Compliance and Legal Department

Agencies Issue Additional Guidance on OTC COVID-19 Tests

By Stacy Barrow - February 15, 2022

On February 4, 2022, federal agencies released additional FAQs related to coverage of over-the-counter (“OTC”) COVID-19 tests by group health plans and health insurance carriers.  The FAQs are intended to clarify the previous FAQs released on January 10, 2022. Prior Guidance On January 10, 2022, the agencies released initial guidance for plans and carriers, which [Read More]

U.S. Supreme Court Stays OSHA’s ETS for Private Employers with 100 or More Employees; Upholds CMS’ Interim Final Rule for Health Care Workers

By Stacy Barrow - January 13, 2022

On January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court released its much anticipated opinions in the ongoing challenges to OSHA’s November 5, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring private employers with 100 or more employees to either mandate employees be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and mask mandates, and CMS’ November 5, 2021 Interim [Read More]

Agencies Issue FAQs Regarding Coverage of Over the Counter COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests

By Stacy Barrow - January 12, 2022

On December 2, 2021, President Biden announced that federal agencies would soon issue guidance regarding the availability of coverage/reimbursement from group health plans and health insurance carriers for individuals who purchase over the counter, at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests (“OTC COVID-19 tests”).  Accordingly, on January 10, 2022, the agencies released “FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation [Read More]

6th Circuit Court of Appeals Dissolves 5th Circuit’s Stay of OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing; OSHA Plans to Implement Beginning January 10, 2022

By Stacy Barrow - December 21, 2021

On December 17, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit (6th Circuit) dissolved the stay of OSHA’s November 5, 2021, Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for private employers with 100 or more employees issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit (5th Circuit).  As a result of the [Read More]

IRS Proposes Permanent 30-day Extension to ACA Reporting Deadline

On November 22, 2021, the IRS filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Proposed Rule”) that among other things, provides for an automatic 30-day extension of the deadline for applicable large employers (“ALEs”) to furnish annual Forms 1095-C to individuals for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2021.  Further, the Proposed Rule allows ALEs to voluntarily [Read More]

OSHA Releases Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing

On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he ordered OSHA to develop an emergency temporary standard (ETS) that would require private employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that employees either receive one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.  On November 4, 2021, OSHA released an unpublished [Read More]

IRS Issues Affordability Percentage Adjustment for 2022

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Rev. Proc. 2021-36, which contains the inflation-adjusted amounts for 2022 used to determine whether employer-sponsored coverage is “affordable” for purposes of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility provisions and premium tax credit program. As shown in the table below, for plan years beginning in 2022, the [Read More]

DOL Extends Certain Deadlines Under the CAA and Transparency in Coverage Rules

In October 2020, CMS Released its Transparency in Coverage Final Rules (the “TiC Final Rules”) which require non-grandfathered group health plans and carriers offering health insurance in the individual and group markets to: (1) make available to the public three separate machine-readable files (for in-network rates, out-of-network allowed amounts and prescription drugs) that include detailed [Read More]