legislation
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 was signed into law on December 27, 2020. As part of the law, a new stimulus package was included that impacts Health and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (Health and Dependent Care FSAs).
President Donald Trump signed a new stimulus bill into law on December 27, 2020 which will provide direct payments to eligible individuals and loans to small businesses, among other things. Among those other things are temporary and optional changes that employers can implement to Health and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (Health FSAs and Dependent Care FSAs).
New Jersey has become the first state to require certain employers to offer qualified transportation benefits (i.e. Commuter Plans) to employees. Some metropolitan areas including New York City, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. have passed similar laws that require certain employers to make Commuter Plans available to their employees, but no state has mandated this benefit until now.
Last December, a federal judge in Texas District Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was unconstitutional. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by 20 Republican state attorneys general. These attorneys general argued that the ACA was unconstitutional because there is no longer a penalty associated with the Individual Mandate, and the judge agreed.
The term “Medicare for All” has been making headlines recently. Democrats across the country have made this concept a central part of their platforms, and polls have shown that more than half of Americans are in favor of it.
But what does it really mean? Well, the best answer is that it means different things to different people.
Last Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) unconstitutional.
The judge’s decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by 20 Republican state attorneys general earlier this year. The lawsuit was filed after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act zeroed out the Individual Mandate penalty. The lawsuit claimed the Individual Mandate was so essential to Obamacare, and without it, all of Obamacare must go. The judge agreed.
Illinois state legislators passed a law last month which makes several changes to short-term medical (STM) plans. The most significant change limits the maximum duration of coverage to periods that are less than 181 days (i.e. 180 days). This change applies as of November 27, 2018, which is the date the law was enacted. The immediate effective date did not provide a window of time for insurance carriers to adjust their STM plans to the shorter durations of coverage.
The midterm elections will be held on November 6, 2018, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will surely be a hot topic on campaign trails. Republicans are expected to continue down a path of conveying their belief that the ACA is ineffective and has driven up healthcare costs. Democrats are expected to point out consumer protections that are included in the ACA, such as coverage for pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits.
In October of 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order which was entitled “Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States.” The executive order instructed regulatory agencies to focus on three initiatives:
Last month, U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R -PA) introduced the Bipartisan HSA Improvement Act. The proposed legislation would improve and enhance Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and unlike most other HSA initiatives, this bill has bipartisan support.
HSAs have been an agenda item for the Republican party since their inception in 2004, but they are now gaining support amongst Democrats too. The Bipartisan HSA Improvement Act is co-authored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and is being co-sponsored by a mixture of Republicans and Democrats including Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Ron Kind (D-WI), Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).
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