News

"After 2024, covering COVID-19 testing and treatment under an HDHP without participant cost-sharing, could impact a participant's Health Savings Account (HSA) eligibility. Notice 2023-37 also provides that COVID-19 testing will not be considered preventative care for purposes of HSA eligibility as of the Notice's publication date (June 23, 2023)."

"[F]or plan years ending after December 31, 2024, a high-deductible health plan will no longer be permitted to provide coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment under the HDHP before the minimum HDHP deductible is met without jeopardizing a participant's HSA eligibility.... Notice 2023-37 ... clarified that the preventive care safe harbor does not include screening (i.e., testing) for COVID-19, effective as of June 23, 2023 ... [T]his clarification will not be relevant for HDHPs/HSAs until the first plan year ending after December 31, 2024."

"IRS Notice 2023-37 [provides] that COVID testing and treatment are not preventive care. This means they can only be provided under a high deductible health plan ('HDHP') on a first dollar basis by plans which plan years end no later than December 31, 2024. HDHPs that continue to cover these services on a first dollar basis will cause their participants to be ineligible to contribute to health savings accounts (HSAs)."

"Employer plan sponsors of HSA-qualifying HDHPs that currently cover COVID-19 testing and/or treatment prior to the satisfaction of the minimum annual HDHP deductible should amend the terms of the plan to no longer do so for plan years ending after December 31, 2024."

"If a participant experiences a qualifying event and is provided a COBRA election notice on or before July 10, 2023, the individual's 60-day period to elect COBRA begins to run on July 10, 2023 (making the deadline September 8, 2023).... Although not expressly addressed, it appears that if a qualifying event occurs on or before July 10, 2023, and the COBRA election notice is provided after that date, the COBRA election deadline would be measured from the provision of the notice."

"Today's workers are navigating the extended hangover of the pandemic as well as new disruptions that pose a threat to their lifestyles and livelihoods. Many workers are confronting short-term employment and financial challenges that have implications for their ability to save and invest for their future retirement. A concerted effort is needed among policymakers, employers, and workers themselves to put them back on the road towards a financially secure retirement."

"[C]alendar year HDHPs must subject COVID-19 testing and treatment to the deductible beginning with the 2025 plan year. This gives HDHPs more than a year to transition to applying the deductible to these services. However, non-calendar year HDHPs will have less time since the relief will only apply until the end of the 2023 plan year. This is because a 2024 non-calendar year plan year will end after December 31, 2024."

14 pages. "This updated slide deck describes agency guidance on which COVID-19 coverage mandates expired once the public health emergency ended on May 11, and how to calculate key plan and participant deadlines before and after the outbreak period ends on July 10. The slides also describe employer actions that the agencies encourage but do not require, such as steps to lessen the impact of Medicaid redeterminations on employees and their families."

"The IRS's recent guidance on COVID-19 testing and treatment marks another (time-limited) eligible expense that plan sponsors will need to track as they monitor the scope of permissible expenses that can be covered under an HDHP before a participant satisfies the IRS minimum deductible."

"For calendar year plans, this means that reduced-cost COVID-19 testing and treatment can be covered by an HDHP through Dec. 31, 2024. For non-calendar year plans, the relief applies through the plan year that ends in 2024."

"[Notice 2023-37] puts a deadline on the relief described in Notice 2020-15, issued in March 2020, by saying it applies only to plan years ending on or before Dec. 31, 2024."

"[T]his notice modifies prior guidance regarding benefits relating to testing for and treatment of COVID-19 that can be provided by a health plan that otherwise satisfies the requirements to be a high deductible health plan (HDHP) ... Specifically, this notice provides that the relief described in Notice 2020-15 ...  applies only with respect to plan years ending on or before December 31, 2024.

"This notice also clarifies ... that the preventive care safe harbor ... does not include screening (i.e., testing) for COVID-19, effective as of the date of publication of this notice [June 23, 2023]. This notice also provides that items and services recommended with an 'A' or 'B' rating by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on or after March 23, 2010, are treated as preventive care for purposes of section 223(c)(2)(C), regardless of whether these items and services must be covered, without cost sharing, under Public Health Service Act section 2713."

"Eligible businesses may use the funds to reimburse for [supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL)] provided between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022. Businesses will be required to provide proof of employee payroll records that verify all SPSL provided by the business was pursuant to the state requirements"

"In addition to the HFWA's original covered absences, once effective, the amended list of covered reasons for use of paid sick leave will include absences related to bereavement leave and certain closures or evacuations due to inclement weather, loss of power, or other unexpected events. The SB 23-017 amendments go into effect on August 7, 2023."

"In response to the anticipated ending of the outbreak period on July 10, 2023, the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, on April 10, 2023, issued Special Bulletin 2023-09 to ... commercial health insurers, to address the implications of the ending of the National Emergency with respect to COBRA.... This Bulletin does not apply to self-insured group health plans, and it is still too early to determine the extent to which regulators in other jurisdictions will take similar action."

"Prior to July 10, 2023, plan sponsors should begin to review and revise their health plan design and related documents with their plan administrators and legal counsel. To the extent that plan documents and participant communications were modified to reflect the temporary National Emergency deadlines, plan sponsors should evaluate whether the documents need to be revised to reflect the end of the National Emergency."

"This slide deck describes agency guidance about which COVID-19 coverage mandates will expire once the public health emergency ends on May 11, and how to calculate key plan and participant deadlines before and after the outbreak period ends on July 10. The slides also describe employer actions that the agencies encourage but do not require, such as steps to lessen the impact of Medicaid redeterminations on employees and their families."

"New laws in Arkansas and Tennessee allow for family leave insurance. Illinois now requires all workers to earn paid leave they can use for any reason, starting in 2024. A recent San Francisco ordinance institutes paid military leave, while changes to existing paid leave laws occurred in Puerto Rico and two Minnesota cities.... Telehealth access gained traction in several states, including Idaho, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. More than a half dozen states passed prescription drug laws ... Illinois and New York were among states issuing insurance coverage mandates."

"After the Public Health Emergency. Health plans can enforce network restrictions, impose cost-sharing, apply medical management techniques such as prior authorization, and even stop covering COVID tests altogether. Plan sponsors may take any of these actions immediately or wait until the end of the current plan year or other future date. Plans continuing full coverage should consider any impact on mental health parity of the plan's financial requirements."

"[C]ertain time periods and dates for special enrollment under [HIPAA], COBRA continuation coverage, and internal claims and appeals and external review [were] disregarded when determining the due dates for certain elections and other actions by employee benefit plans subject to ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code during the COVID-19 National Emergency. Retirement plan elections were also impacted by the Disregarded Periods."

"Plan administrators should review prior communications sent to qualified beneficiaries regarding the tolling of COBRA election and premium payment periods and provide updated communications to the extent necessary. Given that deadlines are calculated on an individual basis, a general notice describing the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on COBRA deadlines may be preferable in some situations ... Administrative processes should also be reviewed and adjusted ... to avoid unintentionally extending COBRA deadlines beyond the end of the COVID-19 emergency."

"[FAQs Part 58] make clear that high deductible health plans (HDHPs) can continue to cover pre-deductible COVID-19 testing and treatment without affecting eligibility for a health savings account (HSA). However, the FAQs state that this relief will only last until the IRS issues further guidance."

"As coverage requirements change, [this article covers]: [1] Over-the-counter and in-office tests; [2] COVID-19 vaccines; [3] Standalone telehealth benefits; [4] Noncompliance relief for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act; [5] Employee assistance programs; [6] Reinstatement of deadlines applicable to benefit plans and participants Communication and plan-related notices."

"[E]mployers are no longer required to provide to non-exempt employees who have or are suspected of having COVID-19 the five-day special paid leave due to emergencies declared by the Government of Puerto Rico[.]"

"The agencies have encouraged plans to continue providing coverage for COVID-19 testing beyond the PHE at no cost to participants. However, plans may choose not to cover the tests or to cover them while imposing cost-sharing or out-of-network limitations. Unlike the diagnostic testing coverage requirement, the requirement to provide COVID-19 preventive services (vaccines) is not limited to the duration of the PHE."