COBRA Subsidies, Childcare Relief in COVID Stimulus Package

On Thursday, March 11, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion COVID relief and stimulus bill. The new law includes two important employee benefit provisions. Keep reading to learn more about them, or watch...

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill (the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021) on Saturday. The bill includes a prospective 85 percent COBRA subsidy through September of this year. We have seen the near-final...

Last week, then-President-elect Biden released his proposal for the next COVID relief/economic stimulus bill. The proposal called on Congress to subsidize COBRA continuation coverage through the end of September.  This is encouraging news for Americans who have lost their employer...

It’s been a long time since election day, but the Senate races in Georgia are now decided. So, what might be in store, from a healthcare perspective, when Joe Biden’s presidency begins January 20? Let’s start with a recap of...

We’re about 10 months out from the 2020 U.S. presidential election. And though there’s a decided lack of certainty on how the election will play out, especially with a still-crowded field of Democratic candidates and an ongoing impeachment process that...

On Monday, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO), directing the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Treasury, and Labor to issue regulations intended to increase price and quality transparency and to lower costs for healthcare consumers. The...

The Trump administration proposed a new regulation this morning that would expand the use of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), giving employers of all sizes additional flexibility to provide greater choice to their employees. The proposed regulations issued by the Departments...

Last week, two separate congressional committees convened to explore how consumer-directed healthcare plans (CDHPs) and high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), when paired with health savings accounts (HSAs), can make healthcare more affordable and accessible for Americans. American consumers have established more...

This week, the IRS released guidance (Notice 2017-67) addressing qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements (QSEHRA). In the form of 79 questions and answers, the IRS explains the rules and requirements for providing a QSEHRA under section 9831(d) of its...

Now that the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill has failed, Congress will move on. We can expect it to concentrate instead on some pressing items on the calendar—things like agreeing on a continuing resolution to keep the government operating, raising the debt...