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LEGAL DISCLAIMER:
Information contained in this publication is not legal advice, and
should not be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice upon which you can rely,
you should seek a legal opinion from your attorney.
plan descriptions, documentation of premiums or the cost of coverage, and
documentation of required employee contribution rates.
must make such records available for examination. Accordingly, a
participant, beneficiary, Federal agency official would be able to inspect such
documents to verify the status of the plan or health insurance coverage as a
grandfathered health plan. The plan must maintain such records and make
them available for examination for as long as the plan takes the position that
the plan or health insurance coverage is a grandfathered health plan.
Model language
is provided in the regulations that can be used to satisfy this
disclosure requirement of “grandfathered status” under the first bullet point above
and it available by “clicking here.”
Conclusion
With the effective date of The Affordable Care Act
to collectively bargained plans
clarified, the plan’s Trustees, in conjunction with their plan professionals, will need
to amend the plan to be compliant with the required changes by the first Plan Year
on or after September 23, 2010.
Plan Trustees will also want to determine if their plan is a grandfathered plan and
take appropriate steps to maintain that status if desired. Trustees may also want
to consider the cost implications if they lose grandfathered status.
Plan professionals will want to read one set of the entire regulation. The regulation
contains numerous helpful examples.
Additional insight on the reasoning behind
the regulations as well as other valuable insights are found in the regulation’s
Preamble.
For more information on the Affordable Care Act, see prior Research Department
Publications.
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