Compliance Bulletin | June 2024

Welcome to the June 2024 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 upcoming compliance deadlines and includes our timeline of upcoming compliance requirements, in addition to providing information regarding certain hot-button compliance issues significantly impacting employers.

Upcoming Compliance Deadlines. For information regarding upcoming compliance deadlines for employer-sponsored group health plans, read more here.

2024 HIPAA Complete Training Calendar.  This year’s HIPAA Complete training calendar is available here.

2024 Baldwin Professional Education Connection Educational Webcast Calendar. The BPEC’s monthly educational webinar series calendar for 2024 is available here.

IRS Releases 2025 HSA, HDHP, and HRA Inflation Adjusted Limits for 2025. The ​​Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2024-25 announcing the calendar year 2025 annual health savings account (HSA) contribution limitation, the minimum deductible for a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), the maximum out-of-pocket expense limits for an HDHP, and the maximum amount for an excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangement (HRA).  Read more here.

IRS Announces 2025 Affordable Care Act Pay-or-Play Penalties. The IRS has announced 2025 penalty amounts related to the employer shared responsibility requirements under the Affordable Care Act. Read more here.

U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, May Uphold Nationwide Block on Mandated ACA Preventive Care Coverage. This last March, a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (includes Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) may affirm a lower-court ruling striking down the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s requirement that private insurance plans cover preventive services at no cost to patients.  Read more here.

REMINDER – PCORI Fees Due July 31, 2024. The annual fee to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is due on July 31, 2024. The fee is paid by filing IRS Form 720 (Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return) and is based on the number of “covered lives” during the plan year. The payment amount was adjusted for the 2024 payment. Read more here.

Navigating Healthcare Costs: Update on Advanced Explanation of Benefits (AEOB). On April 23, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided a status update on the implementation of the Advanced Explanation of Benefits (AEOB) requirement under the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021.  The effective date of this requirement was originally set for 2022.  Due to the complexities of coordination between healthcare providers and the payers/health insurance carriers and third-party administrators (TPA), the start date was postponed to a date that has yet to be decided. Read more here.

DOL Rescinds 2018 Final Rule on Association Health Plans. The Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule rescinds the 2018 rule entitled ‘‘Definition of Employer Under Section 3(5) of ERISA—Association Health Plans’’ (2018 AHP Rule). The 2018 AHP Rule established an alternative set of criteria from those set forth in the Department’s pre-2018 AHP Rule (pre-rule) guidance for determining when a group or association of employers is acting ‘‘indirectly in the interest of an employer’’ under section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) for purposes of establishing an association health plan (AHP) as a multiple employer group health plan. The 2018 AHP Rule was a significant departure from the Department’s longstanding pre-rule guidance on the definition of ‘‘employer’’ under ERISA. Read more here.

Change Healthcare, a U.S. Healthcare Company, is Confirmed as a Cyberattack. On February 21, 2024, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated disclosed that one of its companies, Change Healthcare, was experiencing a cyberattack. This incident marked a significant event as it was the most serious attack of its kind leveled against a U.S. healthcare organization. Since then, UnitedHealth Group continues to make progress in mitigating the impact to consumers and care providers of the unprecedented cyberattack on the U.S. health system and Change Healthcare’s services, while continuing to expand financial assistance to affected providers. Read more here.

HHS Finalizes Rule to Strengthen Reproductive Health Care Privacy. On April 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule (Final Rule) to modify certain provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to support reproductive health care privacy in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and subsequent state abortion bans.  The Final Rule strengthens protections concerning the use and disclosure of reproductive health care information. In doing so, the Final Rule seeks to protect access to and the privacy of reproductive health care and bolster patient-provider confidentiality.  Read more here.

Question of the Month. Our “Question of the Month” revolves around whether an individual who owns more than 2% of shares in an S Corporation is eligible to have an HSA. Read more here.