The CCA generally provides...more
A recent opinion out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit provides additional support for ERISA-governed severance plans to incorporate a “discretionary component” as a factor in determining eligibility for...more
On April 28, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Office of Chief Counsel issued a Chief Counsel Advice (“CCA”) explaining the requirements for claim substantiation for health and dependent care flexible spending...more
The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (“PHE”) and National Emergency (“NE”) have been in place since early 2020. In January 2023, President Biden stated his intention for both to end on May 11, 2023. There have been many...more
4/7/2023
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enrollment ,
Health Insurance ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medicaid ,
MHPAEA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On March 30, 2023, the District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an opinion and order in Braidwood Mgmt. Inc. v. Becerra that vacates the implementation and enforcement of certain preventive service provisions...more
4/3/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Cost-Sharing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Non-Grandfathered Health Plans ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Vacated
On February 23, 2023, the IRS published final regulations (the “Final Rule”) that materially expand which reporting entities must file electronically rather than on paper. These requirements apply to a number of tax returns,...more
A recent IRS letter ruling provides helpful clarification on the interaction of in-service distributions to active employees (Code section 401(a)(36)) and the requirement that Code section 401(h) accounts provide only retiree...more
Last week the Senate passed the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2023 (“CAA23”). The House of Representatives will likely consider the measure today, and President Biden is expected to sign the bipartisan measure into law...more
12/26/2022
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HSA ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Secondary Payer Act ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Telehealth
Yesterday, the Senate passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (the “CAA”) to fund the government through September 30, 2023. Division T of the legislation is the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“SECURE 2.0”), which builds...more
This month, Vermont adopted the Vermont Family and Medical Leave Insurance Plan (“Vermont Program”), a voluntary paid family and medical leave program. The Vermont Program is substantially similar to the New Hampshire...more
On December 12, 2022, the Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released final regulations that provide reporting relief for ACA reporting— specifically, Forms 1095-B and 1095-C...more
For many years now, IRS and Treasury have jointly developed a list of areas in which they intend to release guidance – such as regulations, revenue rulings, notices and other published official authority – during the coming...more
The COBRA rules and Medicare rules are complex on their own. Navigating the interaction between the rules is even more complex and can lead to an inadvertent compliance issue. Given today’s highly litigious COBRA world and...more
On September 7, 2022, the District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled a key component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) preventive services mandate unconstitutional. Braidwood Mgmt. Inc....more
The IRS recently announced that substantially all of the key retirement plan and health and welfare plan limits will increase next year – some significantly due to higher inflation. Notice 2022-55 (Oct. 21, 2022); Rev. Proc....more
On Tuesday, October 11, Treasury and IRS issued final regulations amending the regulations under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) regarding the affordability determination for an employee’s family members of employer-sponsored...more
On August 4, 2022, the Biden Administration published its long-anticipated proposed rulemaking on Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) Section 1557’s nondiscrimination in health programs and activities requirements (“Proposed Rule”)....more
Over the years, many plan sponsors have accumulated surplus assets in their pension and welfare benefit programs for various reasons. Typically, surplus assets have been generated in these mature programs through some...more
As a reminder, on Friday July 1, 2022, with respect to plan or policy years beginning on or after January 1, 2022 through July 1, 2022, group health plans (self-funded and insured) and health insurance issuers are required to...more