Last week, the Departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor released Affordable Care Act FAQs Part 72, confirming that employers and other plan sponsors...

Last week, the Departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor released Affordable Care Act FAQs Part 72, confirming that employers and other plan sponsors may offer fertility benefits through existing HIPAA "excepted benefit" structures. The guidance does not announce new methods for plan sponsors to provide fertility benefits, but it does confirm the Departments' thinking regarding fertility benefits structured as excepted benefits under the existing rules.

How does this guidance impact employers who currently offer fertility benefits?

In short: It probably doesn't. By way of background, today, plan sponsors typically tend to offer family building benefits, such as infertility treatment, adoption benefits, and long-term fertility preservation, through a combination of traditional major medical coverage that is subject to ACA rules and non-ERISA reimbursement programs. The new guidance does not impact employers who currently provide fertility benefits through that structure.

Instead, the new FAQs confirm that, for employers who wish to offer fertility benefits through "independent non-coordinated excepted benefits" or through an "excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)," it is possible to do so. As explained in more detail below, while offering fertility benefits in this...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMizwFBVV95cUxPc3cxVkM1WldfTHh1UGlNZFp3...