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).