The Washington Report
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February 05, 2020
Executive
President Delivers State of the Union Address
President Trump delivered his third State of the Union address on February 4, 2020. In his speech, the President discussed the economy, infrastructure, trade, health care access, price transparency for drugs, paid federal family leave, and his regulatory reduction campaign.
The full text of the President’s 2020 State of the Union address is here.
Health
HHS Issues Proposed Rule on 2021 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters; Releases 2021 Annual Letter to Issuers
On January 31, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a proposed rule establishing the 2021 payment parameters and provisions related to the risk-adjustment and risk-adjustment data validation programs; cost-sharing parameters and cost-sharing reductions; and user fees for federally facilitated Exchanges and state-based Exchanges on the federal platform. The rule also proposes changes related to Essential Health Benefits and would provide states with additional flexibility in the operation and establishment of Exchanges. The proposed rule includes changes related to cost sharing for prescription drugs; excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements offered by non-federal governmental plan sponsors; the medical loss ratio program; Exchange eligibility and enrollment; exemptions from the requirement to maintain coverage; quality rating information display standards for Exchanges; and other related topics. It also proposes to repeal regulations relating to the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. Comments on the proposed rule are due by March 2, 2020.
On the same day, HHS also published the Proposed 2021 Annual Letter to Issuers which provides guidance to issuers that want to offer qualified health plans on a federally facilitated Exchange, the proposed Key Dates Charts for the 2020 Calendar Year, and the ICD-10 Crosswalk for potential updates to the HHS-HCC Risk Adjustment Model.
The proposed rule is temporarily available here.
(The proposed rule will be published in the February 6, 2020, Federal Register .)
A fact sheet on the proposed rule is available here.
The Proposed 2021 Annual Letter to Issuers is available here.
The news release is available here.
Other HR/Employment
IRS Releases Final Regulations on the Determination of the Maximum Value of a Vehicle for Use With the Fleet-Average and Vehicle Cents-Per-Mile Valuation Rules
On February 4, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released final regulations regarding special valuation rules for employers and employees to use in determining the amount to include in an employee’s gross income for personal use of an employer-provided vehicle. The final regulations reflect changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. These regulations are effective February 5, 2020.
The final regulations are available here.
Aon Publications
Aon Publications on Federal Developments in 2019
Aon provided insights into numerous developments last year that had an impact on employer-provided health and retirement plans, family and medical leave, overtime, prescription drug rebates, Affordable Care Act litigation, health savings accounts, mental health parity, high-deductible health plans, health reimbursement arrangements, and other areas of employee benefits and human resources affecting employers. Many of these developments consisted of regulations, notices, court decisions, questions and answers, and reporting and disclosure guidance issued by federal agencies. This report gathers together the Aon bulletins that summarized and analyzed significant developments in 2019, with direct links to the publications.
The Aon bulletin in available here.