The Daily Brief for Benefits Professionals
BenefitsWire
Health & Welfare Plans
August 20, 2026
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10 items · ~3 min read
Top of the Brief
The ACA offer of coverage part 1: Understanding minimum essential coverage"Minimum essential coverage (MEC) includes any non-excepted employer-sponsored medical plan. Offering MEC helps ALEs avoid the ACA A Penalty, but skinny MEC plans do not prevent B Penalty exposure."
In this issue
Regulatory Action and Guidance (3) · Health & Welfare Plans (5) · Litigation (2)
Regulatory Action and Guidance
3 items“Employers that provide a Dependent Care Assistance Program will be pleased to learn that for the first time in 45 years, the IRS has issued guidance on how to apply the nondiscrimination rules that apply to DCAPs. The proposed regulations were released on August 11, 2026, and for most employers, the positions taken by the IRS will be welcome news.” MORE >>
Source: JD Supra
“On August 11, 2026, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) with proposed regulations on Trump account employer contribution programs (TACPs) and parallel nondiscrimination rules for dependent care assistance programs (DCAPs).” MORE >>
Source: JD Supra
“Quick Hits Step 1: Registering for a FAMLI Employer Account The employer must register for a FAMLI account through the FAMLI Portal. Registration is now open. The employer must identify an individual employee to act as its authorized officer.” MORE >>
Source: Ogletree Deakins
Health & Welfare Plans
5 items“Employers have spent years arguing over how much GLP-1 coverage should cost. A harder question is starting to take over: Is it paying off?” MORE >>
Source: Employee Benefit News
“New EBRI research finds health savings account balances continue to grow as longtime accountholders save and invest more, yet just 18% invested any of their HSA assets outside of cash Average health savings account (HSA) balances reached a record $5,532 in 2024, even as 56% of accountholders took distributions, according to new research published today by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).” MORE >>
Source: 401(k) Specialist
“While retirement plan professions tout health savings accounts’ tax advantages for long-term savings, most people continue to use their HSAs for short-term spending, according to a recently published report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.” MORE >>
Source: PLANADVISER
“Only 18% of participants with health savings accounts invested in assets other than cash in 2024, according to EBRI.” MORE >>
Source: PLANSPONSOR
"Minimum essential coverage (MEC) includes any non-excepted employer-sponsored medical plan. Offering MEC helps ALEs avoid the ACA A Penalty, but skinny MEC plans do not prevent B Penalty exposure." MORE >>
Source: WTW
Litigation
2 items“An appeals court sided with providers in a case about the No Surprises Act’s qualifying payment amount (QPA), a key benchmark in out-of-network payment determinations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling that QPA calculations must not include ghost rates, referring to non-negotiated rates listed in contracts for services a provider does not furnish. The court said the inclusion of those rates artificially lowers the QPA, which is defined as an insurer’s median contracted rate for the same (or a similar) item or service, involving providers in the same (or a similar) specialty and geographic region.” MORE >>
Source: hfma.org
“On August 11, 2026, the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in Texas Medical Association v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, changing how health plans and insurers calculate the Qualifying Payment Amount (QPA) under the NSA. The decision addressed three components of the QPA methodology: “ghost rates,” or rates for items and services that providers don’t actually furnish; bonus and incentive payments; and single-case agreements. The NSA protects patients from certain out-of-network bills and creates an independent dispute resolution (IDR) process to resolve payment disputes.” MORE >>
Source: akerman.com