COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) into law on July 4, 2025. The OBBB is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that introduces significant reforms across multiple areas of federal policy, including...more
The world of health benefits is constantly evolving. Recent policy shifts and legislative developments are expected to impact the economic landscape and have significant implications for employer plan sponsors, insurers,...more
On July 4, 2025, the president signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) into law. Among many other healthcare provisions, the bill permanently extends the telehealth safe harbor for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs)...more
President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) on July 4, 2025. The telehealth safe harbor, which allowed first dollar coverage of telehealth services without impacting Health Savings Account (HSA)...more
On May 1, 2025, the IRS released Rev Proc 2025-19 which updated for 2026 the limits applicable to certain health and welfare plans, including the following key limits...more
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...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced (see Revenue Procedure 2024-25) cost-of-living adjustments to the applicable dollar limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and...more
A recent string of lawsuits, regulatory guidance, and market trends have dramatically impacted the types of services that enjoy first dollar coverage under high deductible health plan (HDHP) and health savings account (HSA)...more
On May 17, 2023, the IRS announced the Health Savings Account limits for 2024. With respect to contribution limits, the limits are higher than the ones for 2023 and the required deductible and out-of-pocket maximums have...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA 2023) holds some welcome news for employers that offer a high deductible health plan (HDHP) option paired with a health savings account (HSA). Thanks to the CAA 2023, these...more
As we enter the fourth quarter of 2022, sponsors and administrators of employee benefit plans have a lot to juggle. From open enrollment and required notices to plan document deadlines, it is a busy time of year. Yet, there...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued two important notices allowing employer-plan sponsors to amend their §125 cafeteria plans to provide employees with increased flexibility for elected benefits and account...more
COVID-19 (commonly referred to as the coronavirus) has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The disease is highly contagious, and has recently resulted in unprecedented measures being taken by both...more
HDHP and HSA participants - The IRS has expanded prior guidance to allow health plans to pay first-dollar costs for testing and treatment of COVID-19 without jeopardizing the participant’s HSA eligibility. ...more
Employers and health plans that want to provide some relief for participants during the spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19) may waive deductibles for COVID-19 testing without...more
On March 11, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-15, allowing health savings account (HSA)-compatible high deductible health plans (HDHPs) to provide coverage for testing and treatment of COVID-19-related services without an...more
Employers across the country are currently considering what actions to put in place in light of the potential spread of COVID-19 (the coronavirus). Many employers offer their employees high-deductible health plans that can...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a notice that allows individuals to participate in a health savings account (HSA) while participating in a high deductible health plan (HDHP) that provides coverage for both the...more
Benefit plan sponsors are responding to participant questions about the coronavirus/COVID-19. In particular, employers’ HR departments are fielding questions about whether their health plan will pay for any necessary testing...more
In response to the unprecedented public health emergency posed by the 2019 novel coronavirus (known as “COVID-19”), the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-15 (“Notice”) to allow a high-deductible health plan...more
On March 12, 2020, the IRS issued notice 2020-15, providing that a health plan will not fail to be a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) merely because it provides testing for and treatment of COVID-19 without a deductible or...more
Health Plan Coverage of COVID-19. Colorado has become the latest state to instruct insured health plans to cover COVID-19 testing and benefits (such as office visits) at no cost to the member...more
With the news about the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) in the U.S. and the world rapidly evolving, group health plan sponsors need to address how the plan will provide virus-related benefits. ...more
In response to the Coronavirus (“COVID-19”), the Internal Revenue Service advised that a health plan that otherwise satisfies the requirements to be a High Deductible Health Plan (“HDHP”) under section 223(c)(2)(A) will not...more
Recognizing the need to eliminate potential administrative and financial barriers to testing for and treatment of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), in Notice 2020-15, posted today on IRS.gov, the IRS advised that...more