K&L Gates Triage: An Insider’s Perspective on the Health Care Debate in Washington, DC
The Biden Administration wasted no time in implementing some of the new President’s campaign promises relating to health insurance and the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). First, on February 10 the Department of Justice filed a...more
In the opening days of his administration, President Biden has signed a flurry of Executive Orders impacting multiple sectors of the U.S. economy. This article summarizes the Orders that impact employee benefits and...more
2019 saw court hearings of a number of cases related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Several other Trump administration policies were also challenged, including Medicare payment policies, price transparency, how the...more
On March 28, 2019, the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion and order vacating key portions of the Department of Labor’s regulation, published in June 2018, which had expanded the definition...more
On Friday, March 28, 2019, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates rejected the Trump Administration’s proposal for association health plans (AHP). ...more
This is the one hundred and nineteenth issue in our series of alerts for employers on selected topics on health care reform. ...more
A recent ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia calls into question the recently expanded regulations allowing small employers to band together to establish Association Health Plans....more
A federal court struck down key portions of the new association health plan (AHP) regulations last week, just days before the fledgling rules for self-insured medical plans were slated to go into effect regarding...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has set aside the most significant portions of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) regulations on Association Health Plans (AHPs)....more
The Affordable Care Act returned to the front page this weekend when a federal district court in Texas issued an opinion striking down the entire law as unconstitutional. ...more
On December 14, 2018, a Texas federal court declared the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional. Despite this broad holding (and clickbait headlines), employers should not expect to see any significant changes to...more
The results of the midterm elections will bring about a significant change to the federal health care policy landscape in 2019. Democratic control of the House of Representatives will effectively end any legislative...more
Over the past year, the courts considered cost-sharing reduction payments, the individual mandate, consumer protections, association and short-term health plans. Below is an overview of where ACA-related court rulings stand,...more
As previously discussed by our colleagues at ML Strategies, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) released new guidelines (the “Guidance”) on the application and...more
On October 12, 2017, President Trump signed a “Presidential Executive Order Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States” (the “Executive Order”) to “facilitate the purchase of insurance across state...more
Last year, the President issued an Executive Order directing the Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue regulations to expand access to association health plans (AHPs). Earlier this year, the DOL issued final...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
Department of Labor Issues Final Rule that Expands Association Health Plans - On June 21, 2018, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule that establishes additional...more
On Aug. 1, 2018, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Treasury jointly issued the Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance Final Rule. The rule is the second of three regulations resulting from...more
On August 1, 2018, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule to expand the availability of short-term, limited duration insurance (STLDI or short-term plans). ...more
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
On June 21, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations establishing alternative criteria under section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) for forming single-employer...more
On June 19, 2018, the Trump administration took the first step in a three-part effort to expand affordable health plan options for consumers when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a proposed rule designed to make...more