The IRS recently released an information letter that reiterates guidance regarding high-deductible health plan's (HDHPs) coverage of primary and behavioral health care visits before the minimum required deductible is met, as well as HDHP rules generally.

The IRS recently released the 2022 Instructions for Forms 1099-SA and 5498-SA. The Form 1099-SA is used to report distributions from health saving accounts (HSAs) and other medical savings accounts. The 5498-SA reports contributions to these accounts for the applicable tax year.

On December 7, 2021, the IRS provided an updated draft of the 2021 IRS Publication 15-B, the Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits. This publication provides an overview of the taxation of fringe benefits and applicable exclusion, valuation, withholding and reporting rules.

In a DOL fact sheet, the agency announced that over $2.4 billion was recovered from enforcement of ERISA by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) through investigations, complaint resolution and other enforcement efforts for the fiscal year 2021.

On November 23, 2021, the IRS, HHS and EBSA published interim final rules related to prescription drug and health care spending reports. The rules are the latest in a series implementing the transparency provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA).

HHS recently announced inflation-adjusted penalty amounts related to Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC), Medicare secondary payer (MSP) and HIPAA privacy and security rules violations. These new penalty amounts are calculated based on a cost-of-living increase of 1.01182%. The new amounts are applied to penalties assessed on or after November 15, 2021, for violations occurring on or after November 2, 2015.

On November 10, 2021, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-45, providing certain cost-of-living adjustments for a wide variety of tax-related items, including health FSA contribution limits, transportation and parking benefits, qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangements (QSEHRAs), the small business tax credit and other adjustments for tax year 2022. Those changes are outlined below.

On October 25, 2021, CMS issued a memorandum to group health plans and insurers (among others) regarding agency contact information that must be included on certain No Surprises Act (the Act) notices and disclosures.

The IRS recently released the 2021 final version of Form 1095-B. As background, Form 1095-B is used by self-insured small employers (fewer than 50 full-time employees, including equivalents) to report covered individuals to the IRS to satisfy Section 6055 reporting as required by the ACA. A large, self-insured employer may also use the forms to report coverage for a non-employee (such as a retiree or COBRA participant), though most large employers use Form 1095-C for this purpose.

An Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) is a type of HRA that allows employees to be reimbursed for an individual coverage premium, up to a maximum dollar amount that the employer makes available each year. In order to be eligible, an employee must be enrolled in individual health insurance coverage or Medicare Part A, B, or C; and an employer cannot offer a traditional health plan and ICHRA to the same class of employees.