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Seyfarth Synopsis: Fresh on the heels of the IRS Chief Counsel Memorandum on wellness and indemnity products, discussed in our prior post here, the agencies have weighed in with more formal and more expansive guidance throwing more cold water on the tax treatment of these types of products, that the Administration has dubbed “junk insurance”. 

Background

On July 7th, the Treasury Department, Department of Labor, and Health and Human Services (the “agencies”) issued proposed rules impacting “junk insurance”. The guidance proposes (i) changes to what qualifies as short-term, limited-duration insurance, (ii) amendments to the requirements for independent, non-coordinated coverage, and fixed indemnity insurance to be considered an “excepted benefit”, and (iii) clarifications of the tax treatment of fixed amount benefit payments under employment-based accident and health plans. The IRS also asks for comments on coverage limited to specified diseases or illnesses that qualifies as excepted benefits and on level-funded plan arrangements.

Continue Reading My Insurance Doesn’t Cover That? Agency Guidance on “Junk Insurance”

Seyfarth Synopsis: Employer health plan sponsors, administrators, and insurers have been eagerly awaiting the U.S. Department of Labor’s upcoming guidance on mental health parity.  According to recent reports, newly proposed MHPAEA regulations have been sent to the White House for review and their public release is imminent. 

In 2020, Congress amended the Paul Wellstone and

Seyfarth Synopsis: In light of a recent focus on price transparency, claims data, and hidden fees in the health plan world, employer-sponsored health plans have been bringing their fight to the courtroom in an effort to lower costs and demonstrate good fiduciary governance.

In the wake of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, as well as newly-issued transparency regulations, employers sponsoring group health plans now have access to (or should have access to) a bevy of data not previously available in the notoriously secretive space of health plan pricing. As predicted, this new era of information transparency has spurred a small but growing stream of lawsuits. Surprisingly though, the plaintiffs in these suits are plan sponsors (or their committees) in their role as plan administrator, as opposed to plan participants, and the defendants are health plan third-party administrators rather than the plans themselves. In light of these recent lawsuits, this post focuses on fiduciary considerations for health plans in this new era of fee and price transparency.

While each lawsuit filed to date has unique aspects, they all generally allege some combination of the following:

  • Failure to adequately and fully disclose payment data as required by law;
  • Imposition of hidden and unreasonable fees;
  • Breach of fiduciary duty; and
  • Claims mismanagement and overpayment.


Continue Reading Who Do I Need to Sue to Get a Decent Cup of Coffee? Jittery Fiduciaries Consider Options as Health Plan Litigation Froths Up

Seyfarth Synopsis: HHS has announced that the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) has been extended another 90 days, and will run until January 11, 2023.

Seyfarth Update: On January 11, 2023, HHS announced another extension of the PHE to April 11, 2023.

Seyfarth Update: On January 20,2023, the Biden administration announced that it is

Seyfarth Synopsis: Last summer and fall, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services issued Interim Final Rules (IFRs) [here] and [here], implementing the sweeping changes that applied to out-of-network health care providers and health plans under the No Surprises Act. While much of the IFR content was welcome

Seyfarth Synopsis: Almost a decade after the 408(b)(2) fee disclosure requirements took effect for retirement plan service providers, Congress finally passed legislation addressing compensation disclosure rules for service providers to group health plans. At the end of 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which requires individuals to disclose direct and indirect compensation of

Seyfarth Synopsis: As employers continue to struggle with strategies for safely re-opening their workplaces, we have previously discussed the possibility of mandating a vaccine or providing incentives for getting the vaccine. [Here] As employers shift their focus toward the cost of COVID hospitalizations (which studies show are a much greater risk for unvaccinated individuals), employers

Dismissal of ACA Lawsuit Based Only on Standing Grounds

Seyfarth Synopsis:  In Texas v. California, the Supreme Court rejected another challenge to the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare” or “ACA”). The Court never reached the merits of the challenge, relying instead on its now robust Article III standing doctrine. The plaintiffs failed to allege injury traceable

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”) offers significant relief for employers sponsoring flexible spending accounts. After much clamoring from the employer community, the IRS finally issued clarifying guidance in the form of Notice 2021-15 (the “Notice”). Check out our full Legal Update for details.