BULLETIN: Supplement to BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter for June 30, 2015

[Official Guidance]

Text of IRS Notice 2015-43: Interim Guidance under the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014 (PDF)
9 pages. "This notice provides interim guidance on the application of certain provisions of the [ACA] to expatriate health insurance issuers, expatriate health plans, and employers in their capacity as plan sponsors of expatriate health plans, as defined in the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014 (EHCCA).... [T]he Departments have determined that issuers, employers, and plan sponsors need additional time and guidance to modify their current arrangements to comply with the EHCCA's requirements. Until the issuance of further guidance and except as otherwise provided in this notice, taxpayers are generally permitted to apply the requirements of the EHCCA using a reasonable good faith interpretation of the EHCCA. In particular, until the issuance of further guidance, treatment of an expatriate health plan, as defined in [ACA] Implementation FAQs Part XIII, Q&A-1, and FAQs XVIII, Q&A-6 and Q&A-7, as an expatriate health plan for purposes of the EHCCA is generally a reasonable good faith interpretation. However, these good faith rules do not apply with respect to the PCORI fee and the [ACA] section 9010 fee." (Internal Revenue Service [IRS])