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
As we reported in a previous post, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker in August 2017 signed into law H. 3822, “An Act Further Regulating Employer Contributions to Health Care” (the “Act”). Among other things, the law...more
1/10/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Covered Employees ,
Employer Contributions ,
Fair Share Contribution ,
Governor Baker ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
PHI ,
Proposed Rules ,
State Health Plans ,
Unemployment Insurance
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act makes some notable, though targeted, changes to the employee benefits landscape. We summarize some of the more significant changes in the Question and Answers set out below....more
1/4/2018
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Individual Mandate ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Natural Disasters ,
Reimbursements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Reform ,
Wage and Hour
The “intermediate sanctions” rules under Section 4958 of the Internal Revenue Code have long governed the payment of compensation to executives of public charities. While these rules are highly prescriptive, if followed, they...more
1/2/2018
/ 501(c)(3) ,
Board of Directors ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Covered Employees ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Excise Tax ,
Executive Compensation ,
Form 990 ,
IRS ,
Nonprofits ,
Remuneration ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
UBTI
In a November 20, 2017 post, we reported on Massachusetts’ passage of H. 3822, “An Act Further Regulating Employer Contributions to Health Care,” (the “Act”), the purpose of which is to shore up the finances of the...more
12/14/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Covered Employees ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Contributions ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medicaid ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Tax Penalties ,
Unemployment Insurance
In an earlier post, we reported on the passage of H. 3822, “An Act Further Regulating Employer Contributions to Health Care,” (the “Act”), the purpose of which is to shore up the finances of the Commonwealth’s Medicaid...more
The Internal Revenue Service has for some time made available a comprehensive set of Questions & Answers covering the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility rules. (These are the rules that are codified in...more
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
In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has been considering allowing health insurance to be purchased across state lines and expanding access to “Association Health Plans” (AHPs) that could take economic advantage of...more
At this writing, the prospects for success of the latest Republican effort to replace the Affordable Care Act appear bleak — but the Graham-Cassidy bill on which the GOP has pinned its last-ditch hopes highlights a major...more
9/25/2017
/ 1332 Waiver ,
Actuaries ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Block Grants ,
Cost-Sharing ,
EHB ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Insurance Risk Pool ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Premiums ,
Public Health Insurance Marketplace ,
Repeal
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
On August 1, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law H. 3822, “An Act Further Regulating Employer Contributions to Health Care” (the “Act”). The purpose of the Act is to shore up the finances of the...more
With its “employer mandate”—i.e., the requirement that applicable large employers make an offer of group health coverage to substantially all full-time employees or face the prospect of a penalty—the Affordable Care Act (ACA)...more
6/15/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Captive Insurance Company ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Large Employer ,
Medical Stop-Loss Rules ,
MEWAs ,
Self-Funded Health Plans
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently gave a candid assessment of the chances of getting an Affordable Care Act (ACA) replacement bill through the Senate, saying “I don’t know how we get to 50 (votes) at the...more
6/8/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Health Care Act (AHCA) ,
Congressional Budget Office ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Health Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
High Risk Pools ,
Individual Mandate ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicaid ,
Medicaid Expansion ,
Medicare ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration
In an effort to make up for a funding shortfall in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, state policymakers have proposed solutions that include a “play-or-pay” option under which employers who fail to offer...more
5/30/2017
/ Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Contributions ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medicaid ,
Pay or Play ,
Preemption ,
State Legislatures
Wearable technology continues to do a full court press on the marketplace and in the process, the step counters of the world and health apps tied to devices capable of tracking real-time biostatistics, are revolutionizing the...more
The stunning failure of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA) (which we previously reported on here) has political and policy implications that we cannot forecast. Nor it is it clear to...more
3/28/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Large Employer ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicaid ,
Medicaid Expansion ,
Preemption ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
State Health Plans ,
Trump Administration
On March 6, 2017, after years of promising, GOP lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced the “American Health Care Act” (AHCA), the first concrete legislative proposal detailing the initial provisions designed to...more
3/22/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 ,
Dependent Coverage ,
Employer Mandates ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Individual Mandate ,
Medicaid Expansion ,
Medical Device Tax ,
Medicare Part D ,
Minimum Essential Coverage ,
Over-the-Counter Sales ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Small Business ,
Tax Credits
A recent report from the nation’s top actuaries takes a sobering look at the challenges policy makers face in creating a viable individual (i.e., non-group) health insurance market—a critical component of any plan to replace...more
On January 25, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued it much-anticipated decision in EEOC v. Flambeau, Inc. This case involved the regulation of employer-sponsored wellness plans and programs. Since 2006, the rules...more
This week continues our survey of key Republican proposals to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In the past two weeks, we have reviewed the Trump/Pence transition plan, entitled “Healthcare Reform to Make...more
The recent Republican election victories appear to ensure that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) days are numbered. But with nearly a fifth of the U.S. economy, and the health care coverage for some tens of millions of U.S....more
12/29/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HSA ,
Medical Stop-Loss Rules ,
Medicare ,
MEWAs ,
Wellness Programs
The Trump campaign promised to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. On the campaign trail, candidate Trump was particularly critical of the ACA’s individual mandate, the subsidization of premium charges to older...more
The Affordable Care Act made fundamental and important changes to the way the United States finances health care. The law did not represent a radical departure from prior law or policy, however. The ACA instead worked within,...more
The Affordable Care Act was—at least until the election of Donald J. Trump as President—the single most important piece of Federal social legislation in the United States in more than a generation. The law’s fate is now...more