On March 15, 2022, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (H.R. 2471) into law (“CAA 2022”). The CAA 2022 is largely a spending bill but also includes, among other things, a much-anticipated new telemedicine safe harbor similar to that which was created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). [Read More]
On February 4, 2022, federal agencies released additional FAQs related to coverage of over-the-counter (“OTC”) COVID-19 tests by group health plans and health insurance carriers. The FAQs are intended to clarify the previous FAQs released on January 10, 2022. Prior Guidance On January 10, 2022, the agencies released initial guidance for plans and carriers, which [Read More]
On January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court released its much anticipated opinions in the ongoing challenges to OSHA’s November 5, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring private employers with 100 or more employees to either mandate employees be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and mask mandates, and CMS’ November 5, 2021 Interim [Read More]
On December 2, 2021, President Biden announced that federal agencies would soon issue guidance regarding the availability of coverage/reimbursement from group health plans and health insurance carriers for individuals who purchase over the counter, at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests (“OTC COVID-19 tests”). Accordingly, on January 10, 2022, the agencies released “FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation [Read More]
On December 17, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit (6th Circuit) dissolved the stay of OSHA’s November 5, 2021, Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for private employers with 100 or more employees issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit (5th Circuit). As a result of the [Read More]
On November 22, 2021, the IRS filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Proposed Rule”) that among other things, provides for an automatic 30-day extension of the deadline for applicable large employers (“ALEs”) to furnish annual Forms 1095-C to individuals for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2021. Further, the Proposed Rule allows ALEs to voluntarily [Read More]
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he ordered OSHA to develop an emergency temporary standard (ETS) that would require private employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that employees either receive one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. On November 5, 2021, OSHA published its COVID-19 [Read More]
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he ordered OSHA to develop an emergency temporary standard (ETS) that would require private employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that employees either receive one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. On November 4, 2021, OSHA released an unpublished [Read More]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Rev. Proc. 2021-36, which contains the inflation-adjusted amounts for 2022 used to determine whether employer-sponsored coverage is “affordable” for purposes of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility provisions and premium tax credit program. As shown in the table below, for plan years beginning in 2022, the [Read More]
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he ordered OSHA to develop emergency temporary standards (ETSs) that would require employers with 100 or more employees to mandate that employees either receive one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines or submit to at least weekly COVID-19 testing. Employers who do not comply with these requirements [Read More]