Today, Treasury issued final rules regarding the Health Insurance Premium Tax Credits.  The rules give credits to individuals who enroll in qualified health plans through an Exchange and then claim the premium tax credit.  The regulations are scheduled to appear in the May 23rd version of the Federal Register.  Until that time, they can be viewed on the Federal Register preview site here:  http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2012-12421_PI.pdf

As I noted during Friday’s post, the agencies announced additional SBC guidance will be forthcoming.  Ever coy about release dates, the agencies did not happen to say that the release date was right after our Friday meeting!  DOL released the updated guidance in the form of additional FAQs and updated SBC templates.  One of the more shocking issues addressed in this new guidance is relaxed electronic disclosure requirements.  Specifically, the updated guidance provides that SBCs may be provided electronically to participants and beneficiaries in connection with their online enrollment or online renewal of coverage under the plan. SBCs also may be provided electronically to participants and beneficiaries who request an SBC online.  In either case, the individual must have the option to receive a paper copy upon request.   For new enrollees, the final SBC regulations had already adopted what I refer to as the “postcard” method from the comments I submitted to DOL on electronic disclosure last year.   This new guidance now moves the needle closer to the postcard method for existing participants as well, at least for SBCs anyway.  The updated guidance can be found at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/

This morning we held our annual May meeting for the health and welfare subcommittee of the Section of Tax.  I want to thank all the IRS and Treasury people that attended the meeting – at one point I counted at least eight in attendance.  We discussed the usual suspects – SBCs, SPDs, PCOR fees, MEWAs – and a few other acronyms.  The most interesting item was by far the SBC rules.   There will be a lot of issues and headaches to work out for SBCs this summer and fall.  In this regard, there is an unofficial rumor that additional SBC guidance in the form of frequently asked questions will be released soon.  So, stay tuned!

Today, EBSA issued additional guidance on its website regarding compliance with the mental health parity requirements.  Prior guidance focused on specific requirements under the final regulations, while this guidance is less granular and focuses more on overall mental health parity issues.

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/faq-mhpaeaimplementation.pdf

The IRS recently posted additional FAQs following up on its revised W-2 guidance earlier this year.  That guidance was in Notice 2012-9, and these FAQs are generally meant to further explain some of those issues.  The new FAQs are at:  http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=237894,00.html