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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released its 2022 Unified Regulatory Agenda and Regulatory Plan (Agenda), which outlines regulatory actions federal agencies are considering in the coming year. The Agenda provides insight into rulemaking priorities at the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) that employers will need to be prepared to address as EBSA proposes and finalizes rules that will impact employee benefit plans.
Retirement Plan Disclosures. EBSA plans to explore ways to improve the effectiveness of retirement plan disclosures required under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), balanced with the cost to plans and plan participants and beneficiaries of providing such disclosures. EBSA intends to canvass participant representatives, employer plan sponsors, and retirement plan service and investment providers to explore alternatives for improving the understandability and effectiveness of these disclosures. More specifically,
the review willexplore whether, and how, the content, design, and delivery of such disclosures may be reimagined, improved, consolidated, standardized, and simplified to enhance participants’ disclosure experiences, promote greater participant engagement, and improve outcomes.
Advance Explanation of Benefits (AEOB). This proposed rule would implement the provisions under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA, 21) that require plans and providers to issue an explanation of benefits prior to receiving medical treatment or services. The departments sought public comment last fall, and they continue to wade through comments received from interested parties. We anticipate that they will issue final rules this year to help plans and carriers understand the parameters surrounding AEOB, including content, timing, and how plans might be able to rely on carriers to meet their AEOB obligations.
Mental Health Parity. There have been a number of legislative enactments related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) since issuance of the 2014 final rules, including the 21st Century Cures Act, the Support Act, and the CAA, 21. EBSA plans to propose amendments to the final rules implementing MHPAEA to clarify plans’ and issuers’ obligations under the law, promote compliance with MHPAEA, and update requirements to consider experience with MHPAEA in the years since the rules were finalized as well as amendments to the law recently enacted as part of the CAA, 21.
Employer Association Health Plans. EBSA plans to consider withdrawing, or withdrawing and replacing, its final rule regarding the criteria for determining when an employer association may act indirectly in the interest of an employer to establish a multiple employer group health plan. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated portions of the final rule in a 2019 decision, and EBSA therefore plans to reevaluate the criteria for a group or association of employers to be able to sponsor a multiple employer group
health plan.
Air Ambulance Services. This rule would provide the form and manner in which group health plans, health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage, and providers of air ambulance services would report information regarding air ambulance services.
This information has been prepared for UBA by Fisher & Phillips LLP. It is general information and provided for educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice. You should not act on this information without consulting legal counsel or other knowledgeable advisors.
