Title I of Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”), and interim final rules issued by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor (the “Departments”) in July 2021 (see our...more
10/4/2022
/ Arbitrators ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
No Surprises Act (NSA) ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Transparency ,
U.S. Treasury
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The decision explicitly reverses Roe v. Wade, thereby radically altering the legal and political...more
6/27/2022
/ Abortion ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
MHPAEA ,
Preemption ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS ,
Women's Rights
In recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (the “Release”), the Department of Labor (the “Department”) addressed cryptocurrencies as 401(k) plan investments. To the surprise of some and the delight of...more
Section 108, Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 requires the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services and the Treasury (the “Departments”) to issue regulations under Section 2706(a) of the Public...more
In two previous posts, we reported on the rules enacted in Section 202, Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) requiring the disclosure of direct and indirect compensation paid to brokers and...more
In Field Assistance Bulletin 2021-03, the Department of Labor (the “Department”) announced a temporary enforcement policy relating to the rules enacted in Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”)...more
Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“Act”) broadly addresses surprise medical billing and health plan transparency. This post focuses on Section 202 of Division BB (the “Provision”), which establishes...more
12/7/2021
/ Brokers ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Consultants ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Insurance Industry ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
Transparency
A recently proposed Department of Labor regulation entitled “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights” (the “Proposal”) addresses the duties of retirement plan fiduciaries when...more
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the “Departments”) recently issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions—FAQs About Affordable Act Implementation, Part 50, Health Insurance Portability and...more
10/13/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VI ,
Title VII ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Vaccinations
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued model notices regarding COBRA premium assistance (a/k/a COBRA subsidies). As we wrote about here, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”), Congress sought to...more
On February 26, 2021, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued Notice 2021-01 (the “Notice”). The Notice was issued jointly with the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue...more
On June 13, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (collectively, the “Departments”)...more
7/11/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
COBRA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HRA ,
IRS ,
Medicare ,
Public Health Service Act ,
Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Plan (QSEHRAs) ,
TRICARE ,
U.S. Treasury
In the last post in this series, we examined the regulatory response by certain states to the final regulations governing association health plans, which were issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in June 2018. As we...more
In a summary of the recently issued Association Health Plan (AHP) final regulations, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rightly observed that AHPs are a species of multi-employer welfare arrangements, or MEWAs, that are...more
10/3/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Association Health Plans ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Independent Contractors ,
MEWAs ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Savings Clause ,
Supremacy Clause ,
Trump Administration
This is the first post in a blog series exploring the U.S. Department of Labor’s recently issued final regulation governing Association Health Plans (AHPs). While AHPs can be either fully-insured or self-funded, the final...more
7/24/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Association Health Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Executive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
MEWAs ,
Trump Administration
What’s a financial advisor to do? On March 15, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. v. U.S. Dep’t. of Labor, No. 17-10238, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 6472 (5th Cir. Mar. 15, 2018) vacated –...more
4/12/2018
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retail Investors ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Vacated
In advance of issuing the Executive Order that culminated in the promulgation by the Department of Labor of proposed regulations expanding the availability of Association Health Plans, President Trump announced that one of...more
Recently proposed Department of Labor (Department) regulations governing Association Health Plans (AHPs) would, if made final, permit small employers to be regulated under more favorable, large group rules. The proposed...more
In last week’s post we explained the changes made by a newly proposed Department of Labor regulation, the purpose of which is make it easier for small employers to band together to form “association health plans” (“AHPs”). In...more
1/22/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Association Health Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
MEWAs ,
NAIC ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
On January 3, 2018, the Department of Labor issued proposed regulations that will make it easier for small employers to band together to form “association health plans” (“AHPs”), thereby providing access to more liberal...more
1/11/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Association Health Plans ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Insurance ,
MEWAs ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Trump Administration
On October 13th, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing various federal agencies to consider how to achieve three administration health reform objectives: (1) expand access to Association Health Plans (AHPs); (2)...more
10/25/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Association Health Plans ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Executive Orders ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
MEWAs ,
New Guidance ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Trump Administration
Mull v. Motion Picture Ind. Health Plan educates employers on the basics of the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) governing plan documents and summary plan descriptions. The lessons are...more
8/22/2017
/ Appeals ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Motion Picture Industry ,
Plan Administrators ,
Plan Documents ,
Subrogation ,
Summary Plan Description
In April of this year, the Department of Labor issued a suite of rules (i) expanding the class of persons and entities who are fiduciaries for purposes of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code; (ii) providing two new prohibited...more
This post continues our examination of the Department of Labor’s suite of final fiduciary and conflict of interest regulations. Our previous posts discussed the newly expanded definition of “investment advice fiduciary”; the...more
7/15/2016
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Brokers ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Covered Transactions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Insurance Agents ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Recordkeeping Requirements
On June 10, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (The “Departments”) issued a set of proposed regulations dealing with expatriate health plans, excepted benefits, lifetime and annual limits, and...more