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Materials available for Council member conference call on PPACA claims and appeals regulations July 29, 2010: For American Benefits Council members participating in today's 1:00 p.m. ET conference call on the interim final regulations addressing PPACA internal claims and appeals and external review processes, the following materials are now available for your review:
PPACA Regulations on Claims and Appeals Procedures Released July 22, 2010: The U.S. Treasury Department, Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released interim final regulations (IFR) for group health plans and health insurance issuers relating to internal claims and appeals and external review processes under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The White House has also released an official fact sheet on the IFR. The agencies are requesting comments on the IFR, due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register (expected the week of July 26). The Council will host a conference call for members only on Thursday, July 29 at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss the IFR, answer questions and solicit member input for the Council’s comment letter. Resources now available for new 408(b)(2) disclosure rules July 16, 2010: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released interim final regulations governing disclosure of defined contribution plan fees under ERISA Section 408(b)(2). Generally, the regulations provide a class prohibited transaction exemption for plan fiduciaries when plan service providers fail to comply with their disclosure obligations, provided certain requirements are met. The proposed regulations would require that service providers give plan fiduciaries written disclosures of certain fee and services information necessary to assist plan fiduciaries in assessing the reasonableness of compensation or fees paid by the plan, as well as the potential for conflicts of interest. Along with the interim final regulations, DOL has released the following resources:
Council applauds passage of pension funding relief; summary of provisions now available July 7, 2010: on June 25, President Obama signed into law the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act (H.R. 3962), a measure providing for a six-month delay in the reduction in Medicare payments to doctors as well as long-awaited defined benefit pension plan funding relief. An updated summary of the relief provisions, prepared by Davis & Harman LLP, is now available. The Council has applauded the efforts of Congress and the Obama Administration for enacting this critical relief and will continue to encourage measures to address the volatility and unpredictability now inherent in funding traditional defined benefit retirement plans. Click here for the full Council statement. PPACA Grandfathered Plan IFR Published in Federal Register June 17, 2010: Today's Federal Register contained the approved interim final regulations for grandfathered health plans, as announced Monday by the Office of Management and Budget. Also available on this topic are slides from the Council's call earlier this week, a fact sheet, an FAQ, and a legal summary on the interim final regulations. |
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Benefits Byte (07/28/10)
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Health Care Reform: Employers Enter Compliance Phase The Council's Health Care Reform Issue Page The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have voted, and President Obama has signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the accompanying Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872). This action finalizes the new health care reform law, bringing to a close more than a year of legislative debate. While the Council retains many concerns about certain elements of the final statutory language and will continue to pursue efforts to overturn those elements, we are pleased that we were able to avoid some of the more onerous provisions that had been included in the earlier House bill. We are also now focused on the compliance phase of the law. The Council is hosting a series of membership-wide conference calls to provide a more detailed explanation of select topic areas including tax provisions, employer responsibilities and retiree health reinsurance programs, among others. On April 1, 2010, the Council held the first of these calls on employer responsibility provisions of the new law. Council Materials: A number of summaries of the new law are already available:
For more information, contact Paul Dennett, senior vice president, health care reform, at (202) 289-6700. |
