Payment of COBRA/FMLA/HIPAA/WHCRA Admin Fees

[Guest Ira Hayes]

Are there any federal statutes, regulations, or court cases making the payment of the above fees by a plan's broker/consultant illegal assuming they are fully disclosed (e.g., Schedule C in the context of a welfare benefit trust)?

Similarly, are there any state statutes, regulations, or court cases making the payment of the above fees by a plan's broker/consultant illegal assuming they are fully disclosed (e.g., Schedule A in the context of a fully insured arrangement)?

Please do not venture an opinion without the accompanying citations!

Thanks, Ira

[GBurns]

The first hurdle in a fully insured plan is that almost every state insurance law that I have seen would prohibit it.

Reference to the insurance laws, of your particular state, against rebates, unfair business practices etc that apply should be sufficient for you to go look them up.

For self insured plans, I am not sure how many laws would prohibit it, but I am sure that there would be more than 1. Disclosure would be irrelevant.