Insights on benefits counseling and litigation issues impacting employers nationwide
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has provided guidance regarding the new salary reduction contribution limits to health flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs) under Internal Revenue Code section 125 cafeteria plans in Notice 2012-40, issued May 30, 2012.
Currently, there are no statutory limits on employee salary reduction contributions to health FSAs, but plan sponsors…
Some employers that sponsor insured group health plans will receive rebates this year from insurers due to the medical loss ratio limits imposed on insurers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, together “Health Care Reform”). Under applicable Health Care…
The US Department of Labor (“DOL”) has released frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) regarding implementation of the federal health care reform law’s summary of benefits and coverage requirement. (This set of FAQs is Part VIII in the general series about implementation of the law.) See our earlier blog post regarding the summary of benefits and coverage regulations that were…
The agencies primarily responsible for enforcing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 issued 150 pages of final regulations implementing the mandate that group health plans and insurers provide a four-page summary of benefits and coverage to individuals who enroll in health plans.
Under the regulations issued February 9, 2012, plan administrators and…
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has amended its guidance to employers on how to report the cost of group health coverage. Notice 2012-9 addresses, among other things, cost determinations for employee assistance programs, wellness programs, and health reimbursement arrangements.
Internal Revenue Code section 6051(a)(14), enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act…
The individual mandate provision of the 2010 health care reform law is unconstitutional, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided in Florida v. HHS on August 12th. The Sixth Circuit previously held in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama that the individual mandate is constitutional. Therefore, the Eleventh Circuit decision creates a…
Group health plans that are not grandfathered under the 2010 health care reform law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010) must provide women’s contraception without cost-sharing beginning with the first plan year that starts on or after August 1, 2012. The three agencies…
The Internal Revenue Service has given a last-minute holiday gift to sponsors of insured group health plans. It announced delayed enforcement for the new nondiscrimination provisions applicable to insured group health plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; together …
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act), requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to impose restrictions on the imposition of annual limits on the dollar value of essential health benefits in a new or existing group health plan for plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010 and prior to January 1, 2014. Interim final regulations published on June 28, 2010, established these restricted annual limits, along with the possibility for a waiver from these restricted annual limits as granted by HHS if complying with the interim final regulations would result in a significant decrease in access to benefits or a significant increase in premiums.
Continue Reading HHS Updates Guidance on Obtaining Waivers from PPACA Annual Limits
