IRS, Employee Benefits Security Administration, HHS Rule: Grandfathered Group Health Plans, Grandfathered Group Health Insurance Coverage

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 -- The Internal Revenue Service, Employee Benefits Security Administration and Department of Health and Human Services has issued a rule (26 CFR Part 54, 29 CFR Part 2590 and 45 CFR Part 147), published in the Federal Register, entitled: "Grandfathered Group Health Plans and Grandfathered Group Health Insurance Coverage".

The rule was issued by Sunita Lough, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, David J. Kautter, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax Policy), Jeanne Klinefelter Wilson, Acting Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Seema Verma, Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Alex M. Azar II, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.

DATES: Effective Date: These regulations are effective January 14, 2021. Applicability Date: These regulations are applicable June 15, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Fischer, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, (202) 317-5500.

Matthew Litton and Chelsea Cerio, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor, (202) 693-8335.

Cam Clemmons, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, (301) 492-4400.

Customer Service Information:

Individuals interested in obtaining information from the Department of Labor (DOL) concerning employment-based health coverage laws may call the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Toll-Free Hotline at 1-866-444-EBSA (3272) or visit the DOL's website (www.dol.gov/ebsa). In addition, information from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding private health insurance coverage and non-federal governmental group health plans can be found on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website (www.cms.gov/cciio), and information on healthcare reform can be found at www.HealthCare.gov.

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This document includes final rules regarding grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage that amend current rules to provide greater flexibility for certain grandfathered health plans to make changes to certain types of fixed- amount cost-sharing requirements without causing a loss of grandfather status under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. Purpose

On January 20, 2017, the President issued Executive Order 13765, "Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal" (82 FR 8351) "to minimize the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens of the [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-152) (collectively, PPACA), as amended]." To meet these objectives, the President directed that the executive departments and agencies with authorities and responsibilities under PPACA, "to the maximum extent permitted by law . . . shall exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of [PPACA] that would impose a fiscal burden on any state or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications."

HHS, DOL, and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) share interpretive jurisdiction over section 1251 of PPACA, which generally provides that certain group health plans and health insurance coverage existing as of March 23, 2010, the date of enactment of PPACA (referred to collectively in the statute as grandfathered health plans), are subject to only certain provisions of PPACA. Consistent with the objectives of Executive Order 13765, on February 25, 2019, the Departments issued a request for information regarding grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage (2019 RFI).[1] The purpose of the 2019 RFI was to gather input from the public in order to better understand the challenges that group health plans and group health insurance issuers face in avoiding a loss of grandfather status, and to determine whether there are opportunities for the Departments to assist such plans and issuers, consistent with the law, in preserving the grandfather status of group health plans and group health insurance coverage in ways that would benefit plan participants and beneficiaries, employers, employee organizations, and other stakeholders.

Based on feedback received from stakeholders who submitted comments in response to the 2019 RFI, the Departments issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on July 15, 2020 (referred to as the 2020 proposed rules), that would, if finalized, amend current rules to provide greater flexibility for certain grandfathered health plans to make changes to certain types of cost-sharing requirements without causing a loss of grandfather status.[2] After careful consideration of the comments received, the Departments are issuing final rules that adopt the proposed amendments without substantive change. In the Departments' view, these amendments are appropriate because they will enable these plans to continue offering affordable coverage while also enhancing their ability to respond to rising healthcare costs. In some cases, the amendments would also ensure that the plans are able to comply with minimum cost-sharing requirements for high deductible health plans (HDHPs) so enrolled individuals are eligible to contribute to health savings accounts (HSAs).

The final rules only address the requirements for grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage and do not apply to or otherwise change the current requirements applicable to grandfathered individual health insurance coverage. With respect to individual health insurance coverage, it is the Departments' understanding that the number of individuals with grandfathered individual health insurance coverage has declined each year since PPACA was enacted. As one comment received in response to the 2019 RFI noted, this decline in enrollment in grandfathered individual health insurance coverage will continue due to natural churn, because most consumers stay in the individual market for less than 5 years.[3] Moreover, compared to the number of individuals in grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage, only a small number of individuals are enrolled in grandfathered individual health insurance coverage.[4] The Departments are therefore of the view that any amendments to requirements for grandfathered individual health insurance coverage would be of limited utility.

B. Grandfathered Group Health Plans and Grandfathered Group Health Insurance Coverage

Section 1251 of PPACA provides that grandfathered health plans are not subject to certain provisions of PPACA for as long as they maintain their status as grandfathered health plans.[5] For example, grandfathered health plans are subject neither to the requirement to cover certain preventive services without cost sharing under section 2713 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), enacted by section 1001 of PPACA, nor to the annual limitation on cost sharing set forth under section 1302(c) of PPACA and section 2707(b) of the PHS Act, enacted by section 1201 of PPACA. If a plan were to lose its grandfather status, it would be required to comply with both provisions, in addition to several other requirements.

On June 17, 2010, the Departments issued interim final rules with request for comments implementing section 1251 of PPACA.[6] On November 17, 2010, the Departments issued an amendment to the interim final rules with request for comments to permit certain changes in policies, certificates, or contracts of insurance without a loss of grandfather status.[7] Also, over the course of 2010 and 2011, the Departments released Affordable Care Act Implementation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Parts I, II, IV, V, and VI to answer questions related to maintaining a plan's status as a grandfathered health plan.[8] After consideration of comments and feedback received from stakeholders, the Departments issued regulations on November 18, 2015, which finalized the interim final rules without substantial change and incorporated the clarifications that the Departments had previously provided in other guidance (2015 final rules).[9]

In general, under the 2015 final rules, a group health plan or group health insurance coverage is considered grandfathered if it was in existence, and has continuously provided coverage for someone (not necessarily the same person, but at all times at least one person) since March 23, 2010, provided the plan (or its sponsor) or issuer has not taken certain actions resulting in the plan relinquishing grandfather status.

Under the 2015 final rules, certain changes to a group health plan or coverage do not result in a loss of grandfather status. For example, new employees and their families may enroll in a group health plan or group health insurance coverage without causing a loss of grandfather status. Further, the addition of a new contributing employer or a new group of employees of an existing contributing employer to a grandfathered multiemployer health plan will not affect the plan's grandfather status. Also, grandfather status is determined separately for each benefit package option available under a group health plan or coverage; thus, if any benefit package under the plan or coverage loses its grandfather status, it will not affect the grandfather status of the other benefit packages, provided that any other changes do not exceed the other standards that cause a plan to relinquish grandfather status, as explained further in this preamble.

The 2015 final rules specify the circumstances under which changes to the terms of a plan or coverage cause the plan or coverage to cease to be a grandfathered health plan. Specifically, the regulations outline certain changes to benefits, cost-sharing requirements, and contribution rates that will cause a plan or coverage to relinquish its grandfather status. There are six types of changes (measured from March 23, 2010) that will cause a group health plan or health insurance coverage to cease to be grandfathered:

1. The elimination of all or substantially all benefits to diagnose or treat a particular condition;

2. Any increase in a percentage cost-sharing requirement (such as coinsurance);

3. Any increase in a fixed-amount cost-sharing requirement (other than a copayment) (such as a deductible or out-of-pocket maximum) that exceeds certain thresholds;

4. Any increase in a fixed-amount copayment that exceeds certain thresholds;

5. A decrease in contribution rate by an employer or employee organization toward the cost of coverage of any tier of coverage for any class of similarly situated individuals by more than five percentage points below the rate for the coverage period that includes March 23, 2010; or

6. The imposition of annual limits on the dollar value of all benefits for group health plans and insurance coverage that did not impose such a limit prior to March 23, 2010.

The 2015 final rules provide different thresholds for the increases to different types of cost-sharing requirements that will cause a loss of grandfather status. The nominal dollar amount of a coinsurance obligation automatically rises when the cost of the healthcare benefit subject to the coinsurance obligation increases, so changes to the level of coinsurance (such as modifying a requirement that the patient pay 20 percent to a requirement that the patient pay 30 percent of inpatient surgery costs) can significantly alter the balance of financial obligations between participants and beneficiaries and a plan or health insurance coverage. On the other hand, fixed-amount cost-sharing requirements (such as copayments and deductibles) do not automatically rise when healthcare costs increase. This means that changes to fixed-amount cost-sharing requirements (for example, modifying a $35 copayment to a $40 copayment for outpatient doctor visits) may be reasonable to keep pace with the rising cost of medical items and services. Accordingly, under the 2015 final rules, any increase in a percentage cost-sharing requirement (such as coinsurance) causes a plan or health insurance coverage to cease to be a grandfathered health plan. With respect to fixed-amount cost-sharing requirements, however, there are two standards for permitted increases, one for fixed-amount cost-sharing requirements other than copayments (for example, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums) and another for copayments.

With respect to fixed-amount cost-sharing requirements other than copayments, a plan or coverage ceases to be a grandfathered health plan if there is an increase, since March 23, 2010, that is greater than the maximum percentage increase. The 2015 final rules define the maximum percentage increase as medical inflation (from March 23, 2010) plus 15 percentage points. For this purpose, medical inflation is defined by reference to the overall medical care component of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, unadjusted (CPI-U), published by the DOL using the 1982-1984 base of 100.

For fixed-amount copayments, a plan or coverage ceases to be a grandfathered health plan if there is an increase, since March 23, 2010, in the copayment that exceeds the greater of (1) the maximum percentage increase (calculated in the same manner as for fixed amount cost-sharing requirements other than copayments) or (2) five dollars (as increased by medical inflation).

For any change that causes a loss of grandfather status under the 2015 final rules, the plan or coverage will cease to be a grandfathered plan when the change becomes effective, regardless of when the change is adopted.

In addition, the 2015 final rules require that a grandfathered plan or coverage both include a statement in any summary of benefits provided under the plan that it believes the plan or coverage is a grandfathered health plan and provide contact information for questions and complaints. Failure to provide this disclosure results in a loss of grandfather status. The 2015 final rules further provide that, once grandfather status is relinquished, there is no opportunity to regain it.

C. 2019 Request for Information

It is the Departments' understanding that the number of grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance policies has declined each year since the enactment of PPACA, but many employers continue to maintain grandfathered group health plans and coverage. That a significant number of grandfathered group health plans and coverage remain indicates that some employers and issuers have found value in preserving grandfather status. Accordingly, on February 25, 2019, the Departments published the 2019 RFI to gather input from the public in order to better understand the challenges that group health plans and group health insurance issuers face in avoiding the loss of grandfather status and to determine whether there are opportunities for the Departments to assist such plans and issuers, consistent with the law, in preserving the grandfather status of group health plans and group health insurance coverage in ways that would benefit plan participants and beneficiaries, employers, employee organizations, and other stakeholders.

Comments submitted in response to the 2019 RFI provided information regarding grandfathered health plans that helped inform the 2020 proposed rules. Commenters shared data regarding the prevalence of grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage, insights regarding the impact that grandfathered plans have had in terms of delivering benefits to participants and beneficiaries at a lower cost than non-grandfathered plans, and suggestions for potential amendments to the Departments' 2015 final rules that would provide more flexibility for a plan or coverage to retain grandfather status.

Several commenters directed the Departments' attention to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, which indicates that one out of every five firms that offered health benefits in 2018 offered at least one grandfathered health plan, and 16 percent of covered workers were enrolled in a grandfathered group health plan that year.[10] One commenter indicated the incidence of grandfathered plan status differs by various types of plan sponsors. Another commenter cited survey data released in 2018 by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, which indicated that 57 percent of multiemployer plans are grandfathered, compared to 20 percent of other private-sector plans and 30 percent of public-sector plans. However, a professional association with members who work with employer groups on health plan design and administration commented that their members have found far fewer grandfathered plans than survey results suggest exist and suggested that very large employers with self-funded plans may sponsor a disproportionate share of grandfathered plans, as well as that some employers that have "grandmothered" plans or that previously had grandfathered plans may unintentionally be reporting incorrectly in surveys that they still sponsor grandfathered plans.[11]

Some commenters stated that grandfathered health plans are less comprehensive and provide fewer consumer protections than non-grandfathered plans; thus, these commenters opined that the Departments should not amend the 2015 final rules to provide greater flexibility for a plan or coverage to maintain grandfather status. Other commenters noted, however, that grandfathered plans often have lower premiums and cost-sharing requirements than non-grandfathered plans. One commenter gave examples of premium increases ranging from 10 percent to 40 percent that grandfathered plan participants would experience if they transitioned to non-grandfathered group health plans. Several commenters also stated that grandfathered health plans do in fact offer comprehensive benefits and in some cases are even more generous than certain non-grandfathered plans that are subject to all the requirements of PPACA. Some commenters also stated that their grandfathered plans offer more robust provider networks than other coverage options that are available to them or that access to a grandfathered plan ensures that they are able to keep receiving care from current in-network providers.

Commenters who supported allowing greater flexibility for grandfathered health plans offered a range of suggestions regarding how the Departments should amend the 2015 final rules. For example, several commenters requested additional flexibility regarding plan or coverage changes that would constitute an elimination of substantially all benefits to diagnose or treat a condition, stating that it is often difficult to discern what constitutes a benefit reduction given that the regulations apply a "facts and circumstances" standard. Some commenters requested flexibility to make certain changes so long as the grandfathered plan or coverage's actuarial value is not affected. Some commenters also stated that the 2015 final rules should be amended to permit decreases in contribution rates by employers and employee organizations by more than five percentage points to account for employers experiencing a business change or economic downturn.

Commenters also suggested amendments relating to the permitted changes in cost-sharing requirements for grandfathered plans. These commenters generally argued that the 2015 final rules were too restrictive. Several commenters stated that relying on the medical care component of the CPI-U for purposes of those rules to account for inflation adjustments to the maximum percentage increase was misguided, and the methodology used to calculate the "premium adjustment percentage" (as defined in 45 CFR 156.130) would be more appropriate because it is tied to the increase in premiums for health insurance and, therefore, better reflects the increase in costs for health coverage. These commenters also noted that relying on the premium adjustment percentage would be consistent with the methodology used to adjust the annual limitation on cost sharing under section 1302(c) of PPACA and section 2707(b) of the PHS Act that applies to non-grandfathered plans. Additionally, one commenter articulated a concern that the 2015 final rules eventually may preclude some grandfathered group health plans or issuers of grandfathered group health insurance coverage from being able to make changes to cost-sharing requirements that are necessary for a plan to maintain its status as an HDHP within the meaning of section 223 of the Code, which would effectively mean that individuals covered by those plans would no longer be eligible to contribute to an HSA.

D. The Premium Adjustment Percentage

Section 1302(c)(4) of PPACA directs the Secretary of HHS to determine an annual premium adjustment percentage, a measure of premium growth that is used to set the rate of increase for three parameters detailed in PPACA: (1) The maximum annual limitation on cost sharing (defined at 45 CFR 156.130(a)); (2) the required contribution percentage used to determine eligibility for certain exemptions under section 5000A of the Code (defined at 45 CFR 155.605(d)(2)); and (3) the employer shared responsibility payment amounts under section 4980H(a) and (b) of the Code (see section 4980H(c)(5) of the Code). Section 1302(c)(4) of PPACA and 45 CFR 156.130(e) provide that the premium adjustment percentage is the percentage (if any) by which the average per capita premium for health insurance coverage for the preceding calendar year exceeds such average per capita premium for health insurance for 2013, and 45 CFR 156.130(e) provides that this percentage will be published annually by HHS.

To calculate the premium adjustment percentage for a benefit year, HHS calculates the percentage by which the average per capita premium for health insurance coverage for the preceding calendar year exceeds the average per capita premium for health insurance for 2013 and rounds the resulting percentage to 10 significant digits. The resulting premium index reflects cumulative, historic growth in premiums from 2013 through the preceding year. HHS calculates the premium adjustment percentage using as a premium growth measure the most recently available National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) projection of per enrollee premiums for private health insurance (excluding Medigap and property and casualty insurance) at the time of publication of the premium adjustment percentage.[12]

E. High Deductible Health Plans and HSA-compatibility

Section 223 of the Code permits eligible individuals to establish and contribute to HSAs. HSAs are tax-favored accounts established for the purpose of accumulating funds to pay for qualified medical expenses on behalf of the account beneficiary, his or her spouse, and any claimed dependents. In order for an individual to qualify as an eligible individual under section 223(c)(1) of the Code (and thus to be eligible to make tax-favored contributions to an HSA) the individual must be covered under an HDHP. An HDHP is a health plan that satisfies certain requirements with respect to minimum deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket expenses, which increase annually with cost-of-living adjustments. Generally, except for preventive care, an HDHP may not provide benefits for any year until the deductible for that year is met. Pursuant to section 223(g) of the Code, the minimum deductible for an HDHP is adjusted annually for cost of living based on changes in the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U).[13]

F. 2020 Proposed Rules

On July 15, 2020, the Departments issued the 2020 proposed rules that would, if finalized, amend the 2015 final rules to provide greater flexibility for grandfathered group health plans and issuers of grandfathered group health insurance coverage to make certain changes without causing a loss of grandfather status. However, there is no authority for non-grandfathered plans to become grandfathered. Therefore, the 2020 proposed rules did not provide any opportunity for a plan or coverage that has lost its grandfather status under the 2015 final rules to regain that status.

In issuing the 2020 proposed rules, the Departments considered comments submitted in response to the 2019 RFI regarding ways that the 2015 final rules could be amended. The Departments did not include in the 2020 proposed rules many suggestions outlined in those comments because, in the Departments' view, those suggestions would have allowed for such significant changes that the modified plan or coverage could not reasonably be described as being the same plan or coverage that existed on March 23, 2010, for purposes of grandfather status. The Departments were persuaded, however, by commenters' statements that there are better means of accounting for inflation in the standard for the maximum percentage increase that should be permitted to fixed-amount cost-sharing requirements. The Departments also agreed that, as one commenter on the 2019 RFI highlighted, there is an opportunity to specify that changes to fixed-amount cost-sharing requirements that are necessary for a plan to maintain its status as an HDHP should not cause a loss of grandfather status. Given that the 2015 final rules permit increases that are meant to account for inflation in healthcare costs over time, the Departments were of the view that those suggestions were reasonably narrow and consistent with the intent of the 2015 final rules to permit adjustments in response to inflation without causing a loss of grandfather status.

Accordingly, the Departments proposed to amend the 2015 final rules in two ways. First, the 2020 proposed rules included a new paragraph (g)(3), which specified that grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage that are HDHPs may make changes to fixed-amount cost-sharing requirements that would otherwise cause a loss of grandfather status without causing a loss of grandfather status, but only to the extent those changes are necessary to comply with the requirements for HDHPs under section 223(c)(2)(A) of the Code. Second, the 2020 proposed rules included a revised definition of "maximum percentage increase" at redesignated paragraph (g)(4), which provided an alternative method of determining that amount based on the premium adjustment percentage. Under the 2020 proposed rules, this alternative method would be available only for grandfathered group health plans and grandfathered group health insurance coverage with changes that are effective on or after the applicability date of a final rule.

The Departments requested comments on all aspects of the 2020 proposed rules, as well as on specific issues related to the 2020 proposed rules where stakeholder feedback would be particularly useful in evaluating whether to issue final rules, and what the content of any final rules should be.

The comment period for the 2020 proposed rules closed on August 14, 2020. The Departments received 13 comments. After careful consideration of these comments, for the reasons explained further in the preamble, the Departments are issuing the final rules, which finalize the 2020 proposed rules without substantive change.

Sunita Lough,

Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service.

Approved: December 7, 2020.

David J. Kautter,

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax Policy).

Dated: December 9, 2020.

Jeanne Klinefelter Wilson,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

Dated: November 30, 2020.

Seema Verma,

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Dated: December 2, 2020.

Alex M. Azar II,

Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.

[FR Doc. 2020-27498 Filed 12-11-20; 8:45 am]

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The document is published in the Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/12/15/2020-27498/grandfathered-group-health-plans-and-grandfathered-group-health-insurance-coverage

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