June 22 Update: Release of final AHP rule; Two-generation strategies for states; Medicaid directors on the opioid crisis
This week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule that alters the way that association health plans (AHPs) are regulated. The rule was accompanied by a press release and a new webpage. The DOL rule significantly loosens the conditions under which a group of employers – or the self-employed – can join together under an AHP and be considered a “single employer” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Such AHPs would be regulated under federal law as large-group coverage, making them exempt from Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other federal and state requirements that apply only to the individual and small-group insurance markets. The final rule includes an implementation timeline and a pathway for AHPs to gain single employer status under ERISA. It also clarifies rules against health discrimination and which ACA protections AHPs are still subject to. Our friend and colleague Sabrina Corlette, from Georgetown University, provides an Experts Perspective of the rule and notes key implications states must consider when regulating AHPs.