As employers and insurers continue to establish programs to enable participants in group health plans to receive at-home COVID-19 tests at no cost, even without a prescription, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued...more
In fulfillment of President Biden’s promise to make at-home COVID tests more available for all of us, two significant action steps have now occurred:
1.Every U.S. household has access to free at-home COVID-19 tests. As of...more
In our most recent summary of IRS Notice 2021-31, we noted the Internal Revenue Service provided much-needed clarity to looming compliance challenges as employers, insurers, and others race to implement the applicable COBRA...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) amended the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) to include substantial new compliance requirements. The Department of Labor (DOL), Health and Human...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) is the latest federal COVID-19 relief bill, which the President signed into law March 11, 2021. ARPA includes new COBRA continuation coverage election, notice, and subsidy...more
3/12/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Dependent Care ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Pensions ,
Popular ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, generally provides the annual funding for the federal government and, in almost 5,600 pages, contains several important rules giving further COVID-19 relief, including the expansion...more
IRS Notice 2020-44 was issued this week as a reminder that Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fees were extended under the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 and are now not scheduled to expire...more
As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are observing all sorts of never-before-seen changes in the fully-insured group health plan space. Many insurers are liberally waiving their normal rules to accommodate the...more
As we advised was likely during our June 29, 2019 webinar, Association Health Plans—Are They Really an Option to Consider?, at least two states were likely to challenge the enforceability of the new regulations issued by the...more
As discussed during our recent webinar, the finalized DOL regulations for qualifying “association health plans” will likely create new opportunities for sole proprietors and other primarily small businesses and other trade...more