COVID-19 Impact for Health & Welfare Plans (Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton COVID-19 Issues for Employers Podcast Series)
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law. This sweeping tax and spending package affects large swaths of the US economy. Though reduced significantly from the original House...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
After Congress declined to extend certain relief allowing first-dollar coverage of telehealth services by high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), health plan sponsors may need to make immediate changes to preserve employees’...more
On December 21, 2024, President Biden signed into law the American Relief Act, 2025 (2025 Relief Act), which funds the federal government through March 14, 2025, and provides certain disaster relief provisions and other...more
Employers providing health plan coverage through a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) may need to amend their HDHP before year-end to remove first-dollar telehealth coverage. Although prior regulatory relief permitted...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2023 (Public Law 117-328), signed into law on December 29, 2022, extended certain key virtual care flexibilities instituted during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) through...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
The Biden Administration announced on Jan. 30, 2023, its intent to end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023. Fortunately, the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) extends certain key telehealth...more
If you sponsor a high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) and have been tracking telehealth relief, your head may be spinning and rightfully so! There have been various laws and guidance impacting HDHPs and telehealth since 2020...more
Recently Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (“2023 CAA”). Among other things, the 2023 CAA extends, for a second time, the telehealth relief provided under the CARES Act. The CARES Act permitted high...more
Besides ensuring the federal government remains fully funded, President Biden’s signature Thursday on the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA 23) contains several provisions that will directly impact health and...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
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 (“2022 CAA”), which was recently signed into law, reinstates the exception that allows high deductible health plans (“HDHPs”) to waive all or a portion of participant cost-sharing...more
On March 15, 2022, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (H.R. 2471) into law (“CAA 2022”). The CAA 2022 is largely a spending bill but also includes, among other things, a much-anticipated new...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, which was signed March 15, again permits first-dollar coverage for telehealth services without jeopardizing health savings account (HSA) eligibility, effective April 1, 2022,...more
Today, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (“CAA 2022”), which, among other things, temporarily renews certain relief to individuals to have access to telehealth coverage and other remote...more
The recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (CAA 2022) is best known for preventing a government shutdown and providing aid to Ukraine, but its more than 2,600 pages also contain language that revives a...more
As employers start to think about asking their employees to return to work, in addition to all of the employment law issues, there are also employee benefit plan considerations. Employers need to consider all their benefit...more