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 The revisions restore some regulatory provisions repealed in 2020 and expand the rule's scope by adding other provisions to enhance nondiscrimination requirements for healthcare providers, significantly impacting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.
Presented By
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Mr. Bianchi is an experienced Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation lawyer who advises corporate, not-for-profit, governmental, and individual clients on a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits matters, including qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, health, and welfare plans. He represented the Romney Administration in connection with the historic 2006 Massachusetts health care reform act, and he testified before the Senate Finance Committee in the lead-up to the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Bianchi published works include the Bloomberg/Bureau of National Affairs Health Care Reform Advisor (T.M. 335), a comprehensive study of the impact of the Affordable Care Act on employers and employer-sponsored group health plans. In 2025, he earned a certificate in AI in Health Care: From Strategies to Implementation from Harvard Medical School Executive Education, reflecting a growing focus on AI in health care for plan sponsors. Mr. Bianchi is a past chair of the Bloomberg Tax Compensation Planning Journal Advisory Board, and he was awarded the 2023 Bloomberg Tax Leonard L. Silverstein Award for Distinguished Service in Tax.
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.
Ms. Raaii devotes her practice to issues impacting group health and welfare benefit plans by counseling employers, digital health and point solution clients, plan administrators, insurers, consultants and other health plan service providers. She advises her clients on healthcare reform issues; consumer-driven health benefits; self-funded and fully insured health plans; data privacy and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); wellness programs; cafeteria plans; and regulatory, sub-regulatory and legal compliance. Ms. Raaii provides guidance on the Affordable Care Act (ACA); the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); health plan transparency; mental health parity; the No Surprises Act; the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA); flexible benefit plans; health reimbursement accounts (HRAs); health savings accounts (HSAs); plan network design; multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs); association health plans; captive insurance arrangements; and other health benefits issues.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
- schedule
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- Introduction: history of the final rule
- Section 1557 final rule
- Covered entities
- Medicare Part B as federal financial assistance
- Protections for LGBTQI+ and pregnant individuals
- Language assistance and accessibility
- Exemption based on religious freedom and conscience laws
- Notice requirements
- Compliance timeline/staggered effective dates
- Key issues for plan sponsors and fiduciaries
- TPAs acting as service providers
- Managing medical services
- Judicial challenges
- Tennessee v. Becerra (and the imposition of a nationwide injunction)
- Other district court and appellate challenges
- Judicial deference and the impact of Loper Bright
- Prospects before the Supreme Court
- Next steps and best practices for compliance
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?
Related Courses
No Surprises Act Guidance for Health Plans: Final Rules, IDR Process, Qualifying Payment Amounts, Disclosures
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT