Benefits and Me Newsletter – January 2022
This month's Benefits and Me discusses how to make better health care decisions, employee assistance programs and IRS Forms 1095.
This month's Benefits and Me discusses how to make better health care decisions, employee assistance programs and IRS Forms 1095.
Join us on January 20th at 2:00PM EST to learn about the most recent developments affecting group health plans and to gain practical insights into the year ahead. During this webinar, we’ll analyze the myriad of new transparency-related rules, examine the continued impact of COVID-19 on group health plan compliance, make informed predictions about action on the federal level and review recurring compliance obligations.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), enacted in December 2020, amended the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MPHAEA) to require employers that sponsor self-funded group health plans that cover mental health or substance use disorder benefits to perform a “comparative analysis” of any non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) effective February 10, 2021. All group health plans are subject to the CAA. Fully insured plans, however, have relief from this requirement as the insurance carrier has the obligation to perform the comparative analysis, not the employer. Though the MPHAEA already required group health plans and insurers to perform an analysis of NQTLs, the CAA’s requirement to produce written documentation of the comparative analysis is new and bolsters the DOL’s, IRS’s and HHS’s (collectively, the Agencies’) increasing focus and ongoing commitment to MPHAEA enforcement. Due to the time constraints and potential penalties, employer-sponsors of self-insured health plans should focus on understanding this complex new requirement and prioritize their next steps to ensure compliance.
With Employee Benefits & HR topics regularly in the news, it’s difficult to stay up to date. Our weekly newsletter will help you stay current. Check out this week’s edition.
This month's Benefits Buzz discusses the Supreme Court's decision to review the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates as well as updated civil penalty amounts for certain violations.
This month's Benefits Buzz discusses an interim final rule requiring the reporting of prescription drug and medical cost information, as well as updated employee benefit plan limits for 2022.