Compliance Bulletin | August 2023

Welcome to the August 2023 edition of the Baldwin Bulletin, a compliance newsletter by the Baldwin Regulatory Compliance Collaborative (BRCC).

The Baldwin Bulletin serves as a monthly guide to important regulatory developments, legal news, and employee benefits-related industry happenings designed to keep you abreast of the latest developments.

This month’s issue focuses on important compliance deadlines that will apply this year, in addition to providing employers with information regarding certain hot-button compliance issues significantly impacting employers over the next several months.

Upcoming 2023 Compliance Deadlines. For information regarding upcoming compliance deadlines for employer-sponsored group health plans, including our compliance timeline explaining key compliance deadlines during August – December 2023. Read more here.

Proposed Regulations Issued Regarding Short-term, Limited-Duration Insurance and Health Insurance Indemnity Plans. The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury collectively have released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that addresses several issues, including proposals to modify the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance and the conditions for hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance to be considered an excepted benefit. The NPRM also clarifies the tax treatment of certain benefit payments in fixed amounts received under employer-provided accident and health plans.   Read more here.

Departments Issue Frequently Asked Questions on Implementing ACA’s Cost-Sharing Limit and No Surprises Act. The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury collectively issued a set of frequently asked questions to assist in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s overall cost-sharing limit and the No Surprises Act’s protections against surprise medical billing.  Read more here.

Employee Benefit Lawsuits on the Rise.  On June 30, 2023, Kraft Heinz Company sued Aetna Life Insurance Company for breach of fiduciary duty, a most recent example of an uptick in the number of lawsuits by employers against insurers and other third-party administrators (TPAs) that administer their health and welfare benefit plans. It is now believed that employees may follow suit and bring causes of action against their employer-sponsored health plan, potentially ushering in a new wave of ERISA litigation.   Read more here.

Draft 2023 ACA Reporting Forms Released. The IRS has released draft 2023 Forms 1094/1095-Bs and 1094/1095-Cs. Draft instructions for these forms have not yet been released.  Read more here.

Mental Health Parity Proposed Regulations Released. The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury, collectively have issued a proposed rule to strengthen the requirements of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Read more here.

OCR Addresses HIPAA and Cybersecurity Authentication; Warns of Privacy and Security Risks of Using Online Technologies. The June 2023 issue of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Cybersecurity Newsletter stresses the importance of having strong authentication processes in place to lessen and prevent cyberattacks. Also, a joint OCR and Federal Trade Commission letter issued on July 20, 2023, draws attention to potential privacy and security risks related to the use of online tracking technologies that may be present on company websites or mobile applications. Read more here.

Question of the Month. Our “Question of the Month” concerns the federal laws that need to be considered when setting up a compliant wellness program. Read more here.