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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    ERISA

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, October 1, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$347.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will provide guidance on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights' (OCR) recently issued final nondiscrimination rules under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The panel will describe the final rule's requirements and how the rule expands the scope of covered entities, provides additional exemptions, and other key provisions under the final rule. The panel will also discuss the rule's compliance timeline and offer best practices for compliance for health plans, fiduciaries, and third-party administrators.

Faculty

Alden J. Bianchi
Counsel
McDermott Will & Emery, LLP

Mr. Bianchi is the Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice. He advises corporate, not-for-profit, governmental, and individual clients on a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits issues, including qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, stock and stock-based compensation arrangements, ERISA fiduciary and prohibited transaction issues, benefit-related aspects of mergers and acquisitions, and health and welfare plans. Mr. Bianchi is nationally renowned for his advice on the Affordable Care Act's impact on employers. He represented the Romney administration in connection with the historic 2006 Massachusetts health care reform act. Mr. Bianchi has testified before the Senate Finance Committee on the subject of health care reform. His many published works include the Bloomberg/Bureau of National Affairs Health Care Reform Advisor, a comprehensive work on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on employers and employer-sponsored group health plans. Mr. Bianchi is also the current chair of the Bloomberg Tax Compensation Planning Journal Advisory Board. 

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Sarah G. Raaii
Partner
McDermott Will & Emery, LLP

Ms. Raaii focuses her practice on employee benefits and matters related to health care reform, data privacy and HIPAA compliance, executive compensation, and health and welfare, cafeteria, 401(k), 403(b) and pension plans. She has experience counseling clients on regulatory compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), Internal Revenue Code and related state and federal laws affecting employee benefit plans. Ms. Raaii assists clients with drafting employee benefit plan documents and amendments and represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), US Department of Labor (DOL) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation with respect to plan qualification issues. She also advises clients on employee benefits diligence, design, implementation and transition matters arising from corporate and private equity mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining McDermott, Ms. Raaii worked for the National Economic Council at the White House, where she implemented the Affordable Care Act and developed the DOL fiduciary rule with leaders from the Executive Office of the President, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Treasury. She previously worked with in-house attorneys and federal and state government relations professionals in the Leadership Development Program of a Fortune 500 global insurance and financial services corporation.

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Scott Kenkel
Associate
McDermott Will & Emery, LLP

Mr. Kenkel focuses his practice on employee benefits and executive compensation matters. He has experience assisting clients with regulatory compliance matters related to tax-qualified retirement plans and executive compensation arrangements. Mr. Kenkel also regularly works with clients on benefits and compensation issues in connection with corporate transactions.

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Description

On Apr. 26, 2024, the HHS and OCR issued final regulations reinterpreting Section 1557 of the ACA providing key revisions and expanding requirements under the ACA to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in health programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

The recently released final rule encompasses staggered effective dates beginning July 5, 2024, making key revisions to the regulations interpreting Section 1557 of the ACA. The revisions restore some regulatory provisions repealed in 2020 and expand the rule's scope by adding other provisions to enhance nondiscrimination requirements for healthcare providers, significantly impacting group health plans, fiduciaries, and third-party administrators.

The final rule includes: (1) requiring covered entities to build up a Section 1557 compliance program with policies, staff training, and designation of a Section 1557 coordinator; (2) for the first time, interpreting federal financial assistance to encompass Medicare Part B payments; (3) expanding protections related to language assistance and accessibility services; (4) re-codifying HHS' position that the prohibition against discrimination based on sex includes discrimination against LGBTQI+ individuals; and (6) applying Section 1557's nondiscrimination principles to the use of patient care decision support tools including those using AI.

Benefits counsel must understand these new requirements under the final rule, recognize the impact to plan sponsors and administrators, and take necessary steps to ensure compliance with these new regulations.

Listen as our expert panel provides an in-depth look at the ACA Section 1557 final rule. The panel will discuss who is now covered under the expansive provisions and the rule's requirements. The panel will also describe the exemption process and offer best practices for compliance.

Outline

  1. Introduction: history of the final rule
  2. Section 1557 final rule
    1. Covered entities
    2. Medicare Part B as federal financial assistance
    3. Protections for LGBTQI+ and pregnant individuals
    4. Language assistance and accessibility
    5. Exemption based on religious freedom and conscience laws
    6. Notice requirements
    7. Compliance timeline/staggered effective dates
  3. Key issues for plan sponsors and fiduciaries
    1. TPAs acting as service providers
    2. Managing medical services
  4. Judicial challenges
    1. Tennessee v. Becerra (and the imposition of a nationwide injunction)
    2. Other district court and appellate challenges
    3. Judicial deference and the impact of Loper Bright
    4. Prospects before the Supreme Court
  5. Next steps and best practices for compliance

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key considerations:

  • How does the final rule apply to group health plans, carriers, and third-party administrators?
  • How does the final rule expand the scope of covered entities?
  • What protections does the rule reinstate that were removed in 2020?
  • What compliance and notice requirements are included in the final rule?
  • When might we have some certainly about whether these rules apply?