On September 30th, the IRS issued proposed regulations that establish safe harbors for compliance with the employer mandate in the context of individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (or “ICHRAs”).  These proposed regulations are important for employers that choose to offer ICHRAs and want to be sure they comply with the employer shared responsibility

On June 13, 2019, the Department of Labor, together with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”), published final regulations designed to expand the use of health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”). The final regulations provide, in general, that HRAs may be used to (1) reimburse premiums for

In EEOC v. Orion Energy Systems, Inc.,  the Eastern District of Wisconsin rejected the EEOC’s claims that Orion Energy’s wellness program violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  Although the court upheld the employer’s past practice, the court signaled that the EEOC’s recent regulations on wellness plans (discussed here and here), which limit the incentive that an employer can provide to encourage participation in a wellness program, will be enforceable going forward.  Although it has limited precedential value, the Orion decision suggests that employers should continue to take the new regulations into account for 2017 and beyond.

For large employers, the quest to reduce the cost of medical benefits relies in part on helping employees get healthier. Enter the “wellness program,” where employers offer incentives to employees and their families to be more proactive about their health in various ways, such as more exercise, quitting smoking, diagnosing high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and evaluating the risk of future health problems.

For the past couple of years, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been challenging employer wellness programs for their alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The most recent EEOC challenge was in EEOC v. Flambeau, Inc., (No. 14-cv-638-bbc (December 31, 2015)).  In this case, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin handed the EEOC another loss in a wellness case (and handed employers a big win) by holding that the ADA “safe harbor” provision for bona fide benefit plans allowed the Wisconsin plastics manufacturer to condition participation in its self-funded group health plan on a requirement that employees complete a health risk assessment (HRA) and undergo “biometric screening.”

On December 16, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2015-87 containing guidance on a wide-range of topics under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In addition to providing guidance on affordability and COBRA matters (which will be described in subsequent blogs), Notice 2015-87 builds upon prior guidance to regulate further the use of health reimbursement arrangements to reimburse premiums paid for individual market premiums.

By way of background, as described in IRS Notices 2013-54 and 2015-17, the IRS considers arrangements whereby employers reimburse employees (whether on a pre-tax or after-tax basis) for medical-related costs (including premiums) to be group health plans subject to the ACA’s market reforms. The problem is that, by their very nature, these health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and premium payment plans cannot on their own satisfy certain market reforms, such as the required coverage of preventive services or prohibition on annual limits. Therefore, in order for HRAs to be ACA compliant, they must be “integrated” with a group health plan that meets the ACA’s market reforms. Although the IRS allows an HRA to be integrated with a group health plan, including a group health plan not sponsored by the employer sponsoring the HRA, the IRS has unequivocally stated that an HRA cannot be integrated with an individual market plan (subject to the few exceptions described below).

On Friday, September 13, 2013, the IRS released Notice 2013-54 and the DOL issued Technical Release 2013-03 in substantially identical form.  This guidance, which is generally effective January 1, 2014, provides much needed clarification on the application of certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) (annual limits and preventive care) to account-based plans such as HRAs and FSAs, and other types of arrangements that reimburse premiums (referred to in the guidance as “Employer Payment Plans”). 

The guidance indicates that the agencies are generally viewing HRAs, FSAs, and Employer Payment Plans as group health plans for purposes of ACA.  This means that these arrangements will qualify as “minimum essential coverage” for covered employees (i.e., they will preclude employees from receiving a premium credit), unless they are “excepted benefits” under HIPAA.  This also means that these arrangements will need to comply with ACA’s annual dollar limit prohibition and preventive care requirements, unless they are integrated with a compliant group health plan (or are excepted benefits).