On June 13, 2019 the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (the Departments) issued final rules that the Departments stated “will provide hundreds of thousands of employers, including small businesses, a better way to provide health insurance coverage, and millions of American workers more options for health insurance coverage.”
Summary of the Final Rules
The final rules expand opportunities for employers to establish Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) and other account-based group health plans under various provisions of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code (Code). Specifically, the final rules:
- Allow employers to integrate HRAs and other account-based group health plans with individual health insurance coverage or Medicare, if certain conditions are satisfied (an individual coverage HRA).
- Set forth conditions under which certain HRAs and other account-based group health plans will be recognized as limited excepted benefits.
- Provide rules regarding premium tax credit (PTC) eligibility for individuals offered an individual coverage HRA.
- Clarify rules to provide assurance that the individual health insurance coverage for which premiums are reimbursed by an individual coverage HRA or a qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement (QSEHRA) does not become part of an ERISA plan, provided certain safe harbor conditions are satisfied
- Provide a special enrollment period (SEP) in the individual market for individuals who newly gain access to an individual coverage HRA or who are newly provided a QSEHRA.
The stated goal of the final rules s is to expand the flexibility and use of HRAs and other account-based group health plans to provide more Americans with additional options to obtain quality, affordable healthcare. The final rules generally apply for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2020.
Implications for Employers
Employers can contribute as little or as much as they want to an Individual Coverage HRA. However, Employers that offer an Individual Coverage HRA, must offer it on the same terms to all individuals within a class of employees, except that the amounts offered may be increased for older workers and for workers with more dependents.
An employer cannot offer an Individual Coverage HRA to any employee to whom you offer a traditional group health plan. However, you can decide to offer an individual coverage HRA to certain classes of employees and a traditional group health plan (or no coverage) to other classes of employees.
Employee Classes
Employers may make distinctions, using classes based on the following status:
- Full-time employees,
- Part-time employees,
- Employees working in the same geographic location (generally, the same insurance rating area, state, or multi-state region),
- Seasonal employees,
- Employees in a unit of employees covered by a particular collective bargaining agreement,
- Employees who have not satisfied a waiting period,
- Non-resident aliens with no U.S.-based income,
- Salaried workers,
- Non-salaried workers (such as hourly workers),
- Temporary employees of staffing firms, or
- Any group of employees formed by combining two or more of these classes.
To prevent adverse selection in the individual market, a minimum class size rule applies if an employer offers a traditional group health plan to some employees and an Individual Coverage HRA to other employees based on:
- full-time versus part-time status;
- salaried versus non-salaried status; or
- geographic location, if the location is smaller than a state.
Generally, the minimum class size rule also applies if you combine any of these classes with other classes. The minimum class size is:
- Ten employees, for an employer with fewer than 100 employees,
- Ten percent of the total number of employees, for an employer with 100 to 200 employees, and
- Twenty employees, for an employer with more than 200 employees.
Also, through a new hire rule, employers can offer new employees an Individual Coverage HRA, while grandfathering existing employees in a traditional group health plan.
ACA Employer Mandate
An offer of an Individual Coverage HRA counts as an offer of coverage under the employer mandate. In general, whether an applicable large employer that offers an Individual Coverage HRA to its full-time employees (and their dependents) owes a payment under the employer mandate will depend on whether the HRA is affordable. This is determined under the premium tax credit rule being issued as part of the HRA rule and is based, in part, on the amount the employer makes available under the HRA.
The Internal Revenue Service is expected to provide more information on how the employer mandate applies to Individual Coverage HRAs soon.
Administrative Requirements
Individual Coverage HRAs must provide a notice to eligible participants regarding the Individual Coverage HRA and its interaction with the premium tax credit. The HRA must also have reasonable procedures to substantiate that participating employees and their families are enrolled in individual health insurance or Medicare, while covered by the HRA.
Employees must also be permitted to opt out of an Individual Coverage HRA at least annually so they may claim the premium tax credit if they are otherwise eligible and if the HRA is considered unaffordable.
Employers generally will not have any responsibility with respect to the individual health insurance itself that is purchased by the employee, because it will not be considered part of your employer-sponsored plan, provided:
- An employee’s purchase of any individual health insurance is completely voluntary.
- The employer does not select or endorse any particular insurance carrier or insurance coverage.
- The employer does not receive any cash, gifts, or other consideration in connection with an employee’s selection or renewal of any individual health insurance.
- Each employee is notified annually that the individual health insurance is not subject to ERISA.
More….
The Final Rules can be found here
