ERISA

Subscribe to ERISA

On May 11, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor (DOL) and Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) issued Part XXVI of their FAQs about Affordable Care Act implementation. This latest FAQ provides additional guidance regarding “first-dollar” coverage of preventive services under the ACA (i.e., the requirement to provide certain preventive services without the imposition of cost sharing).

The FAQ focuses primarily on the coverage of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved contraceptives within the context of the ACA’s first-dollar preventive services mandate. The FAQ notes that the FDA has currently identified 18 different “methods” of contraception for women (including, among others, the patch, the sponge and three kinds of oral contraceptives). The FAQ then makes clear that plans and issuers must cover, without cost sharing, at least one form of contraception in each of these 18 “methods,” and that this coverage must include the clinical services, including patient education and counseling, needed for provision of the contraceptive method. For example, the FAQ states that a plan or issuer that covers, without cost sharing, some forms of oral contraceptives, some types of IUDs and some types of diaphragms, but excludes completely other forms of contraception, is not compliant with the ACA preventive services mandate.Continue Reading DOL, HHS & Treasury Issue Guidance on Contraceptives and Other Preventive Services under ACA

Ensuring that wellness plans are legally compliant has been challenging in recent years, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission challenging as unlawful certain wellness plan features expressly permitted by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury (the “Departments”). However, proposed EEOC regulations on the use of incentives under wellness plans promise to…

On February 23, the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued Notice 2015-16, the first piece of guidance on the Affordable Care Act’s “Cadillac Tax.” The Cadillac Tax is a 40 percent excise tax that is imposed on high-cost health plans under Section 4980I of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), which provision was added to the Code by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Very generally, the Cadillac Tax applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 (i.e., the 2018 plan year for calendar-year plans), and provides that a 40 percent excise tax will be imposed on “applicable employer-sponsored coverage” in excess of statutory thresholds (in 2018, $10,200 for self-only coverage, and $27,500 for “other than self only” coverage (e.g., family coverage)). Notably, the excise tax applies only to the “excess benefit,” i.e., the amount by which the cost of the applicable employer-sponsored coverage exceeds the statutory thresholds. Furthermore, this excise tax is to be calculated on a monthly basis, so that it applies only in the months in which there is an “excess benefit.” The cost of the applicable coverage is to be determined under rules similar to those used to calculate COBRA premiums.

Under Section 4980I, the employer is responsible for calculating the total amount of the excise tax and the excess benefit, while the actual liability for the excise tax rests with the insurer (in the case of an insured plan), the employer (in the case of a Health Savings Account (HSA)), or the “person that administers the plan” (in the case of other types of coverage). Hence, in the case of self-funded coverage that does not involve an HSA, it is unclear who (i.e., the plan sponsor, the third-party administrator, etc.) will be responsible for this liability (and note that Notice 2015-16 does not provide any guidance or clarity on this last point).Continue Reading IRS Provides First Guidance on ACA’s ‘Cadillac Tax’

On February 13, the Departments of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Labor (“DOL”) and Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) issued Part XXIII of their FAQs about Affordable Care Act implementation. This latest FAQ provides additional guidance regarding “excepted benefits,” i.e., benefits that are exempt from the portability rules under HIPAA as well as various requirements under ERISA (including MHPAEA) and the ACA, including the ACA’s market reforms (such as the prohibition on lifetime and annual limits, etc.). Specifically, the FAQ focuses on a subcategory of excepted benefits known as “supplemental excepted benefits,” which generally are benefits provided under a separate policy, certificate or contract of insurance which are designed to “fill gaps” in primary coverage.

The FAQ notes that, in determining whether insurance coverage sold as a supplement to group health coverage can be considered “similar supplemental coverage” (and hence an excepted benefit), they will continue to apply four criteria previously set forth by the Departments in subregulatory guidance issued in 2007 and 2008:

  1. The policy, certificate, or contract of insurance must be issued by an entity that does not provide the primary coverage under the plan;
  2. The supplemental policy, certificate, or contract of insurance must be specifically designed to fill gaps in primary coverage, such as coinsurance or deductibles;
  3. The cost of the supplemental coverage may not exceed 15 percent of the cost of the primary coverage; and
  4. Supplemental coverage sold in the group insurance market must not differentiate among individuals in eligibility, benefit or premiums based upon any health factor of the individual (or any dependents of the individual)

Continue Reading DOL, HHS & Treasury Issue Additional Guidance Regarding Excepted Benefits

Crowell & Moring’s 2015 Litigation and Regulatory Forecasts provide an in-depth look at the trends in the courts and in the regulatory agencies, both inside the Beltway and beyond, that will impact business in the coming year.

The Litigation Forecast examines the latest litigation developments facing companies in areas ranging from health care and antitrust…

On October 1, 2014, the Departments of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Labor (“DOL”) and Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) published regulations finalizing a proposed amendment to the “excepted benefit” rules, i.e., the rules that govern when certain types of benefits are exempt from HIPAA’s portability rules as well as various requirements under ERISA (including applicability of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act) and the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), including the ACA’s market reforms (such as the prohibition on lifetime and annual limits, etc.). These final rules largely adopted proposed rules from December 2013, with a few clarifications and changes.

After the enactment of the ACA, various stakeholders became increasingly concerned about whether or not an employee assistance program (“EAP”) would be considered to be a “group health plan” under the ACA, and thus subject to all of the ACA’s market reforms. Because the benefits provided under an EAP are generally very limited, most (if not all) EAPs would have difficulty meeting these market reforms (including, particularly, the ACA’s prohibition on annual dollar limits). The final rules largely adopted the provisions of the proposed rule that specify that EAPs will be considered to be excepted benefits (and thus not subject to the ACA’s market reforms) if they meet four criteria (which, the Departments make clear, are intended to ensure that EAPs are supplemental to other coverage offered by employers):Continue Reading HHS, Labor, and Treasury Issue Proposed Amendments to “Excepted Benefit” Rules

On June 25, the Internal Revenue Service, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Employee Benefits Security Administration, published final regulations clarifying the maximum allowed length of a reasonable and bona fide employment-based orientation period. Specifically, the regulations permit employers to impose a one-month orientation period on employees’ enrollment in their group health plans in addition to the 90-day waiting period.

The new regulations provide relief from the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) prohibition on employers imposing a waiting period longer than 90 days for all individuals that are eligible to participate in the plan, for all plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014. The ACA’s waiting period requirement states that coverage must be available to otherwise eligible employees by the 91st calendar day (including weekends and holidays) following plan eligibility. A “waiting period” is defined as the period that must pass before coverage for an otherwise eligible employee or dependent is able to enroll in the employer’s group health plan. And, an employee or dependent is “otherwise eligible” for plan participation if they have met all the employer’s eligibility conditions.

The 30-day orientation period allows employers to define their plan entry date for new employees as the first day of the month following 90 days of employment, so long as their administrative waiting period is not over 30 days, giving employers 90 days to enroll employees plus up to 30 days for orientation purposes.Continue Reading 90-Day Waiting Period for Employee Enrollment in Group Health Plans: One-Month Orientation Period Permitted

On May 2, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Labor (the “Departments”) collectively released the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) nineteenth set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQ addressed outstanding questions regarding Health Care Continuation Coverage (COBRA) and Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) releases, out-of-pocket maximums and limitations on cost-sharing, coverage of preventive services, FSA carryover and excepted benefits, and summary of benefits (SBA) requirements.

COBRA and CHIPRA

Following the Department of Labor’s (DOL) release of proposed COBRA regulations to better align COBRA with the ACA, the Departments issued FAQ guidance discussing COBRA’s general and election notice requirements, specifically when the notice is to be provided and the content of the notice. Although the proposed regulations eliminate the current model notice, although the FAQs state that the old version can still be used as good faith compliance with the notice requirement. (FAQ 1). Once the updated model notice is finalized it will be available on the DOL website. Additionally, the Departments noted that qualified beneficiaries may want to compare the price of COBRA coverage with coverage under the Health Insurance Marketplace (the Marketplace). The FAQs state that “[q]ualified beneficiaries may be eligible for a premium tax credit (a tax credit to help pay for some or all of the cost of coverage in plans offered through the Marketplace) and cost-sharing reductions (amounts that lower out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments), and may find that Marketplace coverage is more affordable than COBRA.”

The Department also clarified the CHIPRA notice requirement for group health plans located in a State that provides premium assistance. Under CHIPRA each employee must be provided notice of the potential opportunities for premium assistance in the State that the employee resides.Continue Reading COBRA, Cost-Sharing, and Other Matters Clarified in the Affordable Care Act’s Nineteenth Set of FAQs

On November 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a Proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2015 regarding the Affordable Care Act’s Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) fee.

The Proposed Notice includes the previously announced carve-outs from the TRP fee for the 2015 and 2016 years for certain self-insured, “self-administered” …