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Senate Finance Hearing to Consider the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Proposal

Hearing scheduled for Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, at 2 p.m. Includes testimony from: [1] The Honorable Lindsey Graham (R-SC); [2] The Honorable Mazie Hirono (D-HI); [3] The Honorable Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La); [4] The Honorable Rick Santorum, Former U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania; [5] Mr. Dennis G. Smith, Arkansas Department of Human Services; [6] Ms. Teresa Miller, Department of Human Services, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; [7] Ms. Cindy Mann, Former Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services; [8] Mr. Dick Woodruff, American Cancer Society.

Supreme Court Upholds the ACA Preventive Services Mandate

"The Supreme Court held that Task Force members are inferior officers whose appointment by the Secretary of HHS is consistent with the Appointments Clause.... The court held that ... the Secretary has properly exercised his appointment authority. As a result, non-grandfathered health plans must continue to provide first-dollar coverage for all items or services that receive an 'A' or 'B' rating by the Task Force." [Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc., No. 24-316 (S. Ct. Jun. 27, 2025)]

New HSA/HDHP Limits for 2026

"The annual contribution limits, HDHP minimum deductibles, and HDHP maximum out-of-pocket limits will be increasing. The additional annual catch-up contribution limit (for account holders age 55 and older) will remain the same."

IRS Releases Guidance on ACA Reporting Requirements

"Notice 2025-15 details how Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) may satisfy the 'clear, conspicuous, and accessible' notice requirement ... for furnishing Form 1095-C. Specifically, Notice 2025-15 borrows from previous guidance that only existed for the alternative manner of furnishing Form 1095-B."

Michigan Legislature Passes Significant Changes to the ESTA Which Take Effect Immediately

"The amendment to ESTA makes a number of important changes ... ... Employers must provide notices to employees including specific information about ESTA rights by March 23, 2025.... Employees no longer have the right to file lawsuits against their employers for alleged violations."

Administration Rescinds Proposal for Mandatory Coverage of Over-the-Counter Contraceptives

"[T]he rescinded proposed regulations would have required first-dollar coverage of daily birth control, emergency contraceptives, and male condoms, among other contraceptive drugs or devices."

Congress Eases ACA Reporting Requirements

"[The Employer Reporting Improvement Act (ERIA)] amends Section 6501 of the Code to create a six-year statute of limitations that applies to the IRS assessing and collecting ACA pay or play penalties. Previously, the IRS stated that no statute of limitations applied to collecting ACA pay or play penalties."

New HIPAA Rules Require Immediate Action by Employers and Business Associates

"Covered Entities (i.e., health plans) and Business Associates must train applicable workforce members and amend their HIPAA policies and procedures by December 23, 2024 with respect to the requirements of this new guidance. These entities must also update their Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP), but the updated NPP is not required until February 16, 2026."

Administration Proposes Mandatory Coverage of Over-the-Counter Contraceptives

"[The] Administration released proposed regulations that, if finalized, would mandate non-grandfathered group health plans to cover over-the-counter (OTC) contraceptives without cost-sharing and without a prescription.... If finalized, the proposed regulations would become effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2026."

Amicus Brief in Appeal of Case Challenging Multiemployer Plan Calculation of Withdrawal Liability (PDF)

336 pages. "[T]he Pension Fund argues it may include increases in employer contribution rates required by the Fund's rehabilitation plan in the Fund's calculation of the employers' withdrawal liability because those contribution increases have been used to provide increased benefit accruals for Fund participants and beneficiaries. But this argument skips over a key fact: the Pension Fund, a massively underfunded multiemployer pension plan until its receipt of $35.8 billion in Special Financial Assistance in January 2023, was never permitted to increase benefits at all."  [Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Event Media, Inc., No. 22-6133 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 29, 2024; on appeal to 7th Cir.)]