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Essential Health Benefits Bulletin Passing Job to States Draws Fire

The public was invited to formally comment on the bulletin but in an unusual step, the bulletin comments were not collected through the typical regulations.org site. Instead stakeholders and interest groups were directed to an e-mail address.

DOL's Recent Guidance on State-Run Retirement Programs, Part II: The Interpretive Bulletin

"What is new here is that the DOL is providing states a different standard for the establishment of an MEP than the 'employment based nexus' standard that the DOL established for private enterprises that wish to do the same. This issue is critical because MEPs can have streamlined regulatory reporting and disclosure requirements, allowing them to provide competitive cost savings to adopting employers. Another issue to watch is the DOL's query (included as a footnote in the bulletin) on whether state sovereign immunity laws need to be reviewed in light of ERISA's remedial provisions."

Text of EBSA Interpretive Bulletin 2015-01 Relating to the Fiduciary Standard Under ERISA in Considering Economically Targeted Investments

11 pages. "In this document, the Department withdraws Interpretive Bulletin 08-01 and ... reinstates the language of Interpretive Bulletin 94-01.... The Department believes that in the seven years since its publication, IB 2008-01 has unduly discouraged fiduciaries from considering ETIs and ESG factors. In particular, the Department is concerned that the 2008 guidance may be dissuading fiduciaries from [1] pursuing investment strategies that consider environmental, social, and governance factors, even where they are used solely to evaluate the economic benefits of investments and identify economically superior investments, and [2] investing in ETIs even where economically equivalent.... "The Department also has concluded that the same standards set forth in sections 403 and 404 of ERISA governing a fiduciary's investment decisions ... apply to a fiduciary's selection of a 'socially-responsible' mutual fund as a plan investment or, in the case of an ERISA section 404(c) plan or other individual account plan, a designated investment alternative under the plan.... The bulletin does not supersede the regulatory standard contained at 29 CFR 2550.404a-1, nor does it address any issues which may arise in connection with the prohibited transaction provisions or the statutory exemptions from those provisions." [Also available: News Release and Fact Sheet.]  

Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2008-01 - Collection of Delinquent Contributions

Text of CMS Insurance Standards Bulletin: Timing of Submission and Posting of Rate Filing Justifications for the 2016 Filing Year for Single Risk Pool Coverage (PDF)

"[T]his bulletin establishes the uniform deadline ... for health insurance issuers to submit the Rate Filing Justification for proposed rates for single risk pool coverage in the individual and small group markets. It also establishes the uniform posting deadline ... for a State with an Effective Rate Review Program to provide public access to information regarding proposed rate increases that are subject to review. The bulletin also identifies the uniform deadline for a State with an Effective Rate Review Program to post final rate increases (including those not subject to review)[.]"

Text of CMS Draft Bulletin: Timing of Submission and Posting of Rate Filing Justifications for the 2016 Filing Year for Single Risk Pool Coverage Effective On or After January 1, 2017 (PDF)

"[T]his bulletin proposes guidance for purposes of establishing the uniform deadline ... for health insurance issuers to submit the Unified Rate Review Template for proposed rates in the individual and small group markets. It also proposes guidance for purposes of establishing the uniform posting deadline ... for a state with an effective rate review program to provide public access to information regarding proposed rate increases that are subject to review. The bulletin also identifies the deadline for posting of final rate increases (including those not subject to review) and the CMS web address to be used by states with an effective rate review program that elect to provide public access from their website through a link to the rate information made available on the CMS website. The timelines specified in this bulletin would apply to rates filed in 2016 (2016 filing year) for single risk pool coverage (including both qualified health plans (QHPs) and non-QHPs) effective on or after January 1, 2017."

SEC Publishes Bulletin on Conflicts of Interest for Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers

"Although formally the Bulletin cannot and does not articulate legal rules beyond the existing requirements of Reg BI and investment advisers’ fiduciary duty with respect to conflicts of interest, its interpretation of these requirements is broad, and the Staff appears to treat the two standards as identical."

CMS Bulletin Provides Retroactive Premium Tax Credits and Cost-Sharing Reductions

"Presumably the Bulletin is intended to assist enrollees in states like Massachusetts, Oregon, Maryland, Nevada, and Hawaii, where technical problems have made it difficult or impossible for individuals to enroll in QHPs through the exchange on a timely basis. It could also, however, apply to the federal exchange. Each exchange must apparently decide whether or not to effectuate this policy.... If states have been assisting with cost sharing or with premiums prior to retroactive eligibility being determined, they must arrange for a refund with the QHP insurer. Exchanges may not discriminate between enrollees or insurers in applying retroactive coverage."

Text of Revised CMS EDGE Server Data Bulletin: Evaluation of EDGE Data Submissions for 2015 Benefit Year for Interim Reinsurance Payments and Interim Risk Adjustment Summary Report (PDF)

Revised March 16, 2016. "This revised bulletin makes clear that if an issuer of a risk adjustment covered plan (or set of issuers) exceeds 0.5% of the market share, CMS will not issue a risk adjustment interim summary report for that State and market for the 2015 benefit year as this State and market would not be deemed credible. In the bulletin published January 20, 2016 there was a typographical error stating that this percentage was 0.05%. This is the only modification from the January 20, 2016 bulletin."

Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin, Winter 2012

This issue of the [Bulletin] includes articles on the following: Individual income tax rates and shares. Split-interest trusts. Domestic private foundations. Unrelated business income tax returns. Personal wealth. Projections of federal tax return filings.