Affordable Care Act, Healthcare, Employer Liability Issues

Final Section 1557 Rules: Highlights for Health Plan Sponsors

Ballard Spahr LLP on 6/19/2024

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued final regulations on the nondiscrimination rules set forth in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The new rules apply to certain group health plans, as...more

Is Your Employee or Contractor Excluded?

Quarles & Brady LLP on 6/10/2024

Employers must check its employees, contractors and vendors to see if an individual or organization is excluded from participating in federal and/or state programs. While there are a variety of exclusion programs at the...more

Can a Self-Funded Group Health Plan Exclude Coverage for Gender-Affirming Care?

Verrill on 5/28/2024

We are sometimes asked whether a self-funded group health plan is required to cover gender-affirming medical services. As this post explains in detail, it is generally impracticable for a self-funded ERISA-covered plan to...more

UPDATE: Planning for Open Enrollment? Note the ACA Affordability Threshold Drop

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on 2/7/2024

This post was updated on February 6, 2024, to reflect the 2024 Federal Poverty Level announced in January 2024. On August 23, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service issued Rev. Proc. 2023-29, announcing that the Affordable...more

Navigating the Wild West of the New ACA Preventative Care Ruling

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 5/12/2023

On March 30, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a decision in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra (“Braidwood”), invalidating the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA’s”) mandate...more

Texas Judge Rules Against ACA Preventive Care Provisions

McDermott Will & Emery on 10/11/2022

On September 7, 2022, a US district court judge for the Northern District of Texas issued a ruling that preventive care provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requiring private insurance plans to cover drugs that prevent...more

IRS Once Again Extends Distribution (Not Filing) Deadline for ACA Reporting and Continues Good Faith Standard

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on 1/3/2018

Following the old “better late than never” axiom, the IRS recently announced (see Notice 2018-06) that once again it would be extending the distribution (but not filing) deadline for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting...more

District Court Decision Upholds Employer’s Wellness Program But Signals Support for EEOC Positions Going Forward

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on 9/27/2016

In EEOC v. Orion Energy Systems, Inc., the Eastern District of Wisconsin rejected the EEOC’s claims that Orion Energy’s wellness program violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Although the court upheld the...more

New IRS Guidance on 40% Excise Tax Previews Future Regulatory Complexity

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on 8/3/2015

Although public opposition to the 40% excise tax on high-cost health care is rapidly growing, the IRS continued to develop a regulatory framework for administration of the excise tax through its issuance of Notice 2015-52 on...more

The Affordable Care Act’s Reporting Requirements for Carriers and Employers (Part 2 of 24): Yikes! The Costs of Failing to Comply...

Mintz - Employment, Labor & Benefits... on 7/27/2015

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposes information reporting rules on providers of minimum essential coverage, e.g., insurance carriers and self-funded plans, and on applicable large employers, i.e., those employers that are...more

Temporary Waiver of ACA Penalties for Small Employers’ Individual Insurance Premium Reimbursement Plans

Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC on 2/26/2015

Last week, the IRS announced the waiver (for 2014 and the first half of 2015) of the penalty for “small” employers that reimburse employees for individual health insurance premiums. To the IRS, “small employer” means an...more

Health Care Update - August 2014 #4

Mintz - Health Care Viewpoints on 8/27/2014

In This Issue: - Administration Releases Updated Contraception Coverage Rules - Federal Regulatory Initiatives - Other Congressional and State Initiatives - Other Health Care News - Upcoming...more

Circuit Court Split on ACA Could Impact Employer Penalties

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 8/5/2014

In conflicting opinions released on July 22nd, two federal circuits split on whether Affordable Care Act subsidies are available under a federally operated health insurance exchange. “Pay or play” penalties apply only if...more

Shorts on Long Term Care - Summer 2014

Poyner Spruill LLP on 7/25/2014

In this issue: - Nursing Facility Survey Trends: Directed Plans of Correction, Privacy Violations and FTag 520 Quality Assurance Committee Citations - COBRA Meets ACA – Time to Update COBRA Notices -...more

Take 5 Newsletter: Five Labor and Employment Issues Faced by Health Care Employers

Epstein Becker & Green on 7/23/2014

As the Affordable Care Act and the challenges of reimbursement and funding for health care services drive changes in the health care delivery system and employment in the industry, new issues in labor and employment law are...more

News from the Health Law Gurus™: July 2014

Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP on 7/18/2014

Survey of ACA Navigators Finds 10.6 Million People Sought Enrollment Help — In a survey released this week, the Kaiser Family Foundation (“Kaiser”) estimates that approximately 10.6 million people received assistance...more

The IRS Says (Again) That Certain Employer Payment Plans Won’t Fly

Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC on 7/2/2014

The IRS recently issued two new Q&As to underscore that arrangements allowing employers to reimburse employees on a pre-tax basis for premiums used to purchase individual health coverage, either inside or outside of a public...more

Health Care Reform: Beware of Litigation Risks

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on 5/21/2014

As almost all employers know, one of the many requirements of health care reform is the so-called employer mandate. The employer mandate generally provides that large employers who fail to offer their full-time employees...more

ACA, HIPAA, COBRA and HSA Penalties: What Do They Mean?

Dickinson Wright on 4/10/2014

What do all of these acronyms stand for and why do employers and human resource professionals care? These acronyms stand for statutory requirements which apply to employer-provided health plans and stiff penalties can apply...more

Benefits Litigation Update - January 2014

Epstein Becker & Green on 1/28/2014

In this issue: - Will Section 510 of ERISA Restrict Workforce Structuring under the Affordable Care Act? - A New Threat to Sponsors and Fiduciaries: Equitable Remedies After Amara - First ERISA Decision...more

Avoiding Mistletoe Mishaps, Part II: Do I Have To Offer Health Care Coverage To My Seasonal Employees?

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 11/25/2013

As 2013 comes to an end, we are considering a number of issues that employers might be facing at the end of the year. Our year-end blog series will cover issues such as seasonal hiring, religious discrimination claims...more

Affordable Care Act Update

Holland & Knight LLP on 5/30/2013

On May 8, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued temporary guidance for employers to help them meet their obligations to notify employees of their health insurance exchange coverage options. State health insurance...more

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) › Healthcare › Employer Liability Issues

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