Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter

BULLETIN
Supplement to
November 13, 2015

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[Official Guidance]

Text of DOL Proposed Regs: Claims Procedure for Plans Providing Disability Benefits
48 pages. "The purpose of this action is to improve the current procedural protections for workers who become disabled and make claims for disability benefits from an employee benefit plan ... Because of the volume and constancy of litigation in this area, and in light of advancements in claims processing technology, the Department recognizes a need to revisit, reexamine, and revise the current regulations in order to ensure that disability benefit claimants receive a fair review of denied claims as provided by law. To this end, the Department has determined to start by proposing to uplift the current standards applicable to the processing of claims and appeals for disability benefits so that they better align with the requirement s regarding internal claims and appeals for group health plans under the regulations implementing the requirements of the Affordable Care Act....

"The major provisions in the proposal largely adopt the procedural protections for health care claimants in the Affordable Care Act, including provisions that seek to ensure that: [1] claims and appeals are adjudicated in manner designed to ensure independence and impartiality of the persons involved in making the decision; [2] benefit denial notices contain a full discussion of why the plan denied the claim and the standards behind the decision; [3] claimants have access to their entire claim file and are allowed to present evidence and testimony during the review process; [4] claimants are notified of and have an opportunity to respond to any new evidence reasonably in advance of an appeal decision; [5] final denials at the appeals stage are not based on new or additional rationales unless claimants first are given notice and a fair opportunity to respond; [6] if plans do not adhere to all claims processing rules, the claimant is deemed to have exhausted the administrative remedies available under the plan, unless the violation was the result of a minor error and other specified conditions are met; [7] certain rescissions of coverage are treated as adverse benefit determinations, thereby triggering the plan's appeals procedures; and [8] notices are written in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner."

(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL])  

[Official Guidance]

Text of Agency Final Rules For Grandfathered Plans, Preexisting Condition Exclusions, Lifetime and Annual Limits, Rescissions, Dependent Coverage, Appeals, and Patient Protections Under the ACA
379 pages. "This document contains final regulations regarding grandfathered health plans, preexisting condition exclusions, lifetime and annual dollar limits on benefits, rescissions, coverage of dependent children to age 26, internal claims and appeal and external review processes, and patient protections under the Affordable Care Act. It finalizes changes to the proposed and interim final rules based on comments and incorporates subregulatory guidance issued since publication of the proposed and interim final rules....

"[T]hese final regulations clarify that, to maintain status as a grandfathered health plan, a group health plan, or health insurance coverage, must include a statement that the plan or health insurance coverage believes it is a grandfathered health plan in any summary of benefits provided under the plan. It must also provide contact information for questions and complaints. These final regulations also retain the model disclosure language.... These final regulations continue to provide that the elimination of all or substantially all benefits to diagnose or treat a particular condition will cause a group health plan or health insurance coverage to relinquish its grandfathered status and contain an example ... [T]hese final regulations provide that an insured group health plan that is a grandfathered health plan will not relinquish its grandfather status immediately based on a change in the employer contribution rate if, upon renewal, an issuer requires a plan sponsor to make a representation regarding its contribution rate for the plan year covered by the renewal, as well as its contribution rate on March 23, 2010 (if the issuer does not already have it).... [T]he final regulations retain the rules regarding loss of grandfathered status based on imposition of annual dollar limits to allow issuers of grandfathered individual health insurance coverage to analyze grandfathered status.... These final regulations adopt the clarification outlined in the FAQs that a plan or coverage will cease to be a grandfathered health plan when an amendment to plan terms that exceeds the thresholds described in paragraph (g)(1) of these final regulations becomes effective -- regardless of when the amendment is adopted. Once grandfather status is lost there is no opportunity to cure the loss of grandfather status....

"After issuance of regulations in 2010, the Departments also released Affordable Care Act Implementation FAQs Part V, Q6 32 to provide additional clarification on the prohibition of preexisting condition exclusions. These final regulations finalize the 2010 interim final regulations without substantial change and incorporate the clarifications issued to date in subregulatory guidance ...

"With respect to annual dollar limits, ... these final regulations adopt the 2010 interim final regulations without substantial change and incorporate certain pertinent clarifications issued thus far in subregulatory guidance ...

"The Departments clarify that the regulatory exception to the prohibition on rescission for failure to timely pay required premiums or contributions toward the cost of coverage also includes failure to timely pay required premiums towards the cost of COBRA continuation coverage. Accordingly, if a group health plan requires the payment of a COBRA premium to continue coverage after a qualifying event and that premium is not paid by the applicable deadline, the prohibition on rescission is not violated if the plan retroactively terminates coverage due to a failure to elect and pay for COBRA continuation coverage ...

"These final regulations provide that, to the extent such restrictions are applicable to dependent children up to age 26, eligibility restrictions under a plan or coverage that require individuals to work, live or reside in a service area violate PHS Act section 2714.... These final regulations also codify some of the enforcement safe harbors, transition relief, and clarifications set forth through subregulatory guidance."

(Employee Benefits Security Administration [EBSA], U.S. Department of Labor [DOL]; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]; and Internal Revenue Service [IRS])  

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