The Revolution of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance

ERIC SCHILLINGER, October 2017   As published by Law360.com on October 19, 2017. On Oct. 12 President Donald Trump issued an executive order regarding the federal laws governing health care and insurance. The executive order itself does not change the existing rules. Rather, it instructs the applicable federal agencies — the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor, […]

Breaking Down The Graham-Cassidy ACA-Replacement Proposal

ERIC SCHILLINGER, August 2017    Originally published by Law360.com on August 4, 2017.    In the early hours of Friday, July 28, Republican-led efforts to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were rebuffed on the Senate floor. By roughly 1:40 a.m., three Republican Senators — Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, […]

Potential Impact of Senate Health Care Bill: A Closer Look

ERIC SCHILLINGER, June 2017    Originally published by Law360.com on June 28, 2017.    On June 22, 2017, Senate Republicans unveiled a “discussion draft” of the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA), a bill that seeks to repeal, replace, revise or delay many of the federal health care laws enacted in 2010 by the […]

ACA Replacement Clears Its First Hurdle: An Analysis of What’s Next (Trucker Huss Webinar on May 24)

ERIC SCHILLINGER, May 2017    On Thursday, May 4, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a budget reconciliation bill that would repeal and replace many provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that relate to the individual insurance market, Medicaid and employer-sponsored group health plans (GHPs). […]

ACA Update: Major Changes for Employers Still Possible This Year — An In-Depth Look at What’s at Stake

ERIC SCHILLINGER, March 2017    On Friday, March 24th, Speaker Paul Ryan cancelled a House of Representatives vote scheduled for that day on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill that proposed to repeal, replace and revise various tax- and spending-related aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). As explained in […]

Examining the House ACA-Repeal Bill’s Potential Impact on Employers and Other Sponsors of Group Health Plans

ERIC SCHILLINGER, March 2017    On Monday, March 6, the House Ways and Means Committee and Energy and Commerce Committee each released formal proposals partially repealing and replacing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”). Signed into law in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama, the ACA significantly changed the federal laws governing health […]

Repeal and Replace — What Health Reform Law Changes Might Be in Store for Employer-Sponsored Group Health Plans Under the Trump Administration

ERIC J. SCHILLINGER, November 2016   President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which retained its House and Senate majorities during the November 8th election, have made no secret of their desire to “repeal and replace” the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”). The ACA, passed in 2010 by a then-Democratic controlled Congress […]

IRS Issues Guidance Addressing the Impact of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell Decision on Qualified Retirement and Health and Welfare Plans

ROBERT R. GOWER and ERIC J. SCHILLINGER, January 2016 — On December 9, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2015-86, providing guidance on the application of the June 26, 2015 United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (“Obergefell”) to qualified retirement plans under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) section 401(a) and health […]

IRS Issues New Draft Forms and Instructions for ACA-Required Reporting in 2016

MARY POWELL and ERIC SCHILLINGER, August 2015 — On August 7, 2015, the IRS issued new draft forms and instructions to be used by certain health-coverage providers and employers who are required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) to report health coverage offered and provided in the prior calendar year on […]

Opt-Out Payments and Health Coverage Affordability Issues

MARY POWELL and ERIC SCHILLINGER, August 2015 — Beginning this year in 2015, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 4980H (often referred to as the “Employer Mandate” or the “Pay-or-Play Rules”) took effect, requiring an “applicable large employer” to either offer certain health coverage […]

Plan Sponsors Gear Up for Required ACA Reporting of Coverage

ERIC J. SCHILLINGER, May 2015 — As mid-2015 is fast approaching, employers and plan sponsors that have not yet contemplated their reporting obligations under the Affordable Care Act may wish to consider starting now. In early 2016, insurers, plan sponsors of self-funded plans and employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees will need to […]

New FAQs Issued on ACA’s Cost-Sharing Limitations for Plans Using Reference-Based Pricing

ERIC J. SCHILLINGER, October 2014 — On October 10, 2014, the Department of the Treasury, Department of Labor and Department of Health and Human Services (collectively the “Departments”) jointly issued FAQs Part XXI (“FAQs”). The FAQs address compliance with the annual cost-sharing limitations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) for non-grandfathered […]