Background Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 created reporting requirements for group health plans to CMS. These requirements were effective January 1, 2009. In most cases, the insurance carrier and TPA are the RREs. An employer may be the RRE when it both sponsors and administers the group…
On Jan. 17, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a final rule increasing the civil monetary penalties for violations of laws enforced by HHS, including the HIPAA privacy and security rules. HHS is required to adjust these penalties for inflation each year to improve their effectiveness and maintain its deterrent…
On December 16, 2019, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published final regulations on “regular rate of pay†for overtime pay purposes under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSAâ€). The final regulations address common employer-provided benefits as well as other workplace practices, which were not specifically addressed in previous…
In a bipartisan effort, the U.S. Congress agreed on a spending package to fund the federal government which included important changes to federal laws affecting employer-sponsored group health and welfare benefit plans. The legislation was signed into law by the President on December 20, 2019. The law repeals the following taxes under the Affordable Care…
On September 30, 2019, the IRS published proposed regulations to clarify the application of the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and certain nondiscrimination rules under the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 105(h) to health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”) integrated with individual health insurance coverage (individual coverage HRAs, or “ICHRAs”). Notably, the proposed regulations…
Background The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency that collects data and administers various federal programs. The agency utilizes the CMS online tool to collect information from employers about whether their group health plan’s prescription drug coverage is creditable or non-creditable. Creditable coverage means the group health plan’s prescription drug…