The Washington Report
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January 24, 2018
Legislative
President Signs Short-Term Spending Bill Into Law; Includes Provisions Delaying ACA Taxes
On January 22, 2018, President Trump signed into law a short-term spending bill (H.R. 195) that will fund the government through February 8, 2018. The law includes provisions funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years and delays several Affordable Care Act (ACA) taxes. For additional information, please refer to the Aon bulletin Open for Business: Congress Votes to Fund Government, Delay ACA Taxes below.
The full text of H.R. 195 here.
Aon Publications
Open for Business: Congress Votes to Fund Government, Delay ACA Taxes
On January 22, 2018, Congress passed a short-term spending bill that will fund the government through February 8, 2018. In addition to ending a three-day shutdown of the federal government, the bill delays three Affordable Care Act (ACA) taxes—the Cadillac tax, the Health Insurance tax, and the Medical Device tax. The President signed the bill into law the same day.
The Aon bulletin is available here.
Aon Publications on Federal Developments in 2017
Aon provided insights into numerous developments last year that had an impact on employer-provided health plans, retirement plans, and other areas of employee benefits and human resources affecting employers. Many of these developments consisted of legislation, regulations, notices, court decisions, questions and answers, requests for comments, and reporting and disclosure forms issued by federal agencies. Notably, there were a number of legislative efforts in 2017 in both chambers of Congress to repeal and replace the ACA, and the year closed with the enactment of significant federal income tax reform. This report gathers together the Aon bulletins that summarized and analyzed significant developments in 2017, with direct links to the publications.
The Aon bulletin is available here.
DOL Proposes Regulations for Expanded Association Health Plans
The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed regulations expanding the use of association health plans (AHPs) by small employers and self-employed individuals. The proposed regulations implement a portion of the Executive Order President Trump signed in October 2017 that called for expansion of short-term limited-duration health insurance policies and for permitting health reimbursement arrangements to be used to purchase individual health insurance policies. The proposed regulations are subject to a comment period and further possible changes before being finalized.
The Aon bulletin, which discusses the background to AHPs and the text of the proposed regulations, is available here.