Government Issues ACA Guidance on HSAs, FSAs, EAPs and More

The U.S. Department of Labor just issued Technical Release No. 2013-03: Application of Market Reform and other Provisions of the Affordable Care Act to HRAs, Health FSAs, and Certain other Employer Healthcare Arrangements. The DOL indicates that:

"This Technical Release provides guidance on the application of certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act(1) to the following types of arrangements: (1) health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), including HRAs integrated with a group health plan; (2) group health plans under which an employer reimburses an employee for some or all of the premium expenses incurred for an individual health insurance policy, such as a reimbursement arrangement described in Revenue Ruling 61-146, 1961-2 CB 25, or arrangements under which the employer uses its funds to directly pay the premium for an individual health insurance policy covering the employee (collectively, an employer payment plan); and (3) certain health flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs). This Technical Release also provides guidance on section 125(f)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and on employee assistance programs or EAPs."

The Internal Revenue Service also published the guidance as Notice 2013-54.

The Technical Release is available here.
Notice 2013-54 is available here.