On November 6th, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2019-44, which raises the health Flexible Spending Account (FSA) salary reduction contribution limit by $50 to $2,750 for plan years beginning in 2020. The Revenue Procedure also contains the cost-of-living adjustments that apply to dollar limitations in certain sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

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Below you will find a link to our alert on DOL FAQ #40, which describes the Departments’ non­enforcement policy with respect to group health plans and health insurance issues that do not count a prescription drug manufacturer’s coupons as participant cost sharing toward the ACA’s out­of­pocket limit.  The DOL issued this FAQ after questions were raised as a result of a recent HHS rule.

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Below please find a link to our legal alert on Rev. Proc. 2019=­29, which contains the inflation adjusted amounts for 2020 used to determine whether employer­sponsored coverage is “affordable” for purposes of the ACA’s employer mandate and premium tax credit program. As shown in the table below, for plan years beginning in 2020, the affordability percentage for employer mandate purposes is indexed to 9.78%, a slight decrease from 9.86% in 2019.

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On June 24, 2019, President Trump issued an Executive Order intending to develop price and quality transparency initiatives to ensure that healthcare patients can make well-informed decisions about their care. This is part of the consumer-driven healthcare initiative, which has been a focus of government and patient groups alike to have more transparency regarding the cost of services from hospitals and other healthcare providers, as well as expanding the ability to use certain pre-tax health spending arrangements. The goal is to help consumers to make better informed decisions regarding their healthcare. It is also intended to address so-called “surprise billing,” which can expose patients to unexpected medical bills. The Executive Order directs federal agencies to promulgate regulations and issue guidance to meet these objectives.

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