HSA/HDHP Limits Will Increase for 2025 On May 9, 2024, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2024-25 to provide the inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2025. The IRS is required to publish these limits by June 1 of each year. These limits include the following: The [...]
HHS Updates HIPAA FAQs Regarding Change Healthcare Cybersecurity Incident On May 31, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) updated its frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding HIPAA and the recent cybersecurity incident involving Change Healthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group. OCR enforces the HIPAA Privacy, Security [...]
Employer Obligation to Designate FMLA Leave The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks of leave (26 weeks for military caregiver leave) each year for FMLA-qualifying reasons. Because FMLA leave is unpaid, employees often [...]
Drug Test Cheating Surged in 2023 The rate of employees tampering with drug tests reached new highs in 2023, according to a report from health data analytics firm Quest Diagnostics. The percentage of tests that showed signs of tampering in 2023 was over six times greater than in 2022. Quest Diagnostics reported that the [...]
Electronic Filing of ACA Returns This ACA Compliance Overview describes the process for reporting electronically under Sections 6055 and 6056. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created reporting requirements under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Sections 6055 and 6056. Under these rules, certain employers must provide information to the IRS about the health plan coverage they [...]
PCORI Fees Due July 31, 2024 The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance issuers and self-insured plan sponsors to pay Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute fees (PCORI fees). The fees are reported and paid annually using IRS Form 720, the Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return. Form 720 and full payment of the PCORI fees [...]
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) allows individuals to continue their group health plan coverage in certain situations. Specifically, COBRA requires group health plans to offer continuation coverage to covered employees and dependents when coverage would otherwise be lost due to certain specific events, such as a termination of employment, a divorce or a [...]
DOL Issues Guidance on AI and FMLA Administration The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor recently published a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) warning that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated systems could cause employers to violate laws WHD enforces, including the federal Family and Medical Leave [...]
New HIPAA Rule Will Require Updates to Privacy Notices On April 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule that strengthens the HIPAA Privacy Rule by prohibiting the disclosure of protected health information (PHI) related to lawful reproductive health care in certain situations. The final rule requires [...]
HHS Final Rule on Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities On April 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a final rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in [...]
