On June 17, 2010, interim final regulations relating to “grandfathered” health plans were published. Some of the provisions in the health care reform law (known as “PPACA”) do not apply to a grandfathered health plan. For example, a grandfathered health plan does not currently have to cover an older child (up to age 26) if the child has other employer-sponsored coverage available. In contrast, a non-grandfathered health plan generally would have to cover such an older child.
Unfortunately, the statute itself gives little guidance on when a plan is grandfathered. The new regulations from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), Department of Labor (“DOL”) and Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) fill in this gap and provide important guidance for plan sponsors.
Here are the regulations and an Alliant Compliance Alert describing how a plan can lose grandfather status.
