Last week, the Departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor released Affordable Care Act FAQs Part 72, confirming that employers and other plan sponsors may offer fertility benefits through existing HIPAA “excepted benefit” structures. The guidance does not announce new methods for plan sponsors to provide fertility benefits, but it does confirm
Health and Welfare Plans
District Court Vacates HIPAA Reproductive Health Care Rule
Last month, a federal district court in Texas vacated portions of the HIPAA final rule that added heightened protections for reproductive health care information (the “Final Rule”). Purl, et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, et al., No. 2:24-cv-00228-Z (N.D. Tex. June 18, 2025). As discussed in our prior blog posts…
Supreme Court Decision Leaves ACA Preventive Services Mandate Intact
On the last day before the U.S. Supreme Court’s summer recess, the Court issued a decision that left in place the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) mandate that requires non-grandfathered group health plans and issuers to cover, without cost sharing, all evidence-based items or services that have a rating of “A” or “B” in the current…
Departments Press Pause on Final Mental Health Parity Regulations
By Jennifer Rigterink & Robert Projansky on
Yesterday, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services announced a non-enforcement policy with respect to final regulations issued under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”) in September 2024. The Departments recently indicated that this policy was imminent when they requested that litigation challenging the final regulations be…