Federal L&L Updates

- NABIP submitted written testimony to the Senate Finance Committee for the hearing titled “Barriers to Mental Health Care: Improving Provider Directory Accuracy to Reduce the Prevalence of Ghost Networks.” - NABIP also submitted testimony to the Senate HELP Committee regarding the cost of prescri

-Register now to attend Capitol Conference 2023! The conference is going to be held from February 26 to March 1 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Click here to register now. -NABIP submitted a comment letter to CMS in response to the agency’s proposed 2024 Notice of B

-CMS released a final rule late last week that implements many of the Medicare-specific provisions included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. These policy changes include adjustments to the Medicare enrollment process, establishment of new SEP-triggering life events, and more.

-The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, formerly known as the Build Back Better Act, was passed by the Senate this weekend after a successful compromise was made with Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). -President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that primarily addresses the idea of individuals c

-Late last week, the IRS released updates to the maximum annual 2023 contribution limits for Health Savings Accounts under high-deductible health plans. These adjustments, which have increased slightly from 2022, apply to both individual and family coverage. -The Senate Committee on Commerce, Scien

-CMS released the proposed 2023 Notice of Benefits and Payment Parameters earlier this month. As usual, NAHU submitted comments to CMS with some questions and concerns regarding some substantial changes the agency recommended in the proposed rule. -Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer offici

-While we await further guidance from the Department of Labor, join us on Wednesday November 10 at 2:00 p.m. ET, when Stacy H. Barrow, partner at law firm Marathas Barrow Weatherhead Lent, will host a webinar on the agent and broker compensation disclosure pieces included in the Consolidated

-This week the Senate approved a $1 Trillion Dollar infrastructure bill that will now be sent to the house for consideration. The main aspect of the bill that is of note to our membership is a moratorium on the Prescription Drug Rebate Rule pushed out via the Trump Administration last year. That i

Recap of President Biden’s First 100 Days Last Thursday marked the first 100 days of President Biden’s Administration. Since the days of FDR, it has been tradition for the country mark a president’s first 100 days in office, and to reflect on what has been done. The president issued 42 executive

Senate Democrats Consider Using Reconciliation to Pass New COVID-19 Relief Lawmakers have been negotiating on provisions of the most recent $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which would be one of the largest spending bills ever passed by Congress, for several weeks. The spending plan currently in

- On April 10, President Biden signed H.J. Res. 7 into law, thereby ending the national state of emergency related to COVID-19 that was declared under the National Emergencies Act. Separately, the Biden Administration has announced that May 11 will be the last day of the public health emerge

- In case you missed our all-member email over the holidays, Congress passed a $1.7 trillion omnibus package at the end of December that included two NABIP-supported provisions regarding telehealth and long-term care. -The House still does not have a speaker after a failed thirteenth speake

-The Medicare marketing rule officially took effect on October 1. NAHU has created a Medicare Marketing Rule Resources page on our website that contains all information and guidance we have to date. -For the first time in a decade, CMS announced that premiums for Medicare Part B beneficiaries wi

- Senate Democrats have released new drug-pricing provisions that the party is seeking to include in the Build Back Better reconciliation package. -In the wake of several high-profile mass shootings over the last few months, Congress is seeking to pass the first bipartisan bill addressing gun

-The Biden administration released a proposed rule this week that aims to fix the ACA’s family glitch, a regulatory inconsistency that prevents family members of employees from being eligible for ACA marketplace premium tax credits. -The Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme

- On Friday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the OSHA ETS scheduled to go into effect on 1/10/22 that would require all employers with over 100 employees to either require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or require weekly negative tests. SCOTUS is expected to rule q

-HHS, DOL and Treasury Department released “Part 2” of the regulations surrounding the ban on balance-billing that was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This interim final rule outlines the arbitration process triggered by balance-billing claims. -Congress is still w

Last week the Treasury Department and CMS released a proposed rule revising the 2022 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters. Many provisions in this most recent proposed rule reverse changes made in the Trump-era NBPP final rule released in January. President Biden signed an "Executive Order on P

Last month Congress voted to approve the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package called The American Rescue Plan. The Senate passed the bill 50-49 and it was signed into law by President Biden. Almost a year to the day after the Trump Administration provided emergency rules to extend the COBRA-e

§ Just before the Christmas holiday, Congress passed a $1.4 trillion omnibus bill that included provisions on COVID-19 relief, a ban on surprise billing, disclosure of broker compensation, the ability for employees to roll over funds from Flexible Spending Accounts and more. § A U.S. District

- Were you one of the near 600 benefits and insurance professionals who attended NABIP’s Capitol Conference at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill from February 26 through March 1 in Washington DC? If so, we sincerely hope you enjoyed your time and found all the professional and social benefits you we

-Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and James Risch (R-ID) introduced S. 5149, a bill that would exclude independent agents and brokers from the marketing call recording requirements in the Medicare Marketing Rule. -NAHU urges you to contact your lawmakers to request that they support S. 5149 t

-In less than a month, the new Medicare marketing rule is set to go in effect. It was finalized earlier this year and, despite repeated comments and inquiries by NAHU, CMS has yet to delay the rule or to provide guidance on its implementation. NAHU urges you to contact your member of Congres

Build Back Better Reconciliation Package Talks Continue as Midterm Elections Loom on the Horizon The iteration of Build Back Better that is now being considered is expected to total $1.3 trillion, a decrease from the $1.75 trillion that the House passed. The reconciliation bill is now project

Congress is in this week and they are racing to pass the omnibus bill before the Friday deadline to finally fund the government. It may include a supplemental for Ukraine and COVID. NAHU is pushing for some of our initiatives discussed an Capitol Conference last week to be included in this funding.

- The U.S. District Courts for the Western District of Louisiana and Western District of Missouri issued nationwide injunctions on the CMS vaccine mandate for healthcare workers earlier this week. - The IRS published proposed regulations that introduce significant changes to the ACA reporting

-Federal agencies recently released an interim final rule, the first part of the highly anticipated regulation regarding the ban on surprise billing included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA). This week, NAHU submitted comments to the agencies on this interim final rule, seeking c

-NAHU submitted comments to federal agencies regarding the implementation of the broker compensation disclosure law that passed at the end of 2020, where we made requests and recommendations to ease any potential burden on agents, brokers, and plan fiduciaries.  -NAHU also submitted comments rega

-NAHU hosted the 31st Annual – and first-ever virtual – Capitol Conference last week. Read our recap of the event here. -President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act Plan of 2021 passed the senate Senate over the weekend, but not without some hurdles. It goes back to the house for c

With the major media organizations having now called the presidential election declaring former Vice President Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States, we wanted to provide some forward-looking insights regarding the potential impacts to employer-sponsored health plans. What does a Bi