The Department of Labor recently finalized an earlier proposal to rescind the 2018 rules that were intended to expand the availability of association health plans (AHPs).
Prior to the 2018 rules, multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) were treated as a single ERISA plan only if it was established by an association of employers with an organizational relationship and control of the association. The 2018 rules attempted to create more flexibility under the “commonality of interest test” and allowed working owners without common law employees to participate in an AHP. However, portions of the regulations were vacated in 2019, which made the fate of the regulations unclear.
In an attempt to “resolve and mitigate any uncertainty,” the DOL final rule rescinds the 2018 AHP regulations entirely.
The DOL guidance published after the 2019 court ruling prohibited AHPs formed under the regulations from marketing to and signing up new members, so there may be very few AHPs that would be affected by this rescission. Nonetheless, rescinding the 2018 rules resolves any remaining ambiguity.
COMMENTS