Last month, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued proposed regulations that provide guidance on the nondiscrimination testing rules for dependent care assistance programs (DCAPs) under Section 129 of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”).

In a welcome and long-awaited development, the proposed regulations clarify that, under the 55% average benefits test, only employees who…

On September 8, 2026, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2026-03 (the “FAB”), outlining a new set of guiding principles for enforcing the nonquantitative treatment limitation (“NQTL”) requirements under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”), as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA…

During the last week of August, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services (the “Departments”) issued FAQs Part 74, addressing HIPAA nondiscrimination and wellness program rules. 

In the FAQs, the Departments confirmed that sponsors of group health plans have considerable flexibility in crafting wellness programs and should not be penalized for…

In late July, the Department of Labor proposed new regulations that would extend the “notice-and-access” electronic disclosure model that the DOL finalized in 2020 for retirement plans to group health plans.  The proposed rule closely tracks the current notice-and-access model for retirement plan disclosures, but with some modifications for health plans, as explained below. 

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