Employer-Provided Health Care Flexibilities -- Passage HR 3799

Passage of the bill, as amended, that would create additional flexibilities for employers providing health insurance. The bill would allow groups of employers to establish and maintain group health plans for employees. It would require such groups to provide coverage to at least 51 employees and to have been in existence for at least two years prior to establishing the health plan. It would allow self-employed individuals to establish a group for the purpose of maintaining a group health plan. The bill would also allow employer-financed health reimbursement arrangements (HRA) to be used by employees to purchase insurance plans on state exchanges. It would also deem such HRAs compliant with requirements under current law for employers to provide health insurance coverage. To be eligible, it would require employers to offer the same HRA plan to all employees of a certain class, as defined by the bill, including full- and part-time employees, employees under the same collective bargaining agreement, and non-resident alien employees. It would also require employers to give eligible employees 90 days’ written notice prior to the beginning of the plan year of their rights and obligations. Among other provisions, the bill would rescind $245 million in fiscal 2024 from the Health and Human Services Department’s Prevention and Public Health Fund, specify that stop-loss policies obtained by a self-insured group health plan or plan sponsor do not qualify as health insurance coverage under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and require the Treasury Department, within one year of enactment, to notify employers of the availability of tax-advantaged flexible health insurance benefits, with an initial focus on small businesses. HR 3799 also contains the text of the Small Business Flexibility Act (HR 3798), the Association Health Plans Act (HR 2868) and the Self-Insurance Protection Act (HR 2813).