Yesterday, the Trump Administration finalized a rule that will permit large, medium, and small employers to offer individual coverage and excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements to their employees effective January 1, 2020.  Here’s a link to the FAQs on the new rule. 

The FEHBlog is a fan of Trump Administration rules, such as the association health plan rule, the limited duration plan rule and this rule, that expand consumer choice of health plan coverage in the wake of Congress’s decision to zero out the individual health insurance mandate at the beginning of this year. The new rule can be used by employers who are subject to the ACA’s employer mandate which has remained in effect subject to certain conditions.

Beckers Hospital Review reports briefly on a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Medicare for All bills held yesterday. Medicare for All would provide no consumer choice at all.

Speaking of Medicare, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued FAQs on its expanded Section 111 reporting program for group health plans, including FEHB plans, that kicks in on January 1, 2020.