In the face of mounting concern regarding confusing overlapping mandates and looming deadlines, the three federal departments charged with enforcing the various group health transparency mandates — The Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (together, the Departments) — have issued FAQ guidance acknowledging the confusion, clarifying some guidance, and delaying the enforcement of many of the transparency rules scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of 2022.
As detailed in our August 5, 2021 update, New Transparency Requirements for Health Plans, both regulatory action taken under the ACA (the Transparency in Coverage final rule, or TiC final rule) and statutory changes enacted as part of the budget process (the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 or CAA, which includes the No Surprises Act) are set to require group health plans and carriers to enact a variety of measures intended to give plan members and the public more information regarding the price of health care services and prescription drugs. On August 20, 2021, the Departments issued FAQs which addressed the following issues:
In light of these outstanding issues, the Departments have delayed enforcement of the following:
The FAQs did not delay the following deadlines for transparency provisions:
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