The Department of Labor has announced a final rule issued by its Employee Benefits Security Administration that aims to enhance healthcare protections for consumers in plans offered by small employers or available for purchase on the individual market. The rule is aligned with the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of increasing access to quality health coverage for more Americans.
In addition to cracking down on junk insurance with a recent final rule on short-term, limited-duration insurance, the Biden-Harris administration has reversed lax criteria put in place by the Trump administration that allowed a group or association of employers to be treated as the “employer” when offering multiple-employer group health insurance. This change made it easier for employers to offer coverage that evaded critical ACA consumer protections. A 2019 U.S. District Court decision invalidated parts of the 2018 rule, finding them to be an unreasonable interpretation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security, Lisa M. Gomez, explained that the Department of Labor no longer believes the provisions of the 2018 Association Health Plan Rule are consistent with the best reading of the statutory requirements governing group health plans. The department is rescinding the entire 2018 rule to eliminate any uncertainty about the status of the standards it established, maintaining longstanding pre-rule AHP guidance that has received consistent support from judicial decisions. This action is in line with the President’s directive to improve coverage comprehensiveness and ensure consumers have access to quality coverage in accordance with federal law.
